Medicare Advantage

66 Medicare Advantage plans on offer in Madison for 2026

For 2027, Madison is looking at 70 Medicare Advantage plans: 15 new, 5 gone since 2026, and 18 still here but changed on premium, deductible, plan type or name, 6 of them under a new name. Below, how the lineup shifted in Madison County and what to compare, with no plan ranked or recommended.

MADISON, Ala. — If you're sorting through Medicare choices this fall, here's a plain-English snapshot of what's on the table where you live. Madison is in Madison County, where 70 Medicare Advantage plans are available for 2027, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plan landscape data.

That's a lot to sift through — but you don't have to look at all of them. A little structure makes the choice much smaller.

What "66 plans" actually means

The number counts every Medicare Advantage plan offered to people living in Madison County for the 2027 plan year. Plan availability in Medicare is set at the county level, so anyone with a Madison home address sees the same menu.

Those 66 plans come from 8 carriers offering Medicare Advantage with prescription drug coverage (MA-PD) in the area. In practice, most people narrow their list quickly once they factor in the doctors they want to keep, the pharmacies they use, and the medicines they take.

Stand-alone drug plans work differently

If you're on Original Medicare and want drug coverage, you'll choose from the statewide Part D list: Alabama has 11 stand-alone Part D plans for 2027, sold statewide, and 12 for 2026. That means drug coverage is readily available — Part D is sold by region, not by county, and Alabama residents choose from a statewide list of stand-alone Part D plans when they're on Original Medicare. If you're staying with Original Medicare and want drug coverage, you'll shop that statewide list on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder.

If you choose a Medicare Advantage plan, drug coverage is usually built in (that's the "MA-PD" part).

The big 2027 numbers to know

A few program-wide figures matter no matter which plan you pick:

• $2,400 — the out-of-pocket cap on covered Part D prescription drugs for 2027. Once you hit it, you pay nothing for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• $700 — the maximum Part D deductible a plan can charge in 2027.
• The donut hole is gone. As of 2025, Part D has three phases instead of four, and that continues in 2027.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan. This is an optional program that lets you spread your yearly drug costs into monthly payments instead of paying big amounts at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA (the higher-income surcharge on Part B and Part D) starts above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

Dates to circle

• Oct. 15 – Dec. 7: Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period. This is when you can join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for 2027.
• Jan. 1 – March 31: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance during this window to switch to a different MA plan or return to Original Medicare.

About Star Ratings

CMS rates Medicare Advantage and Part D contracts on a 1-to-5 scale based on things like customer service, member complaints, and preventive care. Under CMS's 2027 Star Ratings, 9 contracts offering plans in Madison County are rated 4 stars or higher, out of 19 contracts in the area (18 of which have a 2027 Star Rating). Ratings can shift year to year, and they're one factor among many — not a substitute for checking whether your doctors, drugs, and pharmacies are actually covered.

How to shrink 66 plans down to a short list

The fastest way to cut the list:

1. Go to Medicare.gov/plan-compare and enter your ZIP code. 2. Add your prescriptions and preferred pharmacy. 3. Add your doctors if you're looking at Medicare Advantage. 4. Sort by total yearly cost — not just premium.

That single exercise usually takes the list from dozens of plans to a handful worth reading in detail.