Medicare Advantage

Medicare in St. Cloud, Minnesota: 2027 Plans

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — If you're shopping for Medicare coverage in central Minnesota this fall, you have real choices to sort through for 2027. St. Cloud sits in Stearns County, where 16 Medicare Advantage plans were available for 2026, according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plan landscape data. The 2027 lineup is described in each plan's Annual Notice of Change and on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder.

St. Cloud heads into 2027 with a full slate of Medicare choices

That's the headline number for local shoppers: 16 Medicare Advantage options on the county menu, offered by 3 carriers. Whether you're aging into Medicare, moving to the area, or just re-checking your coverage during the Annual Enrollment Period, knowing how big the field is — and how it's shaped — is the right place to start.

What the 2026 count looked like — and where to find 2027

Here's the local snapshot for Stearns County, drawn from CMS's 2026 plan data:

• Medicare Advantage plans available: 16
• Carriers offering Medicare Advantage with drug coverage (MA-PD): 3
• Stand-alone Part D drug plans available: Minnesota has 11 stand-alone Part D plans for 2026, sold statewide (see note below)
• Contracts rated 4 stars or higher in the local landscape: under CMS's 2026 Star Ratings, 3 of the 7 Medicare Advantage contracts offering plans in Stearns County

A quick word on stand-alone Part D. CMS sells PDPs by region, never county by county, so people who stay with Original Medicare still have PDP options available to them — Minnesota has 11 stand-alone Part D plans for 2026, sold statewide, and anyone in the state can join one of them. Medicare.gov's Plan Finder will show the PDPs available at your ZIP code.

St. Cloud is home to a sizable Medicare-eligible population — roughly 25,871 residents aged 65 and older live across Stearns County — so the 16-plan lineup gives most shoppers meaningful room to compare.

How to read "16 plans" without getting overwhelmed

Sixteen plans can feel like a lot when you're staring at a screen. A few things to keep in mind:

• Plans differ in structure, not just price. Some are HMOs, some PPOs, some are built around specific needs (like Special Needs Plans for people with certain chronic conditions or dual Medicare–Medicaid eligibility).
• The same carrier often offers several plans. With 3 carriers offering 16 MA-PD options, each carrier is putting multiple products in front of you.
• Your doctors and prescriptions are the filter. The fastest way to shrink 16 down to a manageable short list is to enter your providers and medications into Medicare's Plan Finder at medicare.gov.

What Star Ratings mean (and don't mean)

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 measures. Under CMS's 2026 Star Ratings, 3 of the 7 Medicare Advantage contracts offering plans in Stearns County are rated 4 stars or higher.

Star Ratings shift year to year, some contracts aren't rated yet, and ratings measure a contract overall — not your personal experience with a specific doctor or drug. Use stars as one data point, alongside network, drug coverage, and total costs.

Program-level numbers to know for 2027

Even though this article is about local counts, a few nationwide 2026 figures shape every plan you'll see:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100 in 2026 ($2,400 in 2027). Once your covered drug spending hits that amount, you pay $0 for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $615 in 2026 ($700 in 2027).
• The old "donut hole" coverage gap is gone as of 2025. Part D now has three phases: deductible, initial coverage, and catastrophic.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: an optional program that lets you spread your drug costs out in monthly payments instead of paying big amounts at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA surcharges (higher Part B and Part D premiums for higher earners) begin above $109,000 in income for single filers in 2026.

Key dates for St. Cloud shoppers

• Annual Enrollment Period: October 15 – December 7, 2026. This is when most people compare plans and make changes for 2027 coverage.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period: January 1 – March 31. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance during this window to switch to another Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare.