The Medicare Advantage market, the private plan alternative to traditional Medicare, is dynamic, and plan offerings can change from year to year. With 28 Medicare Advantage prescription drug (MA-PD) plans available to the average beneficiary in 2027, most people with Medicare have a robust set of MA-PD options. However, Medicare Advantage plans are offered at the county level, and variation in plan availability across the country has long been a feature of the Medicare Advantage market. This analysis uses Medicare plan landscape data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to examine county-level variation in MA-PD plan availability in 2027 and changes from 2026. This analysis does not examine changes in costs, benefits, or other plan characteristics. The analysis shows that plan level availability varies widely across the country in 2027, with a modest reduction in the share of enrollees having more than 40 MA-PDs to choose from compared to 2026, and some major insurers exiting a much larger number of counties than they are entering. ARTICLE
