7 Medicare Advantage Changes Georgians Should Read Before They Renew

CMS enrollment data, as of mid-2024, put more than 1 million Georgia Medicare beneficiaries on a Medicare Advantage plan already, over half of everyone in the state who qualifies.

The window to trade that plan in for 2027 opens next Thursday, October 15.

Renewal isn’t automatic this year for everybody.

Federal regulators rewrote many of the plan rules for 2027.

These are the Medicare Advantage changes Georgians and enrollees across the country should read before they renew.

Note: This is general information, not medical or insurance advice. Medicare Advantage rules, benefits, and costs are subject to change, so confirm your plan’s current details with Medicare.gov or a free Georgia SHIP (GeorgiaCares) counselor.

1. Resetting the Star-Rating Scorecard

Medicare Advantage star ratings score every plan from 1 to 5 each year, and a higher score means the company behind your plan collects a bonus from Medicare.

That bonus money is where a lot of the free dental, vision, and grocery perks come from.

For 2027, regulators dropped a reward tied to health-equity scores from that scorecard.

A bigger shake-up follows close behind: Regulators are retiring 11 measures that mostly graded paperwork instead of patient care.

Those retirements land with the 2028 and 2029 Star Ratings, and a new depression-screening measure joins the scorecard for 2029.

A plan that looked strong under the old measures could rate differently under the new ones, through no fault of the care members got.

Same rating, different math.

2. New Strings on Flex Cards

Medicare Advantage flex cards load a set dollar amount onto a card for groceries, over-the-counter items, dental work, or utility bills, depending on the plan.

Enrollees who carry one just got new strings attached.

Starting with 2027 plans, the insurer behind the card has to verify each purchase in real time at checkout instead of automatically approving the swipe.

The dollars are locked to that single plan year, too, so they won’t carry into 2028.

And if the card fails at the register, the plan now has to offer another way to pay.

No more guessing.

3. Mid-Year Notice, Canceled Early

Medicare Advantage plans with dental, vision, or fitness perks were on track to gain a mid-year check-in requirement.

A 2024 rule would have required insurers to send a notice halfway through the year.

That notice would have flagged any of those supplemental dollars a member hadn’t touched yet, starting with plan year 2026.

Regulators finalized that requirement, then rescinded it in the CY2027 rule before it ever took effect.

If your dental allowance or your fitness credit sits unused, nobody is required to remind you before it resets.

Mark your calendar.

4. Fielding a Different Sales Pitch

Medicare Advantage marketing calls and mailers are about to change shape.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) lifted several limits on when and how a licensed agent can contact someone shopping for a plan.

Those limits had reined in cold outreach during the last few Annual Enrollment Periods.

The required sales-call disclaimer changed too.

Agents no longer have to read it within the first minute of the call.

The new rule just requires it before they get into plan benefits, which can land later than a minute in.

Expect more calls.

Expect them to sound different too.

5. Adding Hemp to the Menu

Medicare Advantage plans can add a new kind of extra benefit for 2027, hemp-derived products that are legal under federal law.

Think hemp seed oil and similar items, not anything containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Cannabis that’s illegal under federal or state law still stays off any plan’s benefit list.

Nobody has to offer it.

It’s a menu option each insurer decides on its own, not a guarantee sitting inside every plan.

6. Raising the Drug-Cost Ceiling

Medicare Advantage plans that bundle drug coverage carry a yearly ceiling on what a member pays out of pocket for prescriptions.

That ceiling already rose from $2,000 to $2,100 between 2025 and 2026.

Kiplinger’s retirement coverage reports it’s set to reach $2,400 for 2027.

The deductible many plans charge before coverage kicks in is rising too, from $615 to $700.

That’s $85 more you pay before your Medicare Advantage plan’s drug benefit even starts covering its share.

That adds up.

7. Renewing Without a Guarantee

Medicare Advantage plans don’t come with a promise that they’ll still exist next year.

Humana, one of the country’s largest Medicare Advantage insurers, is shutting down some of its least profitable plans for 2027.

Roughly 600,000 members are losing their current plan because of it, nationwide.

Humana’s finance chief has said the move is about hitting a profit target, not about member care.

Do nothing after a plan like that ends, and you default to Original Medicare on January 1 with no drug coverage and no Medigap automatically attached.

You have to actively pick a new plan.

A Special Enrollment Period gives you a window to do exactly that.

Act on it.

Finding Free Help in Georgia

Georgia runs a free counseling program for exactly this kind of Medicare decision, the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), known locally as Georgia SHIP (GeorgiaCares).

Trained volunteers with Georgia SHIP walk callers through plan comparisons at no cost and with no sales pitch attached.

More than half of Georgia’s Medicare beneficiaries, over 1 million people as of mid-2024, have already made that choice once.

Not alone this time.

Reading the Letter Already Sent

Every Medicare Advantage plan sends its members an Annual Notice of Change each September.

That notice spells out next year's premium, drug list, and network before the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) even opens.

The letter is easy to set aside unopened.

Don't.

A companion document, the Evidence of Coverage, spells out the complete rulebook behind whatever the notice summarizes.