At $53.04 a month for 2027, the average Medicare Advantage premium in Hawaii runs about 25 times Florida’s $2.13, according to the state fact sheets CMS published Sept. 28. Hawaii’s figure barely moved from $53.44 in 2026, while Florida’s rose from $1.83, so the distance between the two narrowed even as it stayed wide.
A $50.91 monthly gap, multiplied out
The CMS fact sheets present each state’s premium as the way “the average monthly MA plan premium changed” from 2026 to 2027. Hawaii’s $53.04 and Florida’s $2.13 differ by $50.91 a month. Over 12 months the averages come to $636.48 in Hawaii and $25.56 in Florida, a gap of $610.92 a year for a member paying the state average. In 2026 the ratio was larger: $53.44 against $1.83 is about 29 times.
Year over year, the changes are small in dollars. Hawaii’s average is $0.40 lower, or $4.80 over a year, and Florida’s is $0.30 higher, or $3.60 over a year. Florida’s sheet lists Medicare enrollment of 5,334,437. In percentage terms, Florida’s 30-cent rise is 16 percent, behind only Connecticut’s 50 percent and Idaho’s 36 percent among the four states whose averages went up, while Hawaii’s decline is under 1 percent.
The market behind each number is different in size. Hawaii moves from 44 Medicare Advantage plans to 46, and the sheet lists eight stand-alone drug plans. Florida moves from 611 plans to 560, the largest plan count among the states read, with 11 stand-alone drug plans listed for 2027. Florida’s plan count is about 12 times Hawaii’s, and its average premium is about one twenty-fifth as large.
Florida is not the floor
Florida’s $2.13 is the low end of the comparison in the headline, but the alphabetical block from Alabama through Kentucky holds a lower figure: Arkansas’s average is $1.47, down from $2.12. Arizona sits at $2.81, Georgia at $2.99, Kentucky at $4.90 and Kansas at $5.90. At the other end, Idaho’s average is $37.93, Connecticut’s $25.31 and the District of Columbia’s $16.91, all below Hawaii’s. Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Colorado, Delaware and California fall between $7.11 and $14.33.
Sorted into bands, five of the 17 averages are under $5 (Arkansas, Florida, Arizona, Georgia and Kentucky), eight run from $5 to $15 (Kansas, Illinois, Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, California and Delaware), three run from $15 to $40 (the District of Columbia, Connecticut and Idaho) and one, Hawaii, is above $40.
Hawaii therefore stands apart from the rest of the block, more than $15 above the next-highest state, Idaho. Alaska, American Samoa and Guam show no Medicare Advantage figures on the sheets.
Hawaii’s average against the national number and Part B
CMS said in its Sept. 28 announcement that the weighted national average premium for 2027 is $12.00, down from $14.37. Hawaii’s state average is more than four times that national figure, and Florida’s is less than one-fifth of it. CMS also projected Medicare Advantage enrollment of 34 million in 2027, or 47.4 percent of Medicare beneficiaries, which puts both state averages inside a program that now covers close to half of the Medicare population. Medicare.gov lists the 2026 standard Part B premium at $202.90 a month, which Medicare Advantage members keep paying. Measured against that Part B premium, the Hawaii average is about 26 percent and the Florida average about 1 percent.
Those percentages compare a 2027 plan average with a 2026 Part B figure, so they show scale rather than a projected bill. The same Medicare.gov page points to Medicare Savings Programs, for people with limited income and resources, and to Extra Help with plan premiums and other drug costs.
Counseling in the two states
The Hawaii Department of Health’s Executive Office on Aging runs Hawaii SHIP, where trained volunteer counselors give consultations “at no charge to the public.” The office lists Medigap and Medicare Advantage options and resources to help pay Medicare costs among the topics, with a local Oahu number of 586-7299 and a toll-free line at 1-888-875-9229. The office also lists Medicare coverage while traveling and preventive benefits for older adults among the topics counselors address.
In Florida, the Department of Elder Affairs describes its SHINE program as providing “free one-on-one insurance counseling and community education regarding Medicare options,” through the Elder Helpline at 1-800-963-5337.
When a member can act on the gap
A state average is not a price tag on any plan, and a member’s actual premium depends on the plan and county. Medicare’s Open Enrollment runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, when members can join, drop or switch Medicare Advantage plans, change drug plans in Original Medicare or move between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. A request received by Dec. 7 takes effect Jan. 1, according to Medicare.gov. The page adds that a person moving to Original Medicare may need supplemental coverage, sold by private insurers as Medigap.
For members in other states, the SHIP locator, which is supported by the Administration for Community Living at HHS, routes to a local counselor and lists a national toll-free number, 877-839-2675.
Medicare cost help, state by state
Beneficiaries who pay a Medicare premium or a drug bill out of a fixed income can look to state-run programs that reduce those costs, and each state sets its own limits and application steps. Those programs work alongside the choice of plan and rarely appear in a plan comparison.
The Medicare Cost & Coverage Protection Kit contains 51 state Medicare cost-help packs and a medication and cost tracker for recording what each plan and drug costs.
Look up the Medicare cost-help pack for a home state →
This article was produced with AI assistance and checked against the primary sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
