The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its 2027 state-by-state Medicare Advantage fact sheets on September 28, and the plan counts move in opposite directions depending on the state. Arkansas drops from 91 plans to 84 and Georgia from 166 to 161, while Indiana rises from 127 to 140 and Kentucky from 114 to 123. That is seven fewer plans in Arkansas, five fewer in Georgia, 13 more in Indiana and nine more in Kentucky, all landing ahead of an Open Enrollment window that runs October 15 to December 7.
None of those differences is printed in the document. Each sheet gives a 2027 plan count “compared to” a 2026 count and leaves the subtraction to the reader, so the changes above are arithmetic on CMS’s own two figures. What they show is how much a Medicare beneficiary’s menu of Medicare Advantage options can differ depending on the state line.
Two states shrink, two grow, on the same sheet layout
Every state sheet in the CMS landscape fact sheets opens with Medicare enrollment and a single plan-count sentence. Arkansas, with 692,771 people on Medicare, reads “84 MA plans are available in 2027, compared to 91 plans in 2026,” a seven-plan drop of about 7.7 percent. Georgia, with 2,029,629 people on Medicare, reads 161 plans against 166, a five-plan drop of about 3 percent.
The growth states run the other way. Indiana, with 1,426,351 people on Medicare, goes from 127 plans to 140, a gain of 13 or about 10.2 percent. Kentucky, with 1,010,021, goes from 114 to 123, a gain of nine or about 7.9 percent. The sheets also count stand-alone prescription drug plans, which sit apart from Medicare Advantage: 11 in Arkansas, nine in Georgia and eight each in Indiana and Kentucky.
A national count that barely moves
The state swings sit against a nearly flat national picture. In its September 28 announcement, CMS put the national Medicare Advantage plan count at 5,553 in 2026 and approximately 5,532 in 2027, about 21 fewer plans across the whole country. The agency expects roughly 34 million Medicare Advantage enrollees in 2027, 47.4 percent of everyone on Medicare, and says more than 99 percent of beneficiaries can reach at least one Medicare Advantage plan.
CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz framed the announcement around cost: “By slashing handouts to big insurance companies, CMS is keeping premiums stable.” The release puts the weighted average monthly Medicare Advantage premium at $12.00 for 2027, down from $14.37 in 2026, a 16.5 percent decrease. For Medicare Advantage plans that include drug coverage, the average falls from $11.32 to $7.00. The stand-alone Part D average moves the other way, from $35.09 to $36.00.
What a state total cannot say about one member’s plan
A plan count is a net figure. Arkansas losing seven plans could mean seven plans ended or a larger number ended while a few launched; Indiana gaining 13 could mean 13 launches or more launches offsetting some endings. The sheets do not break the totals down, and they do not say which plans, insurers or counties sit behind each number. A member in a state that gained plans can still hold a plan that is ending, and a member in a state that lost plans may find the plan already held carrying forward.
CMS’s own national reassurance is worded in terms of the member rather than the market: the release says about 8 in 10 Medicare Advantage beneficiaries can stay in their current plan with the same or a lower premium in 2027. The release does not address the rest of the Medicare Advantage population, and the state totals cannot identify which members they are.
How the October 15 to December 7 window handles a change
The Medicare.gov joining-a-plan page gives the Open Enrollment dates as October 15 to December 7, with coverage starting January 1 of the next year as long as the plan receives the request to join by December 7. People already in a Medicare Advantage plan also get a separate period from January 1 to March 31, with coverage beginning the first of the month after the plan receives the request.
The comparison itself is free and can be done directly. Medicare.gov and 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227; TTY 1-877-486-2048) are the official routes for questions about joining or changing a plan, and no paid service is needed to review, keep or change one. Because the fact sheets stop at state totals, the plan-specific notice from the member’s own insurer is where a change to one person’s plan would appear.
The state sheets, then, are a map of how many choices exist rather than a verdict on any one plan. CMS’s September 28 fact sheets and press release are the record for the counts, the average premiums and the dates, and each of the four named states turns on the same pair of numbers: the 2026 count and the 2027 count printed on its own sheet.
Plan counts by state and the choice that follows
CMS’s 2027 fact sheets show Arkansas and Georgia with fewer Medicare Advantage plans and Indiana and Kentucky with more, but a state total says nothing about whether an individual plan carries forward. The unfinished job for a beneficiary is comparing the current plan against the alternatives on cost, drugs and doctors before the December 7 close of Open Enrollment.
The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit includes a cost calculator spreadsheet that compares plans on cost, drugs and doctors, a prescription-by-plan comparison and the Open Enrollment calendar.
Compare plans on cost, drugs and doctors before the December 7 close →
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.
