Alignment Health is bringing Medicare Advantage plans to four more Charlotte-area counties for 2027: Cabarrus, Gaston, Mecklenburg and Rowan. The California-based insurer says a range of the new plans include a $3,000 annual dental allowance, and that the move reaches more than 295,000 people with Medicare in the new area.
The coverage starts January 1, 2027. Medicare’s open enrollment season, when people can pick or change a plan, runs from October 15 to December 7, 2026.
What Alignment announced
The company announced the expansion on October 13 in a news release. It puts the Charlotte-area market at nearly 300,000 Medicare beneficiaries and says three of the four counties have Medicare Advantage use above the state average. Alignment’s North Carolina footprint covers 20 counties and more than 992,000 people with Medicare.
The 295,000 figure counts people with Medicare who live in the new counties. It is not a count of enrollees.
“Every senior deserves healthcare that is personal, compassionate and easy to navigate,” said Dawn Maroney, president of Alignment Health and CEO of Alignment Health Plan.
The $3,000 dental allowance and the rebate
The release says a “range of new plans” in the Charlotte region carry the $3,000 annual dental allowance. It does not say every plan does, and it does not describe what the allowance covers beyond dental care. The same range of plans includes a monthly Part B premium rebate, a refund of part of the standard Medicare premium that goes to the plan member. No dollar amount for the rebate is given, and no monthly plan premiums are stated.
Alignment’s North Carolina lineup for 2027 has eight Medicare Advantage plans, in HMO, HMO point-of-service, HMO chronic condition, HMO dual-eligible and PPO forms, but the release does not name them or say which ones sell in the four new counties.
The question for anyone in Cabarrus, Gaston, Mecklenburg or Rowan counties is whether the new plan fits their own care and cost. A dental allowance helps only a person who uses it, and higher premiums or drug costs can cancel it out.
The $3,000 dental allowance is in only a range of Alignment’s new Charlotte-area plans, and the rebate amount and the premiums were not stated. The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit includes a cost calculator spreadsheet that compares plans on cost, drugs and doctors, so the Alignment plan can be priced against a current one.
Price the Alignment plan against the current one in the Decision Kit cost calculator →
Drugs, doctors and other benefits
Alignment says that, depending on the plan, members pay $0 copays on more than 10,000 prescribed medications. Plans can also include over-the-counter and grocery allowances, fitness programs and in-home support, none with amounts stated. All members get a 24-hour concierge team for benefits questions and finding doctors.
In the Charlotte region the network includes Novant Health, Tryon Medical Partners and Oak Street Health, plus what the release calls many other physicians and facilities. The company cites more than 17,000 primary care doctors and specialists across its North Carolina regions. Its 2027 North Carolina HMO contract is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars in Medicare’s rating system.
Enrollment depends on Alignment’s contract renewal with Medicare, the release says. Members can reach the company at 1-888-979-2247, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays.
The 2027 market around it
CMS projects that the average monthly Medicare Advantage premium will fall from $14.37 in 2026 to $12.00 in 2027, and that 34 million people, about 47.4 percent of everyone with Medicare, will be in Advantage plans. CMS also says supplemental benefits such as dental, vision and hearing are expected to stay stable, and that people who want to keep their current coverage generally do not need to re-enroll.
CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz urged beneficiaries to use open enrollment to review their coverage and compare options.
The same release covers drug coverage. The average monthly premium for a stand-alone Part D drug plan is projected to rise from $35.09 in 2026 to $36 in 2027, an increase of less than $1. For Advantage plans that include drug coverage, CMS projects the average Part D premium, after rebates, to fall from $11.32 to $7. More than 99 percent of people with Medicare can reach at least one Advantage plan, and 97 percent can choose among 10 or more, even as the national plan count slips from 5,553 to about 5,532. About eight in 10 Advantage members can stay in their current plan at the same or a lower premium, CMS says.
People with limited income have other routes. CMS says Medicare Savings Programs can help pay Medicare premiums, and that people enrolled in one automatically qualify for Extra Help with Part D costs.
Checking 2027 plans in the four counties
Medicare’s own Plan Finder at Medicare.gov/plan-compare costs nothing and sets health and drug plans side by side on premiums, costs and benefits once a ZIP code is entered. Help by phone from 1-800-MEDICARE is available at any hour.
North Carolina also has free counseling. The state Department of Insurance’s Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program offers “free, unbiased information and counseling to Medicare beneficiaries and caregivers,” with counselors in every county, at 855-408-1212.
Before picking a plan, line up the monthly premium, the Part B rebate amount, the drug list, the dental allowance rules and whether each doctor is in the network. Alignment’s own plan documents, the Summary of Benefits and the Evidence of Coverage, are where premiums and allowances are spelled out, and the plan finder on its website returns plans by ZIP code.
The $3,000 dental allowance is not on every Alignment plan
A plan picked for a headline benefit can still cost more once drugs and doctors are counted, and the window to change closes December 7. The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit includes a prescription-by-plan comparison and a provider call script, so each drug and each doctor can be matched to the Alignment plan and the current one before the choice is made.
Use the Decision Kit’s provider call script on Alignment’s Charlotte network →
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Financial Wire’s editorial team.
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.
