Newsroom · Utah, statewide
Are Medicare Advantage Premiums Going Up in Utah for 2027?
Mostly no. 16 of the 25 Utah plans that are coming back for 2027 are $0 this year and $0 next year. 7 raised the premium and 2 cut it. The cost that did move on nearly every plan is one the premium does not show: the drug deductible.
The bottom line
- 16 of 25 returning plans stay at $0. They hold about 129,355 Utah members, 80% of everyone in a returning plan.
- 7 plans raised the premium, by $10 to $41 a month. All are PPOs. Together they hold about 10,591 members.
- 2 plans lowered it. One of them is among the largest plans in the state.
- The drug deductible rose on 22 of the 25. That touches 97% of members in returning plans.
- About 45,067 members are in a plan with no 2027 listing. For them the question is a new plan, not a new premium.
The national headline is that premiums are falling. In its September 28 release, CMS projects the average Medicare Advantage premium will drop from $14.37 a month in 2026 to $12.00 in 2027, and says "approximately eight in 10 MA beneficiaries will be able to remain in their current plan with the same or a lower premium."
A national average does not tell you what happens to your plan in Utah. So we matched every Utah plan in the CMS 2026 file to the 2027 file by plan number and counted. This covers general Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage, the kind most people have. Special needs plans and plans without drug coverage are left out.
The Utah scoreboard
Source: CMS CY2027 and CY2026 landscape files, every Utah county, compared by Contract ID and Plan ID on October 13, 2026. 30 distinct plans in 2026, 27 in 2027. 18 of the 27 have a $0 plan premium for 2027; you still pay Part B.
Now the same thing counted in people. CMS's September enrollment file has about 207,719 Utahns in these plans.
| What happens to the premium | Members (Sept 2026) | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Stays at $0 | 129,355 | 62% |
| Goes down | 22,706 | 11% |
| Goes up | 10,591 | 5% |
| Plan has no 2027 listing | 45,067 | 22% |
Source: CMS CPSC enrollment, September 2026, summed across each plan's Utah counties. CMS hides any county count under 11, so these totals run slightly low.
Put the first two rows together and 73% of Utah members can keep their plan at the same or a lower premium. That is a little under the "eight in 10" CMS gives for the country, and the reason is the last row. More than a fifth of Utah's members are in plans that are not returning.
The nine Utah plans whose premium changed
| Plan | 2026 premium | 2027 premium | Change per month | Per year | Utah members |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regence MedAdvantage + Rx Classic (PPO) Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah · H4605-002 | $46 | $87 | +$41 | +$492 | 5,156 |
| Regence MedAdvantage + Rx Enhanced (PPO) Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah · H4605-004 | $135 | $158 | +$23 | +$276 | 962 |
| HumanaChoice H7617-016 (PPO) Humana · H7617-016 | $87 | $110 | +$23 | +$276 | under 11 per county |
| AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC UT-0001 (PPO) UnitedHealthcare · H2001-017 | $39 | $49 | +$10 | +$120 | 2,894 |
| AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC UT-0002 (PPO) UnitedHealthcare · H2001-023 | $0 | $10 | +$10 | +$120 | 1,372 |
| HumanaChoice H5216-048 (PPO) Humana · H5216-048 | $87 | $97 | +$10 | +$120 | under 11 per county |
| Humana Full Access (PPO) Humana · H7617-025 | $29 | $39 | +$10 | +$120 | 192 |
| AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC UT-0003 (HMO-POS) UnitedHealthcare · H4604-003 | $55 | $49 | −$6 | −$72 | 22,179 |
| Aetna Medicare Value Plus (PPO) Aetna Medicare · H5521-414 | $37.60 | $6.50 | −$31.10 | −$373.20 | 527 |
Source: CMS landscape files, "Monthly Consolidated Premium (Part C + D)"; CMS CPSC enrollment, September 2026. The two HumanaChoice plans are sold in 23 counties, but nearly every county count is under 11 and suppressed. Naming a plan is reporting, not a recommendation for or against it.
Two patterns. Every plan that raised its premium is a PPO, and six of the seven already charged a premium in 2026. And the one large plan on this list went the other way: UnitedHealthcare's UT-0003, with about 22,179 Utah members, drops from $55 to $49.
If you are in a Regence plan, the premium is only part of the 2027 story. Regence is also leaving eight Utah counties. That post has the county list.
What rose instead: the drug deductible
A plan can hold its premium at $0 and still cost more. The most common change in Utah for 2027 is the Part D deductible, the amount you pay for prescriptions before the plan starts sharing the cost. It went up on 22 of the 25 returning plans. The federal maximum for 2027 is $700 (CMS 2027 Announcement), and 13 of Utah's 27 plans are at it. Seven more are at $685.
Here are the six largest returning plans in the state. Five kept the premium at $0. All six raised the drug deductible.
| Plan | Utah members | Premium 2026 → 2027 | Drug deductible 2026 → 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AARP Medicare Advantage Essentials from UHC UT-4 (HMO-POS) H4604-011 | 28,506 | $0 → $0 | $440 → $685 +$245 |
| Select Health Medicare Essential (HMO) H1994-001 | 23,834 | $0 → $0 | $200 → $700 +$500 |
| AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC UT-0003 (HMO-POS) H4604-003 | 22,179 | $55 → $49 | $440 → $685 +$245 |
| AARP Medicare Advantage Extras UT-7 (HMO-POS) H4604-018 | 21,896 | $0 → $0 | $520 → $685 +$165 |
| Humana Value Choice (PPO) H7617-032 | 14,567 | $0 → $0 | $615 → $700 +$85 |
| Humana Essentials Plus Giveback (PPO) H5216-430 | 12,432 | $0 → $0 | $615 → $700 +$85 |
Source: CMS landscape files, "Annual Part D Deductible Amount"; CMS CPSC enrollment, September 2026. Many plans waive the deductible on lower drug tiers. The file does not show which tiers; your plan's Summary of Benefits does.
Whether this matters depends on what you take. If your prescriptions are all low-tier generics, a plan may not apply the deductible to them at all. If you take one brand-name drug, you may pay the first several hundred dollars of the year yourself. Our Utah Part D post walks through the 2027 drug rules.
The yearly out-of-pocket limit moved too: up on 17 returning plans, down on four. We ranked the Salt Lake County plans by that number in a separate post.
Want your plan's 2026 and 2027 numbers side by side?
Brian Penner has worked with Medicare clients for more than 22 years and serves all of Utah by phone or video from our Moab office. Bring your Annual Notice of Change and your prescription list. We will lay out the premium, the drug deductible and the yearly limit for your plan and for the plans we offer in your county, and let you choose. No cost, no pressure. We do not offer every plan available in your area. Call (435) 260-3200 or book below.
Book a phone appointment →If your plan is one of the five with no 2027 listing
About 45,067 Utah members are here, which is roughly one in five. A premium comparison does not apply, because there is no 2027 premium to compare. The five are the two HealthSpring plans, Select Health Medicare + Kroger, Aetna Medicare Enhanced, and Humana Value Choice under plan number H5216-456.
That last one needs care. A Humana Value Choice plan with a new number, H5216-471, appears for 2027 at $0 in seven of the old plan's twelve counties. Whether you are moved to it or simply non-renewed is in your letter, not in the CMS file. We covered how to tell.
For everyone in this group, the plan ends December 31 and the letter is dated October 2. Here are the dates you have to work with, and here is every discontinued plan by county.
The premium nobody has announced yet
Your Medicare Advantage premium is one of two. The other is Part B, which you pay to Medicare no matter which plan you are in. It is $202.90 a month in 2026 (CMS). CMS has not published the 2027 amount and usually does so in November, after you may already have chosen a plan. The Medicare Trustees' estimate is in this post.
A few Utah plans have "Giveback" in the name. Those pay part of your Part B premium for you. The amount is not in the landscape file, so we do not quote it here. It is in each plan's Summary of Benefits.
What I would check this week
- Open the Annual Notice of Change. The cost summary near the front shows this year and next year in two columns. Read three lines: monthly premium, drug deductible, maximum out-of-pocket.
- Multiply a premium change by twelve. $41 a month is $492 a year. $10 a month is $120.
- Check whether the new deductible applies to your drugs. Look up each prescription's tier for 2027.
- If nothing changed that affects you, you can stay. CMS says people who want to keep their coverage "generally do not need to re-enroll."
- If you want to switch, do it between October 15 and December 7. The new plan starts January 1 (Medicare.gov).
How we know all this: the Medicare On Main Data Desk frames every article with public data — here, the CMS September 28, 2026 release on 2027 premiums, the CMS CY2026 and CY2027 landscape files for every Utah county compared by Contract ID and Plan ID, the CMS September 2026 enrollment file, the CMS 2027 Announcement's Part D parameters and the CMS 2026 Part B fact sheet. Mentioning a carrier is factual reporting, not endorsement or criticism. This is education, not advice; confirm plans, costs and eligibility with a licensed agent or Medicare.gov. We take no payment from any carrier to feature a plan.
Frequently asked questions
Are Medicare Advantage premiums going up in 2027?
On average, no. CMS projects the average Medicare Advantage premium will fall from $14.37 a month in 2026 to $12.00 in 2027, and says about eight in ten members can stay in their current plan at the same or a lower premium. In Utah, 16 of the 25 returning plans with drug coverage are $0 both years, seven raised the premium by $10 to $41 a month, and two lowered it.
Which Medicare Advantage plans in Utah raised premiums for 2027?
Seven, per the CMS landscape files: Regence MedAdvantage + Rx Classic ($46 to $87) and Enhanced ($135 to $158), HumanaChoice H7617-016 ($87 to $110) and H5216-048 ($87 to $97), Humana Full Access ($29 to $39), and two UnitedHealthcare PPOs, UT-0001 ($39 to $49) and UT-0002 ($0 to $10). All seven are PPOs. Naming a plan here is reporting, not a recommendation for or against it.
How many $0 premium Medicare Advantage plans are there in Utah for 2027?
Eighteen of the 27 general Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage sold somewhere in Utah for 2027 have a $0 plan premium, per the CMS 2027 landscape file. Not every plan is sold in every county. A $0 plan premium does not make the coverage free: you still pay the Part B premium, plus copays, coinsurance and any deductible.
If my premium is still $0, did anything change?
Probably. The Part D drug deductible went up on 22 of Utah's 25 returning plans, and the in-network out-of-pocket limit went up on 17. Thirteen of the 27 plans for 2027 carry the full $700 drug deductible. Your Annual Notice of Change lists this year's and next year's figures side by side.
Will my Medicare Part B premium go up in 2027?
CMS has not announced it yet. The 2026 amount is $202.90 a month, and the agency usually publishes the next year's figure in November. The Part B premium is separate from your Medicare Advantage plan premium, and you pay it either way.
Do I have to do anything to keep my Medicare Advantage plan for 2027?
If your plan is returning, generally no. CMS says "people who want to keep their current Medicare coverage generally do not need to re-enroll." If your plan sent a non-renewal letter, that is different: it ends December 31 and you need to choose new coverage.
Sources
- CMS press release — Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Programs Expected to Remain Stable in 2027 (September 28, 2026).
- CMS — CY2027 Medicare Advantage / Part D Landscape file (zip) — the 27 Utah plans for 2027.
- CMS — CY2026 Medicare Advantage / Part D Landscape file (zip) — the 30 Utah plans for 2026.
- CMS — Monthly Enrollment by Contract/Plan/State/County (CPSC), September 2026.
- CMS — 2027 Announcement of Medicare Advantage and Part D rates and policies (Part D deductible $700, out-of-pocket threshold $2,400).
- CMS — 2026 Medicare Parts A and B premiums and deductibles (Part B $202.90).
- Medicare.gov — Joining a plan (Oct 15–Dec 7 changes start January 1).
- Medicare Plan Compare (Medicare.gov) — every plan in your county, with the copays and drug tiers the landscape file does not carry.
