Medicare Advantage plans in Nebraska for 2027

Cost plans: the option most Nebraskans have never heard of

A Medicare cost plan is not a Medicare Advantage plan in the usual sense, and the difference is the network. Federal rules require a cost plan to tell members that they may receive services through any Medicare provider and supplier (42 CFR 417.436), so going outside the plan's own doctors does not leave you without coverage. Cost plans must also hold an open enrollment of at least 30 consecutive days each year (42 CFR 417.426), and they accept people who have Part B only (42 CFR 417.422). In Nebraska the 4 cost plans in the 2027 file are Medica's Prime Solution line. Some come without drug coverage, which means pairing them with a stand-alone Part D plan or other creditable coverage.

That pairing matters because going without drug coverage for 63 days or more after your first chance to enroll adds a permanent penalty to any later Part D premium, as the calculator shows.

Douglas County to Cherry County

Douglas County, which holds Omaha, lists 24 open plans with 15 at $0 and caps starting at $4,400. The plan count falls steadily as you cross the state. Cherry has no open-to-all plan for 2027, so most residents there rely on Original Medicare, adding a Medigap policy and a drug plan if they want them. No cost plan is filed there either, and the few special needs plans take only people who also have Medicaid. Check the county table before assuming a plan you saw advertised in Omaha is sold in Valentine.

Who writes the plans

Medica Holding Company (7), CVS Health Corporation (7), UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (6), Humana Inc. (4), Devoted Health, Inc. (3), Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska (3) file the open plans counted here. The state's own Blue Cross plan sits alongside the national carriers, and 11 of the plans are HMOs against 19 PPOs. The total moved from 37 in 2026 to 34, 3 fewer plans.