Alignment Health said on Oct. 7 that its Medicare Advantage plans will reach Kern, Kings and Tulare counties in California on Jan. 1, 2027, bringing the insurer’s footprint to 25 counties that hold more than 6.3 million people on Medicare. The company will sell 46 plans in the state next year, with premiums as low as $0 for new members, and it is adding two doctor networks, Hoag in Orange County and Astrana Health in Southern California. The announcement comes days before Medicare’s annual enrollment period opens on Oct. 15, the window when current members can switch plans through Dec. 7.
Anyone on Medicare in Kern, Kings or Tulare county now has a new insurer’s plans to weigh this fall, and people in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties may find their doctors in the new networks. Alignment has not said which of its 46 plans will be sold in each of the three new counties, so the premium, drug costs and doctor list for a given address will show up only once the county’s 2027 plans are posted. The choice has to be made by Dec. 7 for coverage to start on Jan. 1…