Data
Medicare Plan Choices by State for 2026
For 2026, the average person with Medicare has 31.6 Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage (MA-PDs) available where they live, according to CMS's plan landscape file. That number varies widely by state, from 0 in Alaska to 53.4 in Pennsylvania, so the choices where you live may look very different a few states over. Stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs), which people with Original Medicare can add, range from 8 to 12 per state.
At a glance
Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage (MA-PDs) available to the average person with Medicare
31.6
Stand-alone drug plans (PDPs) offered in each state
8–12
Stand-alone drug plans where full Extra Help covers the basic premium, nationwide
88
Organizations offering Medicare Advantage plans, nationwide
115
Each bar shows how many Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage the average person with Medicare in that state can choose from.
Plan choices for 2026: all 50 states and the District of Columbia
Rows are sorted from the most plans available to the fewest.
| State | MA-PDs available (average per person) | All Medicare Advantage plans (average per person) | MA-PDs by county (fewest–most) | Stand-alone drug plans (PDPs) | PDPs where full Extra Help covers the basic premium | Medicare Advantage organizations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 53.4 | 65.8 | 27–69 | 12 | 3 | 15 |
| Ohio | 51.7 | 62.2 | 24–64 | 10 | 2 | 15 |
| Michigan | 49.7 | 57.7 | 8–63 | 12 | 3 | 11 |
| California | 37.8 | 41.9 | 0–68 | 12 | 2 | 21 |
| Illinois | 37.6 | 44.7 | 7–51 | 12 | 2 | 10 |
| Arizona | 37.3 | 42.7 | 5–46 | 10 | 3 | 13 |
| Florida | 36.3 | 47.1 | 4–49 | 10 | 1 | 15 |
| Texas | 35.8 | 45.6 | 3–56 | 12 | 1 | 17 |
| North Carolina | 33.0 | 43.1 | 8–48 | 12 | 2 | 10 |
| Georgia | 32.7 | 47.2 | 11–43 | 10 | 2 | 11 |
| Indiana | 32.4 | 40.4 | 18–40 | 10 | 3 | 9 |
| New Jersey | 31.6 | 39.7 | 24–38 | 12 | 2 | 9 |
| Nevada | 30.2 | 33.2 | 0–37 | 10 | 2 | 12 |
| South Carolina | 30.2 | 41.6 | 18–39 | 11 | 2 | 9 |
| Tennessee | 29.9 | 37.4 | 19–37 | 12 | 2 | 9 |
| Massachusetts | 28.4 | 34.1 | 4–36 | 11 | 4 | 10 |
| Kentucky | 27.9 | 35.7 | 13–37 | 10 | 3 | 8 |
| Alabama | 27.8 | 34.8 | 18–33 | 12 | 2 | 7 |
| Colorado | 27.7 | 33.9 | 0–37 | 10 | 2 | 11 |
| Missouri | 27.5 | 34.5 | 5–38 | 10 | 2 | 9 |
| West Virginia | 26.9 | 34.9 | 18–30 | 12 | 3 | 7 |
| New York | 25.3 | 32.5 | 7–34 | 10 | 2 | 17 |
| Arkansas | 24.8 | 33.5 | 11–33 | 12 | 3 | 8 |
| Virginia | 24.6 | 32.4 | 8–33 | 9 | 2 | 8 |
| Washington | 24.2 | 30.5 | 2–37 | 10 | 3 | 10 |
| Oklahoma | 22.3 | 30.6 | 3–31 | 11 | 3 | 8 |
| Louisiana | 22.2 | 28.0 | 15–28 | 10 | 2 | 6 |
| Connecticut | 21.8 | 26.1 | 16–24 | 11 | 4 | 8 |
| Wisconsin | 20.8 | 30.2 | 2–29 | 10 | 4 | 12 |
| Oregon | 20.6 | 26.4 | 0–33 | 10 | 3 | 11 |
| Mississippi | 20.2 | 25.8 | 6–28 | 10 | 2 | 9 |
| New Mexico | 19.8 | 23.6 | 2–29 | 11 | 4 | 7 |
| Nebraska | 19.2 | 23.2 | 0–26 | 11 | 4 | 8 |
| Utah | 18.8 | 25.0 | 0–24 | 10 | 3 | 7 |
| Kansas | 18.2 | 24.9 | 0–29 | 12 | 4 | 7 |
| Maine | 16.6 | 23.0 | 11–19 | 9 | 3 | 6 |
| Delaware | 15.8 | 20.8 | 12–18 | 10 | 2 | 7 |
| Minnesota | 15.8 | 19.2 | 0–25 | 11 | 4 | 8 |
| Iowa | 15.0 | 19.4 | 5–21 | 11 | 4 | 10 |
| Hawaii | 14.8 | 17.7 | 2–17 | 8 | 4 | 5 |
| Maryland | 13.7 | 19.7 | 5–19 | 10 | 2 | 8 |
| District of Columbia | 11.0 | 16.0 | 11–11 | 10 | 2 | 6 |
| Rhode Island | 10.7 | 13.7 | 10–11 | 11 | 4 | 3 |
| Montana | 10.5 | 13.7 | 0–17 | 11 | 4 | 4 |
| Idaho | 9.7 | 15.1 | 0–16 | 10 | 3 | 5 |
| New Hampshire | 8.8 | 10.7 | 1–14 | 9 | 3 | 4 |
| North Dakota | 7.7 | 9.7 | 2–12 | 11 | 4 | 5 |
| South Dakota | 4.2 | 6.9 | 0–8 | 11 | 4 | 5 |
| Wyoming | 3.4 | 5.9 | 1–6 | 11 | 4 | 3 |
| Vermont | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0–2 | 11 | 4 | 1 |
| Alaska | 0 | 0 | 0–0 | 9 | 3 | 0 |
Puerto Rico is shown after the table and is not ranked with the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
| State | MA-PDs available (average per person) | All Medicare Advantage plans (average per person) | MA-PDs by county (fewest–most) | Stand-alone drug plans (PDPs) | PDPs where full Extra Help covers the basic premium | Medicare Advantage organizations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puerto Rico | 20.5 | 21.5 | 19–22 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
What CMS has announced for Part D in 2027
CMS has announced that in 2027, the most anyone with Part D pays out of pocket for covered drugs in a year rises to $2,400, from $2,100 in 2026, and the highest yearly deductible a Part D plan can set rises to $700, from $615.
To compare specific plans, use the Medicare Plan Finder at Medicare.gov or call your state's free SHIP counselor.
How we built this
- We count plans in CMS's Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan Landscape file for 2026 (CY2026_Landscape_202609.csv, data last updated September 2, 2026).
- A Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage (MA-PD) is a row where "Contract Category Type" is "MA-PD" and "Special Needs Plan (SNP) Indicator" is "No", counted once per contract, plan and segment in each county. The all-plans figure also counts rows where "Contract Category Type" is "MA". Special Needs Plans and Cost plans are left out, and CMS does not list employer-only plans in this file.
- Each state's average weights every county's plan count by the number of people with both Part A and Part B who live there, from CMS's Medicare Monthly Enrollment data for May 2026 (A_B_TOT_BENES). A county with no Medicare Advantage plan counts as zero, and the fewest and most per county include those counties. In Connecticut, the counties in CMS's plan file do not match the areas in its enrollment data, so we use the plain average across the counties in the plan file.
- A stand-alone drug plan (PDP) is a row where "Contract Category Type" is "PDP", counted once per contract and plan in each state. A PDP counts as one where full Extra Help covers the basic premium when "Part D Basic Premium At or Below Regional Benchmark" is "Yes" or "Voluntary De Minimis Program Participant" is "Yes", the rule described in the file's ReadMe.
- The organization count is the number of distinct parent organizations offering a Medicare Advantage plan in the state. We publish the count only, not the names.
- Counts include plans CMS marks as under sanction.
- American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and Virgin Islands are not included, because CMS reports them separately from the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
- We publish this analysis as education. We do not sell insurance, and no plan pays us based on how this table ranks its state.
- More plans in your state is not a recommendation for any plan type; the number of choices says nothing about which plan fits you.
Source: CMS Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan Landscape: https://www.cms.gov/medicare/coverage/prescription-drug-coverage
Data updated: September 15, 2026
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