Aetna Medicare Elite Plans 2027: PPO and HMO Options, States and Benefits

Aetna Medicare Elite is not sold everywhere Aetna sells Medicare Advantage. Here are the 15 states with Elite plans for 2027, largest footprint first:

Source: CMS 2027 Plan Benefit Package and plan service area data, individual (non-employer) plans.

Not every Elite plan is sold in every county of these states. In New York, for example, Elite plans are listed in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, the Capital Region and much of upstate, but not every county. Check by ZIP code before you count on a specific plan.

Comparing CMS’s 2026 and 2027 plan data, the Elite lineup changed in a few ways:

The Elite growth runs against Aetna’s overall direction. For 2027 Aetna is exiting 123 counties, leaving Maryland and New Hampshire, and cutting 20 PPO plans. If you’re in an Aetna plan now, read your Annual Notice of Change to see exactly what happens to your plan. See our guide to Aetna Medicare Advantage plans for the full picture.

Most Elite plans are PPOs. Of the 42 plans for 2027, 35 are PPOs, 6 are HMOs and 1 is an HMO-POS. Here’s what else CMS’s 2027 benefit data shows. Amounts and rules depend on the plan and county:

None of the Elite plans are special needs plans, so anyone with Medicare Parts A and B who lives in the service area can join. Learn more about how Aetna Medicare Advantage PPO plans work, including the in-network and combined out-of-pocket limits. Check each plan’s 2027 Summary of Benefits for exact premiums and copays.

Star ratings are given to each Medicare contract, not to a plan name, so two Elite plans in different states can have different ratings. 27 of the 42 Elite plans are on Aetna’s national PPO contract, H5521. The rest are spread across nine other Aetna contracts.

Across all its Medicare Advantage plans, Aetna says more than 69% of its members are in plans rated 4 stars or higher for 2027, down from more than 81% for 2026. The national average rating for 2027 is 3.99. Look up the exact rating for any Elite plan in Medicare Plan Finder, or see every carrier in our 2027 Medicare Advantage star ratings.

Signature is Aetna’s largest plan family, with 214 individual plans in 39 states for 2027. Elite is much smaller, with 42 plans in 15 states. In many Elite states, such as Georgia, Missouri, New York and Virginia, you may see both Elite and Signature plans in the same ZIP code.

The names don’t tell you which plan costs less or covers more. Compare the premium, the out-of-pocket maximum, drug costs and the provider network side by side. See our guide to Aetna Medicare Signature plans for the Signature lineup.

A good fit if you:

Look harder at other options if you: