Best Medicare Advantage Plans in Arizona (2026)

The best Medicare Advantage plans in Arizona for 2026 are SCAN Health Plan, Wellpoint and Humana.

Compare Arizona Medicare Advantage companies to find coverage that works for you.

Updated: June 19, 2026

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Key Takeaways

Arizona has 68 Medicare Advantage plans from 11 insurers across four plan types: HMO, HMO-POS, PPO and regional PPO. While many plans feature $0 monthly premiums, prices can climb as high as $295 depending on the plan and coverage level.

Top Arizona Medicare Advantage providers include SCAN Health Plan for HMO, Wellpoint for HMO-POS and Humana for PPO plans.

Find the right Arizona Medicare Advantage plan by weighing provider access, prescription drug coverage and your budget for monthly and out-of-pocket costs.

Best Medicare Advantage Providers in Arizona

We analyzed Arizona Medicare Advantage plans across CMS star ratings, premium costs and maximum out-of-pocket limits to identify the top option for each plan type.

SCAN Health Plan leads for HMO coverage with a 4.5 CMS star rating and $0 monthly premium. Its maximum out-of-pocket limit of $2,250 is the lowest of any plan in MoneyGeek's Arizona Medicare Advantage data. Wellpoint's best HMO-POS plan sets a $2,700 MOOP with no monthly premium. Humana's PPO plans charge $0 per month, with a top-rated PPO plan carrying a $6,100 out-of-pocket limit.


HMO	SCAN Health Plan	4.50	$0	$2,250	SCAN Classic (HMO)
HMO-POS	Wellpoint	3.50	$0	$8,300	Wellpoint Medicare Advantage 1 (HMO-POS)
PPO	Humana	3.50	$0	$7,850	HumanaChoice Giveback H5216-371 (PPO)

The average CMS star rating across Arizona HMO options is 3.57, with SCAN and Blue Cross Blue Shield both at 4.5, 1.5-star spread between the top and the bottom tier. PPO plans carry a $1,604 higher average MOOP than HMO plans.

Medicare Advantage Plans Explained

Medicare Advantage plans include benefits like dental, vision and hearing coverage that Original Medicare doesn't cover. Private insurers offer these plans as an alternative to traditional Medicare Parts A and B.

CMS Star Ratings: These ratings measure plan quality and member satisfaction on a scale from one to five stars. Higher ratings indicate better care coordination and customer service.
Monthly premiums: You'll pay your regular Part B premium plus any additional plan fees. Many Arizona Medicare Advantage plans charge $0 in extra monthly premiums.
Maximum out-of-pocket (MOOP) limits: These caps limit your annual medical expenses. Once you reach it, your plan covers 100% of eligible services.
Prescription drug coverage: Most plans bundle Part D drug benefits into your coverage, so you pay less for medications than you would out-of-pocket.

SCAN Health Plan

Best HMO

MoneyGeek Rating

4.8/ 5

5/5Affordability

5/5Quality

2.5/5Availability

CMS Star Rating
4.5
Plan Types
HMO

pros
- 4.5-star CMS rating
- $0 monthly premiums
- MOOP as low as $2,000
cons
- HMO only: no PPO or HMO-POS options
SCAN Health Plan has two HMO Medicare Advantage plans in Arizona, both rated 4.5 stars by CMS. Neither charges a monthly premium. The SCAN Classic plan has a $2,000 MOOP; the SCAN MyChoice plan's MOOP is $2,500. Both include enhanced Part D prescription drug coverage.
SCAN covers only HMO members with no PPO or HMO-POS option. Out-of-network care is not covered, so members pay 100% of those costs directly. Choose Wellpoint's Medicare Advantage 1 plan for HMO-POS access at a $2,700 MOOP or Humana's HumanaChoice Giveback plan for PPO coverage at a $6,100 maximum out-of-pocket limit.

Wellpoint

Best HMO-POS

MoneyGeek Rating

5/ 5

5/5Affordability

5/5Quality

5/5Availability

CMS Star Rating
3.5
Plan Types
HMO-POS, HMO

pros
- $0 monthly premiums on all plans
- Out-of-network access through HMO-POS plans
- MOOP as low as $2,700
cons
- One plan has an $8,300 MOOP
- HMO selection limited to one plan
- No PPO options
Wellpoint has three HMO-POS Medicare Advantage plans in Arizona with $0 monthly premiums and 3.5-star CMS ratings. All three include enhanced Part D drug coverage. The Wellpoint Medicare Advantage 1 plan has the lowest MOOP at $2,700 per year. The standard Wellpoint Medicare Advantage plan caps costs at $3,000. The Wellpoint Medicare Advantage 2 plan reaches $8,300, nearly triple the entry-level plan.

Wellpoint also has a standalone HMO plan with a $0 monthly premium and a $3,400 MOOP. It earns a 3-star CMS rating and covers in-network care with a fixed $3,400 annual cost cap.
Wellpoint's three HMO-POS plans all rate 3.5 CMS stars. UnitedHealthcare is the only other HMO-POS provider in Arizona, and its nine plans average 4.29 stars. That quality gap costs $14 per month. Members who put star ratings above premium savings should choose UnitedHealthcare.

Avoid the Wellpoint Medicare Advantage 2 plan if you expect to use care regularly. Its $8,300 MOOP is the highest of any HMO-POS plan in Arizona, $5,600 above the MA1 plan at $2,700.

Wellpoint's standalone HMO plan earns 3.0 stars, the lowest HMO rating in Arizona. SCAN's two HMO plans both rate 4.5 stars at $0 per month, with a $2,000 MOOP. Anyone considering Wellpoint for HMO coverage should compare SCAN first.

Humana

Best PPO

MoneyGeek Rating

5/ 5

5/5Affordability

5/5Quality

5/5Availability

CMS Star Rating
3.5
Plan Types
Regional PPO, PPO, HMO

pros
- Many options for HMO and PPO plans
- 13 out of 16 plans have $0 premium
- PPO flexibility to see specialists without referrals
cons
- Higher maximum out-of-pocket limits
- Higher costs for out-of-network care
Humana has 16 Medicare Advantage plans in Arizona: seven PPO options and nine HMO plans. For PPO coverage, the HumanaChoice Giveback H7617-051 plan has a 4.5 CMS star rating, $0 monthly premium and a $6,100 maximum out-of-pocket limit. Out-of-pocket maximums across Humana's PPO lineup run from $4,150 to $7,850.

Humana's HMO plans average a $4,987 maximum out-of-pocket limit, $2,863 below its PPO average of $7,850. The Humana Gold Plus H4461-059 has a 4-star rating, $0 premium and a $2,550 maximum out-of-pocket limit. All Humana plans include enhanced Part D drug coverage.
Humana's PPO plans average a $7,850 maximum out-of-pocket limit, $2,100 above Aetna's PPO average of $5,750. Members who expect to use care often or who have chronic conditions may pay more out of pocket with Humana than with Aetna, whose PPO also carries a 4.5-star CMS rating.

Best Arizona HMO Medicare Advantage Providers

Arizona has 35 HMO Medicare Advantage plans from 10 providers and most charge $0 monthly premiums. Out-of-pocket maximums average $4,269 per year, with a range of $2,000 to $8,896. Eight plans earn 4-star CMS ratings or higher; the state average is 3.57 stars.

SCAN Health Plan leads Arizona HMO plans with a 4.5-star CMS rating. Both plans charge $0 monthly and average $2,250 in out-of-pocket costs.
Blue Cross Blue Shield also earns a 4.5-star rating. Its two HMO plans average $18 monthly with a $2,680 average MOOP.
Alignment Health Plan has two $0-premium plans, rated 4.0 stars, with $3,900 average out-of-pocket limits.


SCAN Health Plan	4.50	$0	$2,250	2	4.75
Blue Cross Blue Shield	4.50	$18	$2,680	2	4.4
Alignment Health Plan	4.00	$0	$3,900	2	4.39
Cigna HealthCare	3.50	$0	$3,700	4	4.32
Banner Health	3.50	$0	$2,995	1	4.29
Humana	3.50	$0	$4,987	8	4.25
Wellpoint	3.00	$0	$3,400	1	4.16
Aetna	3.00	$0	$5,382	5	4.09
Wellcare	3.50	$0	$7,034	3	3.95
Devoted Health	3.50	$0	$5,897	7	3.9

In MoneyGeek's Arizona HMO data, the 1.5-star spread between the top-rated plans at 4.5 stars and the lowest-rated at 3.0 is wider than the national Medicare Advantage average of 3.7 stars.

HMO PROS AND CONS

HMO Medicare Advantage plans require you to stay within a provider network and get referrals before seeing specialists. The tradeoff is lower premiums and more predictable out-of-pocket costs than you'd pay with other plan types.

Best Arizona HMO-POS Medicare Advantage Providers

Arizona has 12 HMO-POS Medicare Advantage plans from two providers. Nine charge $0 monthly. When a premium applies, it averages $10 monthly. Out-of-pocket maximums average $4,275 per year, with a range of $2,700 to $8,300. All plans include Part D coverage.

Wellpoint's three HMO-POS plans in Arizona all carry $0 monthly premiums and 3.5-star CMS ratings.
UnitedHealthcare has nine HMO-POS plans averaging $14 per month, a 4.29-star average CMS rating and $4,506 average out-of-pocket caps.


Wellpoint	3.50	$0	$8,300	3	5
UnitedHealthcare	4.29	$14	$4,506	9	4

UnitedHealthcare's nine HMO-POS plans average a 4.29-star CMS rating, versus Wellpoint's 3.5 across its three plans. All three Wellpoint HMO-POS plans carry $0 monthly premiums versus UnitedHealthcare's $14 per month average.

HMO-POS PROS AND CONS

HMO-POS plans are the right fit for people who want coordinated care at lower cost but occasionally need to see doctors outside their network. The average HMO-POS MOOP in Arizona is $4,275, nearly identical to the HMO average of $4,270.

Members with a primary care doctor managing their care who sometimes need out-of-network specialists pay for that access through higher cost-sharing, not a higher MOOP ceiling.

Best Arizona PPO Medicare Advantage Providers

Arizona has 20 PPO Medicare Advantage plans from five providers. Out-of-pocket maximums average $5,874, with a range of $3,000 to $8,300. PPO coverage costs more than HMO coverage in both premiums and out-of-pocket exposure, but members can see any Medicare-approved provider without a referral, including out-of-network specialists.

Fourteen of the 20 plans charge $0 monthly. The overall average is $26. CMS star ratings average 3.7 across all PPO options, with six plans rated 3.5 stars. All plans include Part D prescription coverage.

Humana leads Arizona’s PPO market with seven plans at $0 monthly premiums, though out-of-pocket limits are high, averaging $7,850, with 3.5-star ratings.
Aetna's three PPO plans cost $5 a month, earn a 4.5-star CMS rating and average a $5,750 maximum out-of-pocket limit.
Cigna HealthCare provides a single plan with a $0 premium and the state’s most affordable $4,900 out-of-pocket limit, rated 3.0 stars.


Humana	3.50	$0	$7,850	7	5
Aetna	4.50	$5	$5,750	3	4.67
Cigna HealthCare	3.00	$0	$4,900	1	4.34
UnitedHealthcare	4.00	$109	$5,221	5	4.19
Devoted Health	3.00	$0	$6,888	4	3.75

The average PPO MOOP of $5,874 is $1,604 higher than the average HMO MOOP of $4,270. If you want PPO flexibility, Aetna's 4.5-star rating at an average $5,750 MOOP gives you the best combination of quality and cost ceiling in the state.

PPO PROS AND CONS

If you travel often, want to keep your current doctors or prefer skipping specialist referrals, a PPO Medicare Advantage plan may justify the higher cost. These plans let you visit any Medicare-approved provider without a referral and covers both in-network and out-of-network care. Monthly premiums and out-of-pocket maximums run higher than HMO plans, but you get full flexibility over where and how you get care.

How to Find the Best Arizona Medicare Advantage Plans

Four factors determine which Arizona Medicare Advantage plan costs you the least and covers you the most: provider network, out-of-pocket limits, drug formulary and supplemental benefits.

1
Check Your Doctor and Hospital Network
Confirm your current doctors, specialists and hospitals participate in the plan's network before enrolling. HMO plans cover only in-network care except for emergencies. PPO plans cover out-of-network visits at higher cost-sharing.
2
Compare Maximum Out-of-Pocket Costs
Consider the maximum out-of-pocket costs, which represent the most you'll pay for covered services annually. A $0 premium plan with $7,833 maximum out-of-pocket costs might exceed a $29 premium plan capped at $6,750 if you need regular medical care.
3
Review Prescription Drug Coverage
Check that your medications appear on the plan's drug formulary and understand their tier placement, which affects your costs. Most Medicare Advantage plans include Part D drug coverage, though some require separate enrollment.
4
Evaluate Additional Benefits
Medicare Advantage plans offer extras beyond basic Medicare coverage, including dental care, vision services, hearing aids, fitness memberships and transportation to medical appointments. Compare which supplemental services each plan provides.
5
Consider CMS Star Ratings
Review each plan's CMS star rating, which measures quality and performance on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. Higher-rated plans offer better customer service, care coordination and health results. Plans earning 4 or 5 stars show superior performance across multiple quality measures.

Average Arizona Medicare Advantage Cost

Arizona Medicare Advantage costs depend on plan type and network restrictions. Plans with limited networks keep monthly premiums and out-of-pocket costs lower than those offering broader provider access.

HMO plans offer the state's most affordable option at $0 median premium and $4,270 average maximum out-of-pocket costs. HMO-POS plans add minimal cost at $11 average monthly premium with $4,275 MOOP for some out-of-network access. PPO plans average $26 monthly with $5,875 MOOP for greater provider flexibility. Regional PPO plans cost the most at $37 monthly premium and $6,800 MOOP but offer the broadest network access across multiple states.


HMO	$0	$1	$4,270
HMO-POS	$0	$11	$4,275
PPO	$0	$26	$5,875
Regional PPO	$37	$37	$6,800

The Best Arizona Medicare Advantage Plan for Your Situation

For most Arizona residents who want the lowest out-of-pocket ceiling at $0 monthly cost, SCAN is the pick. It's one of two Arizona HMO providers at 4.5 CMS stars, and its $2,000 MOOP floor on the Classic plan is the lowest in the state.

If your doctors don't participate in SCAN's HMO network or you need out-of-network access, Aetna's PPO is the next best option: 4.5 stars and a $5,750 average MOOP, $2,100 below Humana's PPO average. Wellpoint's Medicare Advantage 1 plan is the right call for anyone who wants HMO-POS flexibility without a monthly premium.

Best Arizona Medicare Advantage: FAQ

Get answers about Arizona Medicare Advantage plans:

When can I enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan in Arizona?

Arizona residents can enroll during the Annual Enrollment Period (Oct. 15 to Dec. 7) or the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (Jan. 1 to March 31). You may also qualify for a Special Enrollment Period if you experience qualifying life events like relocating or losing other health coverage.

Does Medicare Advantage cover prescription drugs in Arizona?

Yes, most Medicare Advantage plans in Arizona include prescription drug coverage. Before enrolling, confirm your medications appear on the plan's formulary and review their tier placement, which affects what you pay at the pharmacy.

Do I need to change Medicare Advantage plans if I move to a different county in Arizona?

Moving within Arizona may require switching plans since Medicare Advantage networks differ by county. Contact your current insurer within 30 days of relocating. The move qualifies you for a Special Enrollment Period to pick a new plan.

What is the difference between HMO and PPO Medicare Advantage plans in Arizona?

HMO plans restrict you to a network of providers and require referrals for specialists. PPO plans cover in-network and out-of-network Medicare-approved providers without a referral. Out-of-network visits are covered at a higher cost-sharing rate than in-network care. In Arizona, HMO plans average a $4,270 maximum out-of-pocket limit versus $5,874 for PPO plans. If your doctors are in-network, an HMO will cost you less.

Can I keep my current doctor with a Medicare Advantage plan in Arizona?

Check the plan's provider directory before enrolling. HMO plans require your doctors to be in-network or you pay full cost for non-emergency care. PPO plans cover out-of-network visits at higher cost-sharing. Call your doctor's office to confirm they accept the specific plan, since network participation varies by plan within the same carrier.

Does Medicare Advantage cover dental care in Arizona?

Most Medicare Advantage plans in Arizona include some dental coverage beyond Original Medicare. The scope varies by plan: some cover preventive care only, others include basic restorative work. Review each plan's Evidence of Coverage document for the annual dental benefit maximum and the list of covered procedures before enrolling.

Our Methodology: How We Chose the Best Arizona Medicare Advantage Plans

We ranked Medicare Advantage plans in Arizona using these weighted criteria:

Affordability (50%): Costs represent half the total score due to their immediate effect on your spending. We analyzed combined monthly premiums for Part C and Part D coverage (weighted at 30%) and in-network maximum out-of-pocket limits (weighted at 20%). Plans with lower premiums and MOOP thresholds score higher.
Star Ratings (40%): CMS star ratings evaluate plan performance in care quality, customer service and member experience. The Overall Star Rating integrates Part C (medical benefits) and Part D (prescription drug coverage) scores into one rating on a 1 to 5-star scale.
Availability (10%): We consider each insurer's coverage area across the United States. Providers serving more states score higher, as broader availability indicates stronger infrastructure, better support and better continuity if you relocate.

About Mark Fitzpatrick

Mark Fitzpatrick, a Licensed Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurance Producer in Connecticut, is MoneyGeek's resident insurance expert. He has spent nearly a decade analyzing the market, first at LendingTree and now at MoneyGeek, where he produces original research on hundreds of carriers and millions of rates across auto, home, renters, health and life insurance.

He covers economics and insurance at MoneyGeek, and his work has been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times and NPR, among other outlets.

Like all MoneyGeek analysts, he draws on independent cost and consumer experience data. No insurance company partnership influences his recommendations.

Fitzpatrick earned his degrees from Johns Hopkins University (M.A. Economics and International Relations) and Boston College (B.A.). His career began in financial risk management at State Street. He's also a five-time “Jeopardy!” champion.

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Sources

CMS.gov. "Medicare Advantage Resources." Accessed June 22, 2026.
Medicare.gov. "Welcome to Medicare." Accessed June 22, 2026.