Best Medicare Advantage Plans in Hawaii (2026)

Kaiser Permanente is the best Medicare Advantage plan in Hawaii for 2026. Kaiser Permanente's 4.5-star CMS quality rating is the state's highest, but it's annual cost exposure of $7,565 is also the highest among the five carriers.

For affordability, Humana is the best pick in Hawaii at $6,150, $550 below UnitedHealthcare's $6,700 max annual cost expsoure. Devoted Health has 11 plan options, the most of any carrier, across four counties. Only HMSA Akamai Advantage serves all five Hawaii counties. UnitedHealthcare's 4.0-star CMS rating is the second highest in Hawaii, with seven plans across four counties.

Hawaii has 32 Medicare Advantage plans open to all beneficiaries from five insurance companies in 2026. The county has 16 plan options, and about two in three plans charge no monthly premium. 

Medicare Advantage plans are offered through private insurers and replace Original Medicare, the federal program covering hospital and outpatient care. Medicare Advantage plans often add dental, vision and drug benefits. Beneficiaries who prefer Original Medicare can add a Medicare Supplement plan, which pays costs that Original Medicare charges the patient. Hawaii Medicare Advantage plans have a median out-of-pocket maximum of $6,700, the annual cap on what you pay for covered in-network care.

Network access is the first filter. If your doctors aren't in the plan's network, the premium doesn't matter. After that, multiply the monthly premium by 12 and add the out-of-pocket maximum. The annual premium plus out-of-pocket maximum tells you which plan costs less based on how often you use your coverage.

Hawaii's Medicare Advantage HMO plans have a $500 lower annual cost ceiling than PPOs at $6,200 versus $6,700. The $500 gap matters most if you're hospitalized. HMO plans charge a median of $375 per day for inpatient care and PPOs charge $450, a gap that counts toward your annual out-of-pocket maximum.

Outside of hospitalization, the HMO-PPO cost gap narrows to $3 on specialist copays and disappears on primary care visits. HMO and PPO plans both charge a median $15 primary care copay, and specialist copays are $35 for HMOs vs. $38 for PPOs. HMO plans come from Kaiser Permanente, Humana and Devoted Health. PPOs are available from four of Hawaii's five carriers.

*Median cost figures across all 32 non-SNP Hawaii MA plans, grouped by plan type. All dollar figures rounded to nearest dollar. Source: CMS 2026 data, MoneyGeek analysis.

Use these Hawaii and federal resources to compare plans, understand your coverage rights and get free enrollment help.

• Hawaii State Health Insurance Assistance Program (Hawaii SHIP): Hawaii's free Medicare counseling program connects beneficiaries with trained volunteers who can compare plans, review costs and walk through coverage options.
• Hawaii Insurance Division: The state regulator for all insurance carriers operating in Hawaii. Use it to verify a carrier's license, file a complaint about a plan or confirm a company is authorized to sell in the state.
• Medicare Plan Finder: CMS's official comparison tool for Medicare Advantage plans in your county. Filter by premium, estimated annual costs, star ratings and supplemental benefits. You'll need your ZIP code and Medicare number to personalize results.
• Social Security Administration: Handles Medicare enrollment for beneficiaries approaching 65. Apply online, call 1-800-772-1213 or visit a local office. Enrollment in Part B is required before joining any Medicare Advantage plan.
• Hawaii Executive Office on Aging: Connects seniors and people with disabilities with local benefits counseling, Medicare enrollment assistance and long-term care resources across all Hawaii counties.

MoneyGeek graded Hawaii Medicare Advantage carriers using five CMS data sources for the 2026 plan year. These five CMS sources include the Medicare Plan Landscape File, Plan Benefit Package files, CMS Star Ratings, the CAHPS Report Card Master Table and the Contract/Plan Enrollment file.

How We Score Carriers

Three weighted categories combine to produce each Hawaii carrier's MoneyGeek score out of five.   

• Affordability (40%): Maximum annual cost exposure is the sum of annual premiums, the out-of-pocket maximum and inpatient hospital, specialist and primary care costs.
• Quality and Member Experience (40%): Sixty percent of this category comes from CMS Star Ratings. CAHPS C26 member ratings make up the other 40%. CMS Star Ratings and CAHPS member ratings both pull from contract-level data.
• Benefits and Access (20%): Supplemental benefits, including dental, OTC, vision and hearing, fill 50% of this category. County coverage makes up 30% of the Benefits and Access score and plan choice per county makes up the remaining 20%.