Best Medicare Advantage Plans in Missouri (2027)


Best Medicare Advantage Companies in Missouri

Humana is the best Medicare Advantage insurer in Missouri for 2027 because it’s the only carrier with both statewide reach and a 4.5-star median CMS rating, Medicare’s 1-to-5 grade for care quality and member experience. Its median plan limits your worst-case year to $4,700 in premiums and in-network costs.

Missouri’s higher-rated carriers also cost less. Every carrier at 4 stars or above keeps median exposure at $5,200 or under. UnitedHealthcare covers all 115 counties too, yet its exposure is $2,450 higher than Humana’s.

Cox HealthPlans ties for the lowest median exposure, $4,450, with a 4-star median CMS rating, but sells in only 17 counties. Check for Cox in your county first, then Humana.

Humana
4.6
$4,700
4.5
115
27
Cox HealthPlans
4.4
$4,450
4
17
3
Devoted Health
4.4
$5,200
4
81
17
Aetna Medicare
4.3
$5,500
3.5
110
26
Essence Healthcare
4.3
$4,775
4
32
8
Anthem HealthKeepers
4.1
$4,450
3
18
1
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
3.9
$6,751
3
18
1
Wellcare
3.9
$7,100
3
58
3
UnitedHealthcare
3.8
$7,150
3.5
115
20

Missouri Medicare Advantage Market Overview

The median Missouri county has 23 of the state’s 109 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, so your county decides which plans you can choose from. Medicare Advantage is private coverage you buy instead of Original Medicare, the federal Part A hospital and Part B medical program, and plans can also include drug coverage.

You can instead keep Original Medicare and add a Medicare Supplement plan to pay its deductibles and coinsurance. With 91% of Missouri plans charging no premium, the yearly cost cap and star rating separate plans more than price does.

All 10 carriers received a score. HealthSpring, with three plans in seven counties, scored too low for a full review.

Non-SNP MA plans
109

Special Needs Plans (SNPs), limited to people with certain conditions or Medicaid, aren’t counted. Your county decides which of the 109 you can join.

Carriers
10

Each carrier sets its own doctor network and drug list, so your carrier decides which doctors and prescriptions are covered.

CMS contracts
23

A contract is the agreement under which CMS approves and rates a group of a carrier’s plans. Humana Community (HMO-POS) is sold under both a 4.5-star and a 4-star contract, so check the contract number on your plan.

Median plans per county
23

Half of Missouri counties have 23 or more plans. Narrow yours by doctor network first, then by yearly cost cap and star rating.

Plans with $0 premium
91%

Most plans charge nothing beyond your Part B premium. The 9% with a premium charge $4 to $183 a month.

Median MOOP
$5,500

The maximum out-of-pocket (MOOP) limit caps what you pay for covered in-network care each year. Half of Missouri plans cap it at $5,500 or less.

MOOP range
$2,000–$9,850

The plan you choose sets your yearly cap, and Missouri caps differ by up to $7,850.

Average star rating
3.86

Missouri’s 3.86 average falls below 4 stars, so your plan’s own contract rating tells you more than the state figure.

Contracts rated 4+ stars
57%

Thirteen of Missouri’s 23 contracts reach 4 stars or higher, and Humana holds five of them, more than any other carrier.

Humana

Humana

MoneyGeek Rating
4.6/ 5
4.7/5Affordability
4.5/5Quality & Member Experience
4.5/5Benefits & Access
  • Median Max Annual Cost Exposure

    $4,700
  • Median CMS Star Rating

    4.5
  • Counties Served

    115
  • Plans Available

    27
Cox HealthPlans

Cox HealthPlans

MoneyGeek Rating
4.4/ 5
4.8/5Affordability
4.1/5Quality & Member Experience
4.1/5Benefits & Access
  • Median Max Annual Cost Exposure

    $4,450
  • Median CMS Star Rating

    4
  • Counties Served

    17
  • Plans Available

    3
Devoted Health

Devoted Health

MoneyGeek Rating
4.4/ 5
4.5/5Affordability
4.2/5Quality & Member Experience
4.4/5Benefits & Access
  • Median Max Annual Cost Exposure

    $5,200
  • Median CMS Star Rating

    4
  • Counties Served

    81
  • Plans Available

    17
Aetna Medicare

Aetna Medicare

MoneyGeek Rating
4.3/ 5
4.5/5Affordability
3.8/5Quality & Member Experience
4.7/5Benefits & Access
  • Median Max Annual Cost Exposure

    $5,500
  • Median CMS Star Rating

    3.5
  • Counties Served

    110
  • Plans Available

    26
Essence Healthcare

Essence Healthcare

MoneyGeek Rating
4.3/ 5
4.7/5Affordability
4.2/5Quality & Member Experience
3.9/5Benefits & Access
  • Median Max Annual Cost Exposure

    $4,775
  • Median CMS Star Rating

    4
  • Counties Served

    32
  • Plans Available

    8
Anthem HealthKeepers

Anthem HealthKeepers

MoneyGeek Rating
4.1/ 5
4.7/5Affordability
3.4/5Quality & Member Experience
4.1/5Benefits & Access
  • Median Max Annual Cost Exposure

    $4,450
  • Median CMS Star Rating

    3
  • Counties Served

    18
  • Plans Available

    1
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield

MoneyGeek Rating
3.9/ 5
4.2/5Affordability
3.5/5Quality & Member Experience
4.1/5Benefits & Access
  • Median Max Annual Cost Exposure

    $6,751
  • Median CMS Star Rating

    3
  • Counties Served

    18
  • Plans Available

    1
WellCare

WellCare

MoneyGeek Rating
3.9/ 5
4.2/5Affordability
3.5/5Quality & Member Experience
3.9/5Benefits & Access
  • Median Max Annual Cost Exposure

    $7,100
  • Median CMS Star Rating

    3
  • Counties Served

    58
  • Plans Available

    3
UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare

MoneyGeek Rating
3.8/ 5
3.6/5Affordability
3.8/5Quality & Member Experience
4.3/5Benefits & Access
  • Median Max Annual Cost Exposure

    $7,150
  • Median CMS Star Rating

    3.5
  • Counties Served

    115
  • Plans Available

    20

How to Choose the Best Medicare Advantage Plan in Missouri

Missouri has 109 Medicare Advantage plans across 10 carriers for 2027, and the median county has 23 options to sort through. The best Medicare Advantage plan depends on where you live, how often you use medical care and which supplemental benefits matter most to you.

  1. 1
    Network type

    HMOs require you to use in-network providers and choose a primary care doctor. HMO-POS plans work the same way but cover some out-of-network services at a higher cost. PPOs let you see any Medicare-approved provider, though you’ll pay more out of network. In Missouri, HMOs and HMO-POS plans have a median out-of-pocket maximum of $4,450, compared to $6,750 for PPOs.

  2. 2
    Maximum out-of-pocket limit

    Missouri Medicare Advantage plans have out-of-pocket maximums ranging from $2,000 to $9,850. Missouri’s highest cap of $9,850 equals the 2027 federal in-network limit, so the plans with that cap set it at the most the law allows. This limit caps what you spend on covered Part A and Part B services during the year. Add it to a year of premiums to see your total cost exposure.

  3. 3
    Monthly premium

    About 91% of Missouri plans have $0 premiums beyond the cost of Medicare Part B. The other 10 plans charge $4 to $183 a month. With $0 premiums so common, copays, coinsurance and out-of-pocket limits are more useful cost comparisons between plans.

  4. 4
    CMS star ratings

    CMS rates Medicare Advantage plans from 1 to 5 stars based on measures of quality and member experience. About 57% of Missouri contracts (13 of 23) have at least 4 stars, so ratings help narrow your choices when plans have similar costs and benefits.

  5. 5
    Supplemental benefits

    Vision and hearing coverage come with 97% and 96% of Missouri plans, and dental with 84%, based on MoneyGeek’s analysis of CMS data. Of the plans with hearing coverage, 46 cover hearing aids through copays only, with no allowance, including every Humana and Devoted Health plan. Compare the actual allowances, copays and coverage limits, because plans offering the same type of benefit can provide different levels of coverage.

  6. 6
    Copays for routine care

    Primary care visits have a median $15 copay across every Missouri plan type, while median specialist copays range from $35 to $40. If you see doctors frequently, recurring copays can add up over a year, even with a $0-premium plan.

How Much Does Medicare Advantage Cost in Missouri?

Most Missouri Medicare Advantage plans charge no monthly premium, so the real price gap shows up in what you’d owe in a year of heavy care.

A PPO lets you see doctors outside its network, and that flexibility raises the median yearly cap on in-network costs by $2,300 over an HMO. Primary care costs the same either way, at $15 a visit on every plan type.

HMO-POS plans, HMOs that cover some out-of-network care, match HMO medians on every cost line. Start with an HMO-POS if your doctors are in its network, and pay for a PPO only if a doctor you rely on isn’t.

Median Monthly Premium
$0
$0
$0
$38
Median Max Out-of-Pocket
$4,450
$4,450
$6,750
$6,600
Median Inpatient Copay
$400
$400
$425
$442
Median PCP Copay
$15
$15
$15
$15
Median Specialist Copay
$35
$35
$40
$38

*Median cost figures across all 109 non-SNP Missouri MA plans, grouped by plan type. All dollar figures rounded to nearest dollar. Source: CMS 2027 data, MoneyGeek analysis.

Missouri Medicare Advantage Resources

Use these free state and federal resources to compare Medicare Advantage plans, get enrollment assistance and resolve coverage issues.

Compare Medicare Advantage Rates

Get the best insurance rate. Compare quotes from top insurance companies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Our Methodology

MoneyGeek scored 109 non-SNP Medicare Advantage plans in Missouri for 2027, across 10 carriers, 23 CMS contracts and 115 counties. Five CMS data sources power the ratings: the Medicare Plan Landscape File, Plan Benefit Package files, CMS Star Ratings, the CAHPS Report Card Master Table and the Contract/Plan Enrollment file.   

Special Needs Plans are excluded from all ratings. Missouri has 115 counties, so the minimum county threshold is 6, or 5% of the state. All 10 carriers clear that bar.

All 10 carriers receive a MoneyGeek score out of five. HealthSpring, which serves seven Missouri counties, scored 3.7, the lowest of the 10 carriers, so it isn’t featured above.

How We Score Carriers

Carrier-level scores are medians across each carrier’s Missouri non-SNP MA plans, with CMS Star Ratings and CAHPS as plan-weighted medians. Three categories make up each score:

  • Affordability (40%): Four cost factors make up this category. Maximum annual cost exposure, which combines annual premiums with the maximum out-of-pocket limit, carries 20%. Inpatient hospital costs carry 10%, specialist costs 6% and primary care costs 4%.
  • Quality and Member Experience (40%): CMS Star Ratings account for 60% of the quality score, and CAHPS Rating of Health Plan scores account for 40%. Both come from contract-level data.
  • Benefits and Access (20%): Half of this score comes from supplemental dental, OTC, vision and hearing benefits. County coverage adds 30%, and plan choice per county adds 20%.

About Patrick Bryant


Patrick Bryant, Vertical Lead, Life & Health Insurance, MoneyGeek

Patrick Bryant is the Vertical Lead for Health Insurance at MoneyGeek, where he researches insurance products, writes consumer guides and maintains the scoring methodologies behind our provider comparisons. He analyzed more than 100 health insurance carriers across all 50 U.S. states and multiple policy types. His methodologies are reviewed quarterly to reflect current market conditions and carrier data.


Sources