Best Medicare Advantage Plans in Washington (2027)

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Updated: October 22, 2026

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Best Medicare Advantage Companies in Washington

Kaiser Permanente is the best Medicare Advantage insurer in Washington, with the highest median rating among rated carriers. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which grades care quality, gives its plans 4.5 stars.

Kaiser has the lowest median worst-case cost, $5,838 in premiums plus the out-of-pocket limit (MOOP), your yearly cap on in-network bills. Four of five carriers hold 4 stars or better, so cost separates them more than quality.

Humana costs $187 more than Kaiser at the median, and Aetna Medicare, Regence BlueShield and UnitedHealthcare cost at least $1,125 more than Humana. Outside Kaiser’s 12 counties, start with Humana, which sells in 36 of Washington’s 39 counties, all but Clallam, Grays Harbor and Yakima.

Kaiser Permanente
4.5
$5,838
4.5
12
17
Humana
4.3
$6,025
4
36
14
Aetna Medicare
4.1
$7,150
4
6
7
Regence BlueShield
4
$8,082
4
5
2
UnitedHealthcare
3.9
$7,150
3.5
22
10

Washington Medicare Advantage Market Overview

Washington’s 71 Medicare Advantage plans shrink to a median of eight per county, so your county decides your choices. Medicare Advantage is a private plan that offers an alternative to Original Medicare, the federal Part A hospital and Part B medical coverage. A Medicare Supplement plan pays alongside Original Medicare toward its deductibles and copays.

Five of Washington’s 11 carriers qualified for our ratings. HealthSpring, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon and Wellcare each serve one county, below our three-county minimum. MultiCare Health Plan Medicare Advantage Evergreen Plans, Devoted Health and SCAN Health Plan have no CMS star rating for their Washington contracts.

Non-SNP MA plans
71

Washington has 71 Medicare Advantage plans open to all enrollees, excluding Special Needs Plans (SNPs) that serve only people with Medicaid, certain chronic conditions or institutional care. Your county determines which you can join.

Carriers
11

Eleven carriers sell Medicare Advantage in Washington, each with its own provider network and costs. During Open Enrollment, you can switch to any carrier that serves your county.

CMS contracts
20

A CMS contract is the agreement under which a carrier sells its plans, and CMS rates each contract separately. Washington’s 20 contracts span 11 carriers, so plans from one carrier can hold different star ratings.

Median plans per county
8

Half of Washington’s counties have eight or fewer Medicare Advantage plans. Confirm which plans serve your county before comparing.

Plans with $0 premium
68%

More than two-thirds of Washington’s Medicare Advantage plans charge no monthly premium, though you still pay the Medicare Part B premium. Check each plan’s monthly charge before comparing total costs.

Median MOOP
$6,750

Washington’s median plan caps your share of in-network bills at $6,750 for the year.

MOOP range
$3,150–$9,850

A $6,700 difference separates Washington’s lowest and highest out-of-pocket limits. The plan you choose sets your exact position within that range.

Average star rating
4.06

Washington’s rated plans average 4.06 stars on CMS’s 5-star scale. Your plan’s contract has its own rating, so check it before enrolling.

Contracts rated 4+ stars
50%

Ten of Washington’s 20 contracts rate 4 stars or higher, five rate lower and five have no CMS rating. Check which contract your plan falls under before enrolling.

Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente

MoneyGeek Rating
4.5/ 5
4.9/5Affordability
4.4/5Quality & Member Experience
3.9/5Benefits & Access

  • Median Max Annual Cost Exposure

    $5,838

  • Median CMS Star Rating

    4.5

  • Counties Served

    12

  • Plans Available

    17
Humana

Humana

MoneyGeek Rating
4.3/ 5
4.4/5Affordability
4.1/5Quality & Member Experience
4.5/5Benefits & Access

  • Median Max Annual Cost Exposure

    $6,025

  • Median CMS Star Rating

    4

  • Counties Served

    36

  • Plans Available

    14
Aetna Medicare

Aetna Medicare

MoneyGeek Rating
4.1/ 5
4.2/5Affordability
4.1/5Quality & Member Experience
4.1/5Benefits & Access

  • Median Max Annual Cost Exposure

    $7,150

  • Median CMS Star Rating

    4

  • Counties Served

    6

  • Plans Available

    7
Regence BlueShield

Regence BlueShield

MoneyGeek Rating
4/ 5
3.9/5Affordability
4.1/5Quality & Member Experience
3.9/5Benefits & Access

  • Median Max Annual Cost Exposure

    $8,082

  • Median CMS Star Rating

    4

  • Counties Served

    5

  • Plans Available

    2
UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare

MoneyGeek Rating
3.9/ 5
3.9/5Affordability
3.8/5Quality & Member Experience
4.1/5Benefits & Access

  • Median Max Annual Cost Exposure

    $7,150

  • Median CMS Star Rating

    3.5

  • Counties Served

    22

  • Plans Available

    10

How to Choose the Best Washington Medicare Advantage Plan

Washington offers 71 Medicare Advantage plans with different costs, networks and benefits. Your choice depends on how you use health care.

  1. 1
    Confirm Your Doctors and Hospitals Are In-Network

    Call your doctor’s office with the plan’s exact name before enrolling, since two plans from one insurer can list different doctors. Medicare Advantage members can switch once during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, Jan. 1 to March 31. Later switches need a Special Enrollment Period, which Medicare grants after events like a move.

  2. 2
    Compare Your Total Yearly Costs

    A $0-premium plan isn’t automatically the cheapest. Your annual cost depends on how often you use care. Multiply expected specialist visits by the plan’s copay and hospital days by its daily copay. A plan with Washington’s highest MOOP, $9,850, can cost you $6,700 more for covered in-network care than one with the lowest, $3,150.

  3. 3
    Check Prescription Drug Coverage

    Your prescriptions determine which plan is cheapest for you. Each plan’s formulary, its list of covered drugs, puts medications into cost tiers. A drug at Tier 1 on one plan can be Tier 3 on another from the same insurer, which raises your cost per refill. Use Medicare’s Plan Finder to enter your medications before enrolling.

  4. 4
    Compare Different Plan Types

    HMOs have Washington’s lowest median MOOP, $6,550, and a $35 median specialist copay. A PPO gives out-of-network access with no referral requirement, a $7,150 median MOOP and a $38 median specialist copay.
    HMO-POS plans charge the most at the point of care, $50 per specialist visit at the median, and their $6,950 median MOOP falls between the other two. HMO-POS out-of-network access is more limited than a full PPO, and each type of health insurance plan sets its own network rules.

  5. 5
    Review Star Ratings and Quality Metrics

    CMS rates Medicare Advantage contracts on a 5-star scale based on member satisfaction, care quality and chronic disease management. In Washington, 10 of the state’s 20 contracts rate 4 stars or higher, and five have no rating. When two plans have similar cost and coverage, the star rating is the clearest quality signal.

  6. 6
    Look Beyond Basic Coverage

    Many Washington Medicare Advantage plans include dental, vision, hearing and over-the-counter (OTC) benefits that Original Medicare doesn’t cover. Among the five carriers we rated, only Aetna Medicare includes a hearing aid allowance on every plan. Dental annual maximums range from $200 to $4,000. Verify each plan’s benefit limits before choosing.

  7. 7
    Check Out-of-Pocket Maximums

    Your MOOP caps total annual spending on covered in-network care. Once you reach it, the plan pays all further covered costs through Dec. 31. On a plan with Washington’s lowest MOOP, $3,150, you’d pay no more than that for covered in-network care, even with $40,000 in bills.

How Much Does Medicare Advantage Cost in Washington?

Most Washington Medicare Advantage plans charge no premium beyond the Medicare Part B premium, and the median is $0 for HMO, HMO-POS and PPO plans. What separates the plan types is what you pay when you use care.

At the median, HMO-POS plans charge more per hospital day and per specialist visit than full PPOs. A three-day stay costs $216 more than under a PPO. A PPO also covers out-of-network care more broadly, for a median out-of-pocket limit only $200 higher.

HMOs have the lowest median out-of-pocket limit, $600 below PPOs. Choose an HMO if you’ll stay in network. Otherwise, price a PPO before an HMO-POS.

Median Monthly Premium
$0
$0
$0
Median Max Out-of-Pocket
$6,550
$6,950
$7,150
Median Inpatient Copay
$490
$550
$478
Median PCP Copay
$15
$15
$15
Median Specialist Copay
$35
$50
$38

*Median cost figures across all 71 Washington Medicare Advantage plans, excluding SNPs, grouped by plan type. All dollar figures rounded to nearest dollar. Source: CMS 2027 data, MoneyGeek analysis.

Washington Medicare Advantage Resources

These state and federal resources help Washington residents compare Medicare Advantage plans and get free help from trained counselors.

Compare Medicare Advantage Rates

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Our Methodology

For 2027, MoneyGeek scored 71 Medicare Advantage plans in Washington across 11 carriers, 20 CMS contracts and 39 counties. The ratings draw on five CMS data sources, 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 (SNPs), which serve only people with Medicaid, certain chronic conditions or institutional care, are excluded from the ratings. To be rated, a carrier needed plans in at least three Washington counties and complete data for all three scoring categories. Carrier figures are medians across each carrier’s Washington plans.

HealthSpring, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon and Wellcare each serve one Washington county, below the county threshold, and are not featured in the provider reviews above.

MultiCare Health Plan Medicare Advantage Evergreen Plans, Devoted Health and SCAN Health Plan each met the county minimum with complete affordability and benefits data, but no CMS Star Rating is available for their Washington contracts, so none is featured in the provider reviews above.

How We Score Carriers

MoneyGeek gives each eligible carrier an overall score out of five. The score is a weighted average of three categories:

  • Affordability (40%): The affordability score combines four cost inputs, maximum annual cost exposure (annual premiums plus the out-of-pocket limit), inpatient hospital costs, specialist costs and primary care costs.
  • Quality and Member Experience (40%): Sixty percent of this category goes to CMS Star Ratings and 40% to CAHPS Rating of Health Plan scores. CAHPS is CMS’s annual Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, where members rate their plan from 0 to 10, shown here on a 100-point scale. Both measures use contract-level data.
  • Benefits and Access (20%): This category puts 50% on dental, OTC, vision and hearing benefits, 30% on county coverage and 20% on plan choice per county.

Affordability and benefits scores range from 3.5 to 5.0, scaled across the rated carriers, and the overall score is the weighted average of the three categories.

About Mark Fitzpatrick

Mark Fitzpatrick, Licensed P&C Insurance Expert, MoneyGeek

Mark Fitzpatrick is a licensed Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurance Producer and MoneyGeek's resident expert in insurance and economics. In nearly a decade covering the insurance market at LendingTree and MoneyGeek, he's analyzed hundreds of carriers and millions of rates across auto, home, renters, health and life insurance.

His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times and NPR. He draws on independent cost and consumer experience data, and no insurance company partnerships affect his recommendations.

Mark studied at Boston College and later earned a master's in economics and international relations from Johns Hopkins University. He worked in financial risk management at State Street before joining MoneyGeek. He's also a five-time “Jeopardy!” champion.

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