Comparing and Contrasting Arizona’s Most Popular 2026 Medicare Advantage Plans
March 5, 2026
As Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) digest results from the MA Annual Election Period (AEP), Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) took a closer look at the top plans in Maricopa County, Arizona (AZ), using information available in MFA’s Medicare Benefits Analyzer™(MBA) product. The 2026 update of MBA included two new aids for analysis of MA plans: an Enrollment Analysis tool and a distinctive Benefits Comparison method. To illustrate the value of these new analytical devices, MFA analyzed results available through February 1, 2026, for Maricopa County, one of the most competitive MA marketplaces in the country.
Insurance companies provided Medicare Advantage (MA or Part C) coverage for over 796,500 people in Arizona (AZ), as of February 1, 2026, based on enrollment reported by CMS and available in MBA. About half of the 1.5 million people eligible for Medicare in AZ receive coverage offered by a mix of national and regional insurance carriers that do business in the state’s 15 counties. More than half (52%) of the people with MA coverage in AZ live in Maricopa County, in the south-central part of the state. Maricopa is also the fourth-most populous county in the U.S., and includes popular retiree destinations such as Phoenix, Mesa, and Scottsdale. While information is available in MFA’s products, for this analysis enrollment for Special Needs Plans (SNPs), Employer Group Health Plans (EGHPs) and stand-alone Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs) are excluded.
The top four plans, noted using MFA’s new Enrollment Analysis tool, are UnitedHealthcare’s AARP Medicare Advantage Plan 2 (H0609-027), Humana Gold Plus (H0028-074), Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC)’s Cigna HealthSpring Alliance Medicare (H0354-028), and Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of AZ’s Blue Medicare Advantage Classic (H0302-006), based on CMS’ enrollment as of February 1, 2026. These top four plans combined reported year-over-year (Y/Y) growth of 10.3% from February 1, 2025, to February 1, 2026, while the rest of the market dropped -7.7%. Year-to-date (YTD), from December 1, 2025, to February 1, 2026, the overall MA market for Maricopa County increased by less than 200 people; while the top four plans added over 13,000 net new members, with nearly 8,000 of them choosing BCBS of AZ’s Blue Medicare Advantage Classic (HMO).
What makes these MA plans special?
These four MA plans offer coverage to the same 809,548 Medicare eligible people in AZ and have similar brand recognition as long term participants in the marketplace. They all offer Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) closed-network plan types. UnitedHealthcare’s AARP MA Plan 2 does include an out-of-network, point of service (POS) component that might account for its number one ranking in Maricopa County.
All four plans received Overall Star Ratings of 3.5 or higher for both 2025 and 2026, indicating above-average quality. The MA Star Rating measures the quality of plans and reflects the experiences of beneficiaries in the market. The contract (and plans within the contract) are rated on a 1 to 5-star scale by CMS. BCBS of AZ’s Blue Medicare Advantage Classic (HMO)’s significant enrollment growth might be attributed to its star rating increase from 3.5 to 4.5 for the 2026 plan year.
The top plans also offer similar core benefits. They each have:
- Zero dollar ($0) Plan, Health and Drug premiums,
- Include prescription drug coverage, have
- No copayments for Primary Care Physician (PCP) visits and
- No Health deductibles
What are the differences?
MFA’s new Benefit Comparison tool allows users to easily compare disparate benefits, such as 20% coinsurance against $20 copayments, by using customizable, nationwide average costs for specified benefits. Despite having the lowest Out-of-Pocket Maximum, at $2,300, Health Care Service Corp’s (HCSC’s), Cigna HealthSpring Alliance Medicare plan had the lowest enrollment growth among the top four plans, gaining just over 250 members YTD, from December 1, 2025, to February 1, 2026. It also had the lowest Inpatient Hospital Stay and Physical Therapy benefits. Better known under the BCBS brand in its core states of Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, HCSC became a national player with the acquisition of Cigna’s Medicare business in March of 2025, resulting in two Blues organizations directly competing, albeit one is operating under the former Cigna HealthSpring brand in Arizona. The charts above and below illustrate the lowest cost benefits in purple, and the most expensive benefit in each category in grey.
MFA’s new Benefit Comparison tool also allows comparison of minimum and maximum benefit ranges. While minimum benefit levels may be similar, the maximum ranges may tell a different story. For example, Minimum Outpatient Surgery benefits are all under $10, but the Maximum Outpatient Surgery benefits could cost a consumer anywhere from HCSC’s Cigna HealthSpring’s plan at $150 to UnitedHealthcare’s AARP plan at $275.
Just in Maricopa County, there are 58 MA non-SNP (Not Special Needs)/non-EGHP (Not Employer Group Health) plans with enrollment in 2026. Comparing one plan against another is easier than ever with MFA’s Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, and the new Enrollment Analysis and Benefit Comparison tools can help simplify your analyses. To learn more, see the About Mark Farrah Associates section of this brief.
In addition to the standard AEP, which ended December 7, 2025, and the Open Enrollment Period (OEP), which runs from January 1 to March 31, 2026 and allows individuals already in a Medicare Advantage plan to switch plans or return to Original Medicare, a significant amount of people nationwide may be entitled to a two month Special Election Period (SEP), due to the large numbers of plans that terminated as of December 31, 2025. Full results of the 2026 election period may not be available until May 15, 2026.
About Medicare Benefits Analyzer
Medicare Benefits Analyzer™ is a time-saving database for easy comparative analysis of Medicare premiums, co-pays and benefits. Benefits and Star Quality Ratings data is collected and organized from the Medicare.gov website and is updated within days the new benefits data is posted by CMS, usually during the first and second weeks of October, with periodic data refreshes. Interactive web tables present: Medicare Advantage and PDP benefits, premiums, co-pays, Rx drug tiers & cost estimates by Plan, State & County; Star Quality Ratings data for measuring relative quality of MA & Part D plans; Drug tier costs by state presents standard and preferred cost-sharing by drug tier, purchase type and supply for all MA & Part D plans; Plan Finder profiles by state and plan with screen-shots of benefit details for easy look-up and reference; Medicare Advantage & PDP enrollment figures per plan and current Summary Star Ratings; and User-friendly web interface with easy-to-navigate tables and download to Excel. Medicare Benefits Analyzer™ subscriptions include access to Medicare Business Online™ for the latest MA and PDP enrollment data.
About Mark Farrah Associates (MFA)
Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) is a leading data aggregator and publisher providing health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry. Our product portfolio includes Health Coverage Portal™, County Health Coverage™, Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, 5500 Employer Health PLUS, and Health Plans USA™. For more information about these products, refer to the product pages and brochures available under the Our Products section of the website (www.markfarrah.com), or call 724-338-4100.
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