AARP UnitedHealthcare vs Humana in 2027: This Year One of Them Wins Both

This article is for general educational purposes only and is not insurance or medical advice. We are not affiliated with the U.S. government, Medicare, UnitedHealthcare, AARP or Humana. For official information, visit Medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE. See our Medical & Financial Disclaimer for details.

These two companies hold 46% of Medicare Advantage between them — UnitedHealth Group 26% with 9.3 million members, Humana 20% with 7 million. In 889 counties, more than a quarter of the country, the two of them together account for at least three quarters of everyone enrolled. For a lot of people this comparison is not one option against another. It is the whole market.

So we counted every plan each of them sells in the CMS file for 2027 — 852 for UnitedHealthcare, 861 for Humana — and matched each one to the star ratings CMS published on October 8, 2026. A year ago the answer was clean: one of them was meaningfully cheaper, the other meaningfully better rated, and neither was both. For 2027 that has changed. Humana is now the cheaper one and the better rated one, by a wide margin on both.

Side by Side

2027, from the CMS plan file	UnitedHealthcare	Humana	All plans
Distinct plans on sale	852	861	5,522
Counties served	2,791 (89%)	2,600 (83%)	3,131
Plans with no monthly premium at all	64.0%	78.5%	69.7%
Median in-network out-of-pocket limit	$7,150	$6,750	$7,100
Plans at the legal maximum of $9,850	30.8%	26.9%	28.2%
Mean overall star rating	3.84	4.16	3.86
Rated plans at 4 stars or better	62.1%	93.6%	61.2%
Same measure for 2026	79.5%	35.5%	60.5%
Special needs plans	362	240	1,969
Most common plan type	HMO-POS (310)	PPO (323)	—

Read the two star-rating rows together, because they are the article. For 2026, four out of five UnitedHealthcare plans reached four stars and barely one in three Humana plans did — the largest gap we had found between any two large insurers. For 2027 the gap has reversed and stayed almost as wide: more than nine in ten Humana plans reach four stars, against six in ten at UnitedHealthcare, which is now exactly at the market average.

And then look at the premium row. Humana was already the cheaper company, and for 2027 it still is: 78.5% of its plans cost nothing beyond Part B, against 64.0% of UnitedHealthcare’s. The trade this comparison used to describe — pay a premium for better ratings, or take the free plan and accept weaker ones — no longer exists at the company level.

Where They Are Close

On the number that decides what a bad year costs, they are still fairly close, though Humana now edges it. UnitedHealthcare’s median in-network out-of-pocket limit is $7,150, Humana’s $6,750, and they put 30.8% and 26.9% of their plans at the new $9,850 legal ceiling, against a market figure of 28.2%. For 2026 they were almost identical on this measure, at the then $9,250 ceiling.

That gap is too small to decide anything at the company level. You still have to open the specific plan and read its own figure. Both companies sell plans with low limits and plans at the maximum, in the same county.

Reach is close too: 89% of counties against 83%. In most of the country you will be able to compare both.

The Structural Difference Nobody Advertises

They are built around different plan types, and this is more consequential than any benefit list.

Humana is the PPO company: 323 of its 2027 plans are PPOs, against 221 HMOs. UnitedHealthcare is the HMO-POS company: 310 of those, against 167 PPOs. A PPO covers care outside its network, usually at a higher cost and under a second, higher spending limit. An HMO generally does not cover it at all except in emergencies, and an HMO-POS covers a defined set of out-of-network services.

So if keeping the ability to go out of network matters to you, Humana’s catalog is shaped in your favor — and for 2027, unlike 2026, that does not come at the cost of weaker ratings. Our HMO versus PPO guide sets out what each one costs you in practice.

Two Things Happening Right Now

Humana’s ratings fell, then rebounded. Humana added 1.3 million members over the year while UnitedHealth lost nearly 647,000. In the same period the share of Humana members in four-star-or-better plans for 2026 fell from 25% to 20%; Humana sued CMS over that twice and lost both times, the second case dismissed with prejudice on October 14, 2025. Then the 2027 ratings, published on October 8, 2026, put about 93% of Humana members in four-star plans, while UnitedHealthcare went from 78% to about 67%.

Hospital systems are walking away from both of them. Becker’s Hospital Review keeps a running list of health systems that stopped accepting Medicare Advantage plans for 2026, and it is added to through the year rather than published once; it held 33 systems in all when we read it. When we read it on September 23, 2026, it named eight systems that had dropped Humana — Mayo Clinic, UNC Health, St. Luke’s Health System, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Moffitt Cancer Center, Centra Health, Montrose Regional Health and Kettering Health — and fifteen that had dropped UnitedHealthcare, among them NewYork-Presbyterian, Mass General Brigham and Lehigh Valley Health Network. Mayo Clinic appears on both. Treat any count from a list like that as a floor, not a total.

Neither company is immune, and neither list is a reason to rule one out nationally. Both are a reason to check your own hospital by name before you enroll.

On the AARP Name

Many UnitedHealthcare plans are branded AARP. AARP is not an insurer and does not underwrite anything; it licenses its name. An AARP-branded Medicare Advantage plan is a UnitedHealthcare plan and should be judged as one, on its own network, formulary, out-of-pocket limit and contract rating.

Humana does something similar with veterans through its USAA Honor branding — 66 plans for 2027, down from 81 — which are likewise Humana plans carrying another organization’s name.

Which One Should You Look At First

Start with Humana if it is sold in your county. For 2027 it is ahead on star ratings, ahead on free plans and slightly ahead on out-of-pocket protection, and it is the one to look at if you want a PPO. The one thing to check before anything else is whether your hospital still takes it.

Start with UnitedHealthcare if you want an HMO-POS, if Humana is not sold where you live — UnitedHealthcare reaches more counties than anyone — or if a specific UnitedHealthcare plan in your county simply beats the Humana plans on rating and out-of-pocket limit. Averages are not your plan, and in plenty of counties that will be true.

And in either case, ignore the company average once you have a shortlist. CMS rates contracts, not companies, and both of these hold many contracts with very different scores. The rating that applies to you is the one shown next to the specific plan on the Medicare Plan Finder. Our fuller reviews go through each company on its own: UnitedHealthcare and Humana.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheaper, UnitedHealthcare or Humana? Humana, on monthly premium: 78.5% of its 2027 plans charge nothing beyond Part B against 64.0% of UnitedHealthcare’s. On out-of-pocket exposure Humana is slightly ahead too, with a median limit of $6,750 against $7,150.

Which has better star ratings? For 2027, Humana, clearly. 93.6% of its rated plans reach four stars against 62.1% of UnitedHealthcare’s, and its plan-level mean is 4.16 against 3.84. For 2026 it was the other way around.

Is AARP the same as UnitedHealthcare? For Medicare Advantage purposes, yes. AARP licenses its name; UnitedHealthcare underwrites and runs the plan.

Did hospitals drop either of them? Both, and UnitedHealthcare more often. On Becker’s running list for 2026, eight systems had stopped taking Humana and fifteen had stopped taking UnitedHealthcare when we read it on September 23, 2026. The list grows through the year, so check your own hospital against the specific plan rather than relying on a count.

Which has more choice where I live? Usually UnitedHealthcare, which sells in 89% of counties against Humana’s 83%, but this is a county-level question. The Plan Finder will show you both for your ZIP code.

Bottom Line

For 2026 Humana was cheaper and worse rated, and UnitedHealthcare better rated and less often free. For 2027 Humana is cheaper and better rated, and UnitedHealthcare is an average insurer with the widest reach. That is a real change, and it is the reason to look at Humana first this year if it is sold where you live.

It is not a reason to skip the plan-level check. Take the plans each of them actually sells in your county, look up the 2027 contract rating and the out-of-pocket limit of each, check your doctors and your prescriptions against both, and let those four answers decide. The brand is still the least informative thing on the page — this year’s reversal is the proof.

What We Counted for This Comparison

Every figure in the table above is a count we made ourselves, not one either company publishes. The source is the CY2027 Landscape file that CMS released in September 2026: 852 distinct plans under UnitedHealth Group and 861 under Humana, from the 5,522 on sale nationally. The 2027 star figures come from matching each plan’s contract to its overall rating in the 2027 Star Ratings data tables published on October 8, 2026, and cover the 829 UnitedHealthcare and 842 Humana plans that carry one; the 2026 comparison row uses the CY2026 file. The medians, the ceiling shares and the premium shares are counted across every plan each company sells.

One distinction matters more in this article than in most. Our star figures are shares of plans, so the 93.6% and 62.1% above are not the same measure as the share of members in four-star plans reported in the press — those are enrollment-weighted, and a plan with four hundred members weighs the same as one with four hundred thousand in our count. For 2027 the two measures happen to agree closely; for 2026 they did not. What we keep, what we exclude and why that gap can exist are set out in full on our Editorial Methodology page.

Sources

• CY2027 and CY2026 Medicare Advantage and Part D Landscape files — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, September 2026 versions. Source for every figure in the comparison table other than the 2027 star ratings, including the plan counts, county coverage, premium shares, out-of-pocket limits and the $9,850 ceiling for 2027, the 2026 star figures, plan-type mix and the USAA Honor plans. All calculations are our own, by the method above.
• 2027 Star Ratings Data Tables — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, published October 8, 2026. Source for every 2027 plan-level star figure, matched contract by contract.
• Humana rebounds, Aetna slips: Winners and losers in the 2027 MA star ratings — Fierce Healthcare, October 9, 2026. Source for the shares of Humana and UnitedHealthcare members in four-star-or-better plans for 2027.
• Medicare Advantage in 2026: Enrollment Update and Key Trends — KFF. Source for the 26% and 20% market shares, the 9.3 million and 7 million enrollees, the combined 46%, the gain of 1.3 million at Humana and the loss of 647,000 at UnitedHealth, and the 889 counties where two organizations hold at least 75% of enrollment.
• Humana’s Medicare Advantage star ratings lawsuit dismissed again — Healthcare Dive. Source for the fall from 25% to 20% of Humana members in four-star-or-better plans for 2026, and the two dismissals.
• Health systems dropping Medicare Advantage plans in 2026 — Becker’s Hospital Review. Source for the systems that stopped accepting each insurer’s plans, read on September 23, 2026. Becker’s adds to this list through the year, so the counts quoted are a floor.
• Medicare Advantage in 2026: Premiums, Out-of-Pocket Limits, Supplemental Benefits and Prior Authorization — KFF. Source for the $9,250 statutory in-network out-of-pocket limit for 2026.

All figures on this page were checked against the sources above on October 12, 2026, and the Becker’s list on September 23, 2026. Network status changes without notice; confirm your own providers on Medicare.gov before enrolling.

Disclaimer: Plan figures reflect 2027 and 2026 data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and vary by state, county and plan. Always confirm current details directly with Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or a licensed agent before making a decision.