Side by side on the decisions that matter: HMO vs. PPO, Medicare Advantage vs. Medigap. What each option costs, what it covers, and which choices are hard to undo later.
You can compare Humana nationally because Humana is one company. You cannot compare Blue Cross the same way, because 509 Blue-branded plans belong to nineteen different owners. For 2027 Humana leads on price and ratings; here is what that does and doesn’t tell you.
For 2026 it was ratings against cost protection. For 2027 HealthSpring sells in half as many counties, has the same cost cap as Aetna, and has four-star plans in just 21 counties. Aetna’s ratings fell too.
Every rated Kaiser plan scores four stars or better, and for 2027 so do 93.6% of Humana’s — up from barely a third. But Kaiser sells in 118 counties and Humana in 2,600, so for most of the country this comparison still has only one answer.
Together they hold 46% of Medicare Advantage. For 2026 Humana was cheaper and UnitedHealthcare better rated. We counted all 1,713 of their 2027 plans against the new star ratings: Humana is now ahead on both.
For 2027 the average PPO costs $11.15 a month more than the average HMO and leaves you exposed to $1,450 more in a bad year. That is the real price of being able to go out of network, and almost nobody puts a number on it.
They are not two options you pick between. One is built on age, the other on income, and roughly one in five Medicare beneficiaries has both — which opens a door neither program offers on its own.
In Georgia 92.5% of Medicare Advantage plans are free and the median one caps your costs at the legal maximum. In California the median caps them at $3,400. We counted the 2027 CMS plan file state by state, with each state’s 2026 limit alongside.
Two plans, two differences. Plan N charges up to $20 a visit and leaves you exposed to a 15% excess charge; Plan G charges neither. The arithmetic that decides which is cheaper for you.
The referral rule and the out-of-network bill are what separate these two. What each costs in 2026, and who each one suits.
The decision that’s hardest to reverse. What each costs, what each covers, and why switching later isn’t always an option.
