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    Medicare Advantage · California · enrollment Oct 2026

    Medicare Advantage in California: 2,964,491 members, 37 carriers, Kaiser in front.

    Kaiser holds 36.5% of California’s visible Medicare Advantage members, ahead of SCAN Group at 14.6% and UnitedHealth at 8.2%. The market grew +2.4% (+68,407 members) from Nov 2025 to Oct 2026 and stepped −0.9% at the 2026 election period. 51.5% of the state's Medicare beneficiaries are in a Medicare Advantage plan.

    Visible members
    2,964,491
    Oct 2026
    Carriers
    37
    390 plans with members
    MA penetration
    51.5%
    of 7,301,183 eligible
    Twelve months
    +2.4%
    +68,407 members
    Election step
    −0.9%
    December to January 2026
    Top three
    59.2%
    HHI 1,782, moderately concentrated

    Every carrier with members in California

    Ranked by visible members in Oct 2026. The twelve-month change runs Nov 2025 to Oct 2026; the election step is the carrier’s own December-to-January change. Counties led counts counties where the carrier has the most visible members and at least one other carrier is visible. Kaiser leads 24 of the 48 counties with a lead. At the election period Champion Health Plans-USA, LLC. stepped up most (+1185.5%) and Providence stepped down most (−39.1%).

    #CarrierMembersShareTwelve monthsElection stepCounties ledRating$0 premiumPlans
    1Kaiser1,080,968
    36.5%
    +4.8%+1.7%24 of 414.5057%49
    2SCAN Group432,945
    14.6%
    +43.2%+28.2%1 of 254.0093%54
    3UnitedHealth242,012
    8.2%
    −27.6%−22.8%4 of 253.0091%43
    4Alignment Healthcare USA, LLC236,607
    8.0%
    +22.1%+10.4%3 of 223.5493%40
    5Elevance212,193
    7.2%
    −14.4%−9.9%6 of 393.12100%43
    6Humana139,381
    4.7%
    +5.3%+6.2%5 of 274.0085%27
    7Centene77,675
    2.6%
    −27.0%−16.9%0 of 213.5088%15
    8California Physicians' Service75,521
    2.5%
    −16.6%−12.0%0 of 153.9591%15
    9Molina62,219
    2.1%
    −41.4%−25.5%0 of 233.00100%15
    10Aetna (CVS)59,443
    2.0%
    −37.8%−37.4%0 of 163.6099%32
    11Astiva Health Holdings Incorporated54,175
    1.8%
    +40.4%+1.1%0 of 74.00100%7
    12Clever Care Health Plan, Inc.53,392
    1.8%
    +78.9%+36.5%0 of 54.50100%4
    13Imperial Health Plan of California53,143
    1.8%
    +113.3%+59.8%3 of 534.00100%3
    14INLAND EMPIRE HEALTH PLAN38,265
    1.3%
    −0.7%−0.9%0 of 33.50100%1
    15Local Initiative Health Authority for LA County30,632
    1.0%
    +2.1%+0.4%0 of 63.50100%1
    16Orange County Health Authority19,124
    0.7%
    +5.0%+0.2%0 of 23.50100%1
    17Sharp Healthcareends every plan for 202717,328
    0.6%
    +14.9%+6.5%0 of 24.00–4
    18SANTA CLARA COUNTY HEALTH AUTHORITY11,885
    0.4%
    +3.3%+0.4%0 of 103.00100%1
    19The Regents of the University of California11,867
    0.4%
    +66.4%+38.9%0 of 53.5032%2
    20Community Health Group10,829
    0.4%
    +13.8%+0.8%0 of 42.50100%2
    21Champion Health Plans-USA, LLC.10,083
    0.3%
    +4546.5%+1185.5%1 of 8–100%6
    22Health Plan of San Mateo8,432
    0.3%
    +0.2%−0.1%0 of 73.00100%1
    23Montage Health8,048
    0.3%
    +4.6%+3.2%1 of 23.5019%4
    24Chinese Hospital Association5,716
    0.2%
    −2.9%−0.5%0 of 33.0079%5
    25Providence3,926
    0.1%
    −54.9%−39.1%0 of 1––1
    26Kern Health Systems (KHS)1,427
    0.1%
    ––0 of 1–100%1
    27SAN FRANCISCO HEALTH AUTHORITY1,399
    0.1%
    ––0 of 1–100%1
    28SANTA CRUZ MONTEREY MERCED SAN BENITO MARIPOSA MAN1,159
    0.0%
    ––0 of 5–100%1
    29SANTA BARBARA SAN LUIS OBISPO REGIONAL HEALTH AUTH851
    0.0%
    ––0 of 2–100%1
    30Ventura County Medi-Cal Managed Care Commission747
    0.0%
    ––0 of 1–100%1
    31Curana Health Holdings, LLC663
    0.0%
    +49.0%+2.8%0 of 4–100%3
    32Contra Costa Health Services623
    0.0%
    ––0 of 1–100%1
    33AIDS Healthcare Foundation583
    0.0%
    −2.2%−0.2%0 of 1–100%1
    34IMPERIAL COUNTY LOCAL HEALTH AUTHORITY511
    0.0%
    ––0 of 1–100%1
    35SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY HEALTH COMMISSION386
    0.0%
    ––0 of 3–100%1
    36Alameda Alliance for Health312
    0.0%
    ––0 of 1–100%1
    37Elite Health Systems, Inc.21
    0.0%
    ––0 of 1–100%1

    California county by county

    57 counties with visible members, largest first. A county’s leader is the carrier with the most visible members there; a county with one visible carrier shows no leader, because the others are suppressed, not absent. Penetration is Medicare Advantage members as a share of the county’s Medicare beneficiaries.

    CountyVisible membersCarriersLeaderLeader shareMA penetrationDual eligibles
    Los Angeles812,11021Kaiser30.1%57.1%538,636
    Orange296,15020SCAN Group29.0%55.9%127,451
    San Diego280,95616Kaiser30.0%53.6%122,693
    Riverside247,22020Kaiser26.5%63.3%101,609
    San Bernardino201,97818Kaiser28.7%67.2%98,768
    Santa Clara129,58812Kaiser51.1%50.9%68,998
    Sacramento121,16911Kaiser54.8%62.9%76,212
    Alameda103,70015Kaiser73.5%52.8%67,491
    Contra Costa78,23210Kaiser79.5%52.2%38,484
    Fresno63,07010Alignment Healthcare USA, LLC30.8%48.9%50,751
    San Francisco57,99713Kaiser41.3%51.8%55,124
    San Joaquin57,89813Kaiser45.1%55.5%33,470
    Ventura55,98014Kaiser41.1%41.1%29,682
    Kern55,31113Kaiser28.6%47.5%43,323
    San Mateo49,89611Kaiser59.2%50.7%20,508
    Stanislaus49,44211Alignment Healthcare USA, LLC37.0%58.9%26,384
    Sonoma48,3145Kaiser80.5%53.7%16,898
    Placer38,8558Kaiser59.4%57.2%10,845
    Solano31,6395Kaiser86.9%55.7%16,430
    Tulare23,9578Humana36.5%37.1%25,966
    Marin20,8545Kaiser86.8%45.3%6,044
    El Dorado13,3666Kaiser65.4%41.7%5,932
    San Luis Obispo12,5948Alignment Healthcare USA, LLC45.0%23.9%8,951
    Imperial12,2466Champion Health Plans-USA, LLC.35.1%37.2%17,375
    Santa Barbara12,2276UnitedHealth37.4%20.2%15,568
    Yolo11,1128Kaiser40.9%51.6%7,396
    Madera10,9979Kaiser42.9%49.8%7,003
    Merced10,4459Imperial Health Plan of California44.5%28.3%14,768
    Napa9,7934Kaiser82.0%46.0%5,407
    Santa Cruz9,6956Kaiser48.3%25.6%10,378
    Monterey9,4225Montage Health84.9%16.2%16,667
    Kings6,3498Elevance30.4%37.8%6,313
    Nevada3,0704UnitedHealth74.5%18.2%4,305
    Butte2,8783Elevance55.3%11.3%12,384
    Amador2,1455Kaiser42.4%28.6%1,684
    Yuba2,0073Kaiser46.4%20.1%4,501
    Shasta1,8242Elevance55.2%7.4%11,713
    Mendocino1,6813UnitedHealth85.7%10.8%6,440
    Lake1,1753UnitedHealth90.5%10.4%5,750
    Calaveras1,0894Humana68.6%13.9%2,193
    San Benito1,0794Imperial Health Plan of California91.8%14.8%2,166
    Tehama9692Elevance63.6%9.5%3,994
    Humboldt8631one visible carrier–8.6%8,017
    Sutter7373Elevance75.3%7.9%5,686
    Tuolumne7264Imperial Health Plan of California48.9%10.1%2,698
    Mariposa3644Humana61.5%13.2%955
    Lassen3451one visible carrier–9.1%1,186
    Plumas3012Humana79.7%10.2%1,105
    Inyo1582Elevance56.3%10.9%808
    Siskiyou1441one visible carrier–4.2%3,399
    Glenn981one visible carrier–6.5%1,801
    Del Norte901one visible carrier–4.4%2,019
    Mono803Humana58.8%8.8%240
    Sierra451one visible carrier–12.6%180
    Modoc351one visible carrier–4.5%720
    Alpine141one visible carrier–13.0%44
    Colusa121one visible carrier–5.5%1,362

    California's twelve months

    Visible Medicare Advantage members in California each month, Nov 2025 to Oct 2026. The December-to-January step is the election period; the rest of the year moves on new eligibles, special enrollment and deaths.

    Nov 2025 · 2,896,084Oct 2026 · 2,964,491

    What 2027 does to California

    The fate assigned to every plan for 2027, joined to the members in it today. A plan that ends sends its members to choose again; a plan dropping counties keeps the plan but not every county, and which counties is not stated.

    Plans that end
    138,212

    members in California are in plans that end for 2027; Sharp Healthcare ends every plan in the state.

    • Aetna (CVS)41,938
    • Molina33,801
    • Sharp Healthcare · every plan17,328
    • Elevance14,520
    • UnitedHealth8,949
    • Centene6,853
    • SCAN Group4,545
    • Providence3,926
    Plans dropping counties
    67,298

    members are in plans that keep selling in California but drop at least one county for 2027.

    • Kaiser · 1 plans26,657
    • Humana · 1 plans14,002
    • Elevance · 2 plans13,200
    • UnitedHealth · 1 plans7,160
    • Alignment Healthcare USA, LLC · 1 plans4,613
    • Centene · 1 plans1,620
    • Curana Health Holdings, LLC · 1 plans46

    The plans on sale in California for 2027

    Benefit design weighted by each plan’s members today, so a figure is what the market’s members are offered, not a count of plans. The rating is the 2027 overall Star Rating, weighted the same way.

    $0 premium
    79%

    of members are in a plan with no monthly premium

    In-network maximum
    $3,400

    median out-of-pocket maximum, member weighted

    Star Rating
    3.93

    2027 overall, member weighted

    Carrier Command · for Medicare Advantage plans

    The read on every carrier in California is in Carrier Command.

    A monthly position page for each of the 37 carriers here: risk and rebate against the market, Stars levers, the election-period forecast, county standing and the written read. Launching for Medicare Advantage plans.

    How these numbers are made

    • Members are visible members: CMS suppresses any plan-county cell of ten or fewer, so small counties undercount. Market share excludes employer group plans.
    • Enrollment is Oct 2026; the twelve months run Nov 2025 to Oct 2026; the election step compares December 2025 with January 2026.
    • Plan fates are the ones assigned for contract year 2027; benefit design is the 2027 filing; the rating is the 2027 overall Star Rating of each carrier's contracts, weighted by members in California.
    • A carrier is a parent organization; its brands in California may carry other names. The rank 1st to 37th counts every parent with visible members in 2026.
    • Every figure comes from public CMS data as Livmor reads it, and the page is rebuilt when a new month posts. Livmor Carrier Command, public CMS data.