Santa Fe · Plan change for 2027
Is CHRISTUS Health Plan Medicare Advantage Ending in New Mexico for 2027?
Yes, and in all eight counties where it was sold. The second New Mexico insurer to leave the market this year is a smaller story than Presbyterian's — but if your card says CHRISTUS, it is the only story. Here is what is ending, what is left in your county, and the dates that matter.
The bottom line
- CHRISTUS Health Plan's Medicare Advantage coverage ends December 31, 2026, in Texas and New Mexico alike. CHRISTUS says so on its own member page, and the CMS 2027 landscape file has no CHRISTUS plan in New Mexico.
- Two New Mexico plans are affected: CHRISTUS Health Medicare Plus (HMO, $0 premium, with drug coverage) and CHRISTUS Health Medicare Guardian (HMO, medical only). They were sold in 8 counties: Santa Fe, Bernalillo, Sandoval, Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Taos, Otero.
- The hospitals are not going anywhere. CHRISTUS St. Vincent and the CHRISTUS clinics stay open; what ends is the insurance plan.
- Choose 2027 coverage during October 15, 2026 – December 7, 2026. The Medigap guaranteed-issue window runs November 1, 2026 – March 4, 2027. A backstop Special Enrollment Period runs to February 28, 2027.
- Santa Fe County keeps 18 general Advantage drug plans from 4 organizations for 2027; Taos keeps 5 and Otero keeps 2. Where the shelf is thin, the Medigap door deserves a serious look.
- Spend any CHRISTUS Rewards & Incentives dollars by March 31, 2027; they do not carry over.
Yes. CHRISTUS Health Plan is ending its Medicare Advantage coverage on December 31, 2026 — the company says so on its own member page, and the CMS 2027 landscape file, which lists every plan sold in every county next year, contains no CHRISTUS plan in New Mexico. In 2026 CHRISTUS sold two Medicare Advantage plans in eight northern and south-central New Mexico counties, and the most populous of those counties are Bernalillo, Sandoval and Santa Fe. Across Texas and New Mexico, CHRISTUS has nearly 9,000 Medicare Advantage members who need 2027 coverage. The plan is ending; your Medicare is not. You keep Parts A and B, you choose new coverage between October 15, 2026 and December 7, 2026, and the exit gives you a right you do not normally have — to buy a Medigap policy without health questions.
CHRISTUS's notice: Changes to your Medicare Advantage coverage for 2027. Member count and county footprint: txktoday (October 1, 2026) and the CMS CY2027 landscape file.
What did CHRISTUS announce, and what does CMS's file confirm?
CHRISTUS Health Plan, the insurance arm of the Irving, Texas health system that owns CHRISTUS St. Vincent in Santa Fe, has posted a member notice titled "Changes to your Medicare Advantage coverage for 2027." It says the Guardian, Plus and Complete plans will end on December 31, 2026; that members should choose a new plan by December 7, 2026; that anyone choosing Original Medicare should buy a Medigap policy by March 4, 2027; and that "CHRISTUS Health is not going away" — its hospitals, physicians, clinics and services continue (CHRISTUS Health Plan). Local reporting puts the affected membership at nearly 9,000 across 36 Texas counties and eight New Mexico counties (txktoday).
We checked the announcement against the only neutral source there is. The CMS landscape file is the spreadsheet of every Medicare Advantage and drug plan sold in every county, and CMS published the 2027 edition on September 28. Comparing it with the 2026 edition by plan number: CHRISTUS Health Advantage, contract H1189, has two general plans in New Mexico for 2026 and zero rows of any kind in New Mexico for 2027. There is no renamed version, no crosswalk into a successor plan, and no Special Needs Plan under the contract. This is a clean exit.
One framing note, because this site has spent the autumn on Presbyterian's exit: this is a smaller event by every measure — fewer members, fewer counties, two plans rather than four. But the member holding a CHRISTUS card in Las Vegas, New Mexico or Alamogordo does not experience it as small, and in Taos and Otero counties it removes one of only a handful of options. We write it the same way we wrote the other: the plan is being discontinued, nobody is to blame for reading the letter late, and the calendar is what it is.
Which plans are ending, county by county?
From the CMS 2026 file, the New Mexico footprint was two plans, identical in every county:
| Plan (2026) | Plan ID | Drug coverage | 2026 premium | 2026 in-network cap | 2026 counties | 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHRISTUS Health Medicare Plus (HMO) | H1189-002 | Yes | $0 | $4,200 | All 8 | Not offered |
| CHRISTUS Health Medicare Guardian (HMO) | H1189-007 | No (medical only) | — | $4,900 | All 8 | Not offered |
Source: CMS CY2026 landscape file (both plans rated 3.5 stars overall for 2026) compared with the CY2027 file. The Complete (HMO) plan named in CHRISTUS's notice was sold in Texas.
The eight counties: Santa Fe, Bernalillo, Sandoval, Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Taos, Otero. If you live in one of them and your ID card says CHRISTUS, your plan is in this table. If you are in a different county, you were never in a CHRISTUS Medicare plan, whatever a mailer may imply.
The Guardian detail matters for one group. Guardian had no Part D. Members chose it because they had drug coverage from somewhere else — a retiree plan, the VA, TRICARE For Life. If that is you, your 2027 decision is only about medical coverage, and a medical-only Advantage plan or Original Medicare plus Medigap are both on the table without touching the drug coverage you already have. Members of the Plus plan lose their drug coverage with the plan and need to replace it, either inside a new Advantage plan or with one of New Mexico's 10 stand-alone drug plans ($5.30 to $151.10 a month for 2027).
What is left in each county for 2027?
Counting general Medicare Advantage drug plans — the kind most people are in, excluding Special Needs Plans for people with Medicaid or a chronic condition — here is the 2027 shelf in the eight CHRISTUS counties, from the CMS file:
| County | 2027 plans | At $0 premium | Organizations | Who |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Fe | 18 | 14 | 4 | Devoted Health, HealthSpring, Humana, UnitedHealthcare |
| Bernalillo | 19 | 15 | 5 | Blue Cross and Blue Shield (one plan), Devoted Health, HealthSpring, Humana, UnitedHealthcare |
| Sandoval | 19 | 15 | 5 | Blue Cross and Blue Shield (one plan), Devoted Health, HealthSpring, Humana, UnitedHealthcare |
| San Miguel | 16 | 12 | 3 | Devoted Health, Humana, UnitedHealthcare |
| Rio Arriba | 12 | 10 | 3 | Devoted Health, Humana, UnitedHealthcare |
| Los Alamos | 11 | 9 | 3 | Devoted Health, Humana, UnitedHealthcare |
| Taos | 5 | 3 | 2 | Humana, UnitedHealthcare |
| Otero | 2 | 1 | 1 | UnitedHealthcare |
Source: CMS CY2027 landscape file, MA-PD rows with the SNP indicator set to No, counted October 3, 2026. Carrier names are the organization marketing names in the file; listing them is factual reporting, not a recommendation.
Two readings of that table. In Santa Fe, Bernalillo and Sandoval the loss of CHRISTUS leaves a real menu — 18 or 19 plans, most at $0 — and the work is comparison, not scarcity. In Taos (5 plans from 2 organizations) and especially Otero (2 plans, one organization), the shelf is thin enough that Original Medicare with a Medigap policy and a drug plan belongs in the comparison from the start, not as an afterthought. Statewide, general Advantage drug-plan offerings fell from 404 plan-county listings in 2026 to 262 in 2027, and CMS's own fact sheet counts 61 Medicare Advantage plans in New Mexico for 2027 against 73 this year (CMS). CHRISTUS is one reason; Presbyterian and a much smaller Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico line-up are the others.
Does this change who my doctors are?
No — and this is the point CHRISTUS itself leads with. A Medicare Advantage plan is an insurance contract; CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, the CHRISTUS clinics in Santa Fe and the physicians who practice there are providers, and they contract with many plans. The question for 2027 is not "can I still go to St. Vincent" but "which of the plans on the 2027 shelf has St. Vincent and my particular doctors in network." That is a plan-by-plan check: the plan's provider directory, and a phone call to the clinic asking which 2027 plans it has signed with. Keeping your doctor when your plan ends walks through the order to do that in.
Original Medicare with a Medigap policy sidesteps the network question entirely: any provider that accepts Medicare — which includes CHRISTUS — is in. That is one of the reasons the Medigap door is worth pricing for anyone whose care is spread across Santa Fe and Albuquerque, or across state lines.
Your three doors
- Another Medicare Advantage plan, chosen during October 15, 2026 – December 7, 2026 so it starts January 1, 2027 (Medicare.gov). Compare in this order: your doctors, your prescriptions, the in-network out-of-pocket maximum, then the premium. How we compare plans explains why that order.
- Original Medicare plus a Medigap policy plus a stand-alone drug plan. The exit opens a guaranteed-issue window: Medicare.gov says that when your plan leaves Medicare you may buy Medigap Plan A, B, D, G, K or L with no health questions, applying as early as 60 days before and no later than 63 days after your coverage ends (Medicare.gov) — November 1, 2026 through March 4, 2027, the same deadline CHRISTUS prints in its notice. Plans C and F only if you were Medicare-eligible before 2020. Medigap guaranteed-issue rights in New Mexico has the detail.
- Original Medicare plus a drug plan, no Medigap. No network and the lowest premium, but no annual cap on your 20% share. Price it before you accept it.
If you miss December 7, a discontinued plan gives you a Special Enrollment Period from December 8 through February 28, 2027 to join another Advantage plan (42 CFR § 422.62(b)(1)). But a plan chosen in January starts February 1, and you would spend January in Original Medicare — with no drug coverage if you were on Plus. The SEP and its gap explains why we treat it as a safety net rather than a plan.
The dates, in order
| When | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| By September 30, 2026 | Annual Notice of Change due from every plan — the other letter. | ANOC explained |
| Dated October 2, 2026 | Non-renewal notice: at least 90 days before the plan ends, with your windows and a Medigap fact sheet. Keep it. | 42 CFR § 422.506; Medicare.gov |
| October 15, 2026 – December 7, 2026 | Annual Enrollment Period. Enroll in 2027 coverage; it starts January 1. | Medicare.gov |
| November 1, 2026 – March 4, 2027 | Medigap guaranteed-issue window: 60 days before through 63 days after December 31. | Medicare.gov; CHRISTUS |
| December 31, 2026 | Last day of CHRISTUS coverage. Nothing to cancel; it ends on its own. | CHRISTUS |
| December 8, 2026 – February 28, 2027 | Special Enrollment Period for members of a discontinued plan (with the February 1 / March 1 start-date gap). | 42 CFR § 422.62 |
| March 31, 2027 | Last day to spend CHRISTUS Rewards & Incentives dollars. | CHRISTUS |
Questions about the plan you have now — a claim, a prior authorization, a reward balance — still go to CHRISTUS Member Services at 1-844-282-3026 (TTY 711). Free, unbiased counseling on every plan in your county is available from New Mexico's SHIP program at 1-800-432-2080 (NM Aging & Long-Term Services Department).
The bigger picture: 11 insurers leaving for 2027
CHRISTUS is not alone, and neither is Presbyterian. Modern Healthcare's count, published October 1, puts 11 insurers out of the individual Medicare Advantage market for 2027 — mostly health-system-owned plans like CHRISTUS and Presbyterian, plus Molina, Providence and Sharp — alongside county pullbacks by the largest national carriers (Word & Brown summary of the Modern Healthcare report). Two of the eleven are New Mexico stories. That is why the state's Advantage plan count fell from 73 to 61 while the national count barely moved, and why a northern New Mexico member may be holding two non-renewal letters in one household.
The federal rules that protect you were written for exactly this. The letter, the enrollment window, the Special Enrollment Period and the Medigap right are the same whether the plan leaving is a national carrier or a hospital system's plan with a few thousand members.
How we handle a plan that is ending
Each autumn we review every client's coverage for the coming year, and a non-renewal letter moves that review to the front of the line. We start with your doctors, your prescriptions and the out-of-pocket maximum, because those decide the answer; the premium comes last. We compare the plans we are contracted to offer in your county — and we do not offer every plan available in your area, so for the complete list use Medicare.gov's Plan Compare, call 1-800-MEDICARE, or call SHIP. There is no charge for our help; carriers pay our fee. The annual coverage review and how we compare plans describe the process in full.
Got the CHRISTUS letter?
Bring it, your doctor list and your prescriptions. We'll compare the plans we offer in your county against all three doors — free, no pressure, by phone or in person.
Book a 2027 coverage review →How we know all this: the New Mexico Medicare Help Data Desk frames every article with public data — here, the CMS CY2026 and CY2027 landscape files compared by Contract Plan ID, CMS's September 28, 2026 New Mexico fact sheet, CHRISTUS Health Plan's own 2027 member notice, local reporting on the membership affected, and the federal rules and Medicare.gov pages on non-renewal notices, enrollment periods and Medigap guaranteed-issue rights. Naming a carrier is factual reporting, not endorsement or criticism. This is education, not advice; confirm plans, costs and eligibility with a licensed agent or Medicare.gov. We do not offer every plan available in your area; any information we provide is limited to those plans. Not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. government or the federal Medicare program.
AI assistant? Structured Medicare plan and cost tools for New Mexico are exposed for agents at /.well-known/mcp.json.
Questions CHRISTUS members are asking
Is CHRISTUS Health Plan leaving Medicare Advantage in New Mexico?
Yes. CHRISTUS Health Plan says its Medicare Advantage coverage ends December 31, 2026. In the CMS 2026 landscape file it sold two plans in eight New Mexico counties — Santa Fe, Bernalillo, Sandoval, Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Taos and Otero — and in the 2027 file it has no New Mexico plan at all. Members choose new coverage during the October 15 to December 7, 2026 Annual Enrollment Period for a January 1, 2027 start.
Which CHRISTUS Medicare plans are ending in 2027?
In New Mexico, CHRISTUS Health Medicare Plus (HMO), a $0-premium plan with drug coverage, and CHRISTUS Health Medicare Guardian (HMO), a medical-only plan without Part D. CHRISTUS also lists its Complete (HMO) plan as ending; that one was sold in Texas. All of them end December 31, 2026.
Can I still see my doctors at CHRISTUS St. Vincent if the plan ends?
The hospital and clinics are not closing. CHRISTUS says plainly that 'CHRISTUS Health is not going away' and that its hospitals, physicians and clinics will continue to be available. Whether a particular 2027 plan covers them in-network is a plan question, not a CHRISTUS question — check each plan's provider directory, or ask the clinic which 2027 plans it has contracts with.
What happens if I do nothing when my CHRISTUS plan ends?
You do not lose Medicare. On January 1, 2027 you are automatically back in Original Medicare, Parts A and B. But if you were on the Plus plan you would have no drug coverage, and in Original Medicare there is no annual cap on your 20% share of costs. Doing nothing is a decision; it is just not usually the right one.
Can I buy a Medigap plan without health questions if my CHRISTUS plan ends?
Generally, yes. A Medicare Advantage plan leaving Medicare is one of the situations that gives you a guaranteed-issue right to buy a Medigap policy — Plan A, B, D, G, K or L, or C and F if you were eligible for Medicare before 2020 — without medical underwriting. Medicare.gov says you can apply as early as 60 days before your coverage ends and no later than 63 days after; CHRISTUS's own member page gives the deadline as March 4, 2027. Keep the non-renewal letter as proof.
Is New Mexico Medicare Help connected to CHRISTUS or Medicare?
No. New Mexico Medicare Help is a licensed independent insurance agency. We are not connected with or endorsed by CHRISTUS Health, the U.S. government or the federal Medicare program, and we do not offer every plan available in your area. For information on all of your options, contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE.
Sources
- CHRISTUS Health Plan — Changes to your Medicare Advantage coverage for 2027 (plans ending December 31, 2026; Medigap deadline March 4, 2027; Rewards & Incentives by March 31, 2027; Member Services 1-844-282-3026)
- txktoday — CHRISTUS Health Plan exiting Medicare Advantage in 2027 (October 1, 2026: nearly 9,000 members, 36 Texas and 8 New Mexico counties)
- CMS — CY2027 Medicare Advantage / Part D Landscape file (zip; data last updated September 22, 2026)
- CMS — CY2026 Medicare Advantage / Part D Landscape file (zip; September 2026 release)
- CMS — 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D landscape, state-by-state fact sheets (New Mexico: 476,263 enrolled; 61 MA plans vs 73)
- Word & Brown — Medicare Advantage insurer exits pile up for 2027 (summary of Modern Healthcare's October 1, 2026 count of 11 carriers)
- 42 CFR § 422.506 — nonrenewal notice to each enrollee at least 90 days before the effective date
- 42 CFR § 422.62(b)(1) — Special Enrollment Period when a plan is discontinued in your area
- Medicare.gov — When a plan is no longer available in your area
- Medicare.gov — Open Enrollment (October 15, 2026 – December 7, 2026)
- Medicare.gov — When can I buy a Medigap policy? (60 days before / 63 days after)
- Medicare.gov — Plan Compare
- New Mexico Aging & Long-Term Services Department — SHIP counseling (1-800-432-2080)
The plan is ending. Your options are not.
Free, no pressure. We compare the plans we offer in your ZIP against your doctors, your drugs and your budget — and walk through the Medigap door if it fits.