Albuquerque · Presbyterian Medicare Advantage ending · Step by step

How to Use Medicare Plan Finder If Your Presbyterian Plan Is Ending

From today, Medicare.gov shows every 2027 plan in your county. Here is how to set it up so the results are about you, what a Presbyterian member will and will not see, what the tool cannot tell you, and how enrolling from it works.

By the New Mexico Medicare Help Data Desk

Reviewed by Brian Penner, Independent Medicare advisor — no pressure · Published October 1, 2026

To use Medicare Plan Finder, go to Medicare.gov/plan-compare, enter your ZIP code, and choose whether you want to see Medicare Advantage plans or stand-alone drug plans. Add every prescription you take, pick the pharmacies you would use, and add the doctors who matter most to you. Then the results show each plan's estimated yearly cost with your own drugs and whether each doctor is listed as in network. Plans for 2027 are on the site from October 1, 2026. For a Presbyterian Medicare Advantage member whose plan ends after December 31, 2026, the 2027 list is where the replacement will come from, and the Annual Enrollment Period for choosing it runs from October 15, 2026 through December 7, 2026.

Sources: Medicare & You 2027 — Mark your calendar with these key dates; CMS — Adding Drugs & Pharmacies When Shopping for Plans; Presbyterian — 2026 Medicare Advantage coverage.

What do I need before I open it?

Plan Finder asks for the same four things we ask for on our plan comparison page. Having them on paper first turns a frustrating hour into a focused one.

• Your red, white and blue Medicare card. You do not need it to compare, but Medicare.gov says you need "your Medicare Number and your Part A and/or Part B coverage start dates" to enroll, and both are printed on the card.
• Every prescription, with the dose, the quantity and how often you fill it. Include the ones you take only now and then. CMS's instructions ask for dosage, quantity and frequency for each drug because the cost estimate depends on them.
• The pharmacies you would be willing to use, not just the one you use now.
• The doctors, specialists and hospital you want to keep, spelled the way the office spells them.
• Your Presbyterian paperwork. The non-renewal notice tells you the plan is ending; the 2026 Evidence of Coverage tells you what you have now, so you can compare like with like. What the notice must say is in Presbyterian Medicare non-renewal letter: what it means for 2027.

Sources: Medicare.gov — Joining a plan; CMS Product No. 12075-P.

Should I log in or continue as a guest?

Either works. The difference is whether the tool remembers you. CMS's instructions say that if you do not have a Medicare account, "you can continue without logging in and still add your prescription drugs, compare plans, and complete an enrollment. However, you won't be able to save your drug list or find it later."

A Medicare account is free. The handbook says to visit Medicare.gov/account and log in or create one using "ID.me, CLEARme.com, or Login.gov," which verify your identity. Once logged in you can, in the handbook's words, "add your prescriptions and pharmacies to help you better compare Medicare health and drug plans in your area," and the account also lets you print a copy of your Medicare card if yours is in a drawer somewhere. If a family member is helping you, as in My mom's Presbyterian Medicare plan is ending: how do I help?, the account is worth creating together, because the saved lists can be reused in the January–March window and again next fall.

Sources: CMS Product No. 12075-P; Medicare & You 2027 — Get personal Medicare information online; Medicare.gov — Go digital.

How do I add my prescriptions?

One at a time, with the dose. If you are logged in, CMS's instructions describe a shortcut: select "Add Recently Filled Drugs," and the tool will "show the drugs you filled in the last 12 months from your claims to help you update your list quickly." Review that list before you accept it. CMS's own tip is that the feature "includes all the prescriptions you filled, including prescriptions you filled just once, like an antibiotic if you were sick." Remove those, or every plan's estimate will include a drug you no longer take.

If the shortcut does not show your drugs, or you are not logged in, use "Add Another Drug" and enter each one by hand. Use "Edit drug" to correct a dose or quantity, then "Done Adding Drugs." Whether a plan covers a drug, and at what tier, is the second of the four things worth checking in any plan, as laid out in How do I compare Medicare Advantage plans for 2027?

Source: CMS — Adding Drugs & Pharmacies When Shopping for Plans (Product No. 12075-P, September 2021).

How do I choose pharmacies?

Pick the ones you would actually use, and consider adding one you would be willing to try. CMS explains why: "Drug costs can change based on which pharmacy you use to fill your prescription and how that pharmacy works with a plan. The pharmacies you choose are used to show your estimated drug costs in each plan." If you are not logged in, you can select up to 5 pharmacies. You can search by ZIP code, address or pharmacy name and filter by distance.

CMS adds a tip that surprises people: "You don't have to select the pharmacies you currently use — you can pick ones you would be willing and able to use to help find the lowest cost plan." The catch is in the next line: "You'll need to fill your prescriptions at the pharmacy you chose to get the prices you see while viewing plans." A preferred in-network pharmacy "usually offers the lowest cost for drugs," and a plan can cover your drug and still cost more at a standard pharmacy. If mail order would suit you, include it.

Source: CMS Product No. 12075-P — Add pharmacies; Switch pharmacies while viewing plans.

How do I check my doctors?

Add them to the search and then confirm by phone. The handbook says that at Medicare.gov/plan-compare "you can add the providers who are most important to you, and your plan search results will show if they're in network with the plans you're considering. You can also contact your provider directly to find out if they're in network." Treat the on-screen answer as the first check, not the last one, because directories lag and "providers can join or leave a plan's provider network any time during the year."

For a Presbyterian member, this is the step that decides the most. A Presbyterian doctor or hospital can be in another company's 2027 network, or not, plan by plan. Which Albuquerque hospitals contract with which kinds of plans is in Which hospitals take Medicare Advantage in Albuquerque?, and the five-step phone check is in Will I lose my Presbyterian doctors when my Medicare plan ends?

Source: Medicare & You 2027 — Medicare Advantage Plans must follow Medicare's rules.

What will a Presbyterian member see in the results?

Every Medicare Advantage plan offered in your county for 2027, which means the Presbyterian plan you have now will not be among them if it is one being discontinued. That is not an error. Plan Finder lists the plans being sold for the year you are shopping, and Presbyterian announced on June 2, 2026 that it is discontinuing most of its Medicare Advantage plans in New Mexico for 2027, affecting about 30,000 members. Presbyterian's own statement is that members "will continue to have the same coverage, benefits and access to care through December 31, 2026," and that more details would come in early October. Its Dual Plus plan for people with Medicare and Medicaid continues and does appear on the list.

The second thing you will see is that the list is longer than the list that applies to you. In Bernalillo County, CMS's 2027 file shows 36 Medicare Advantage plans, and 15 of them are Special Needs Plans: 7 for people who also have Medicaid and 8 for people with a qualifying chronic condition. The handbook says you "can filter your search results by 'Special Needs Plans (SNP).'" If you do not have Medicaid or the named condition, use that filter to take them out, or the estimated-cost sorting will be led by plans you cannot join.

Sources: CMS CY2027 Landscape file (data last updated September 22, 2026), Bernalillo County rows, our count; CMS notes the data are subject to change as contracts are finalized. Medicare & You 2027 — Special Needs Plan (SNP); Santa Fe New Mexican, June 2, 2026; Presbyterian Healthcare Services.

Sandoval County shares the same 2027 list as Bernalillo; Santa Fe, Valencia and other counties have their own. If you are in Rio Rancho or Santa Fe, the county-specific picture is in Presbyterian Medicare Advantage ending in Rio Rancho: now what? and Presbyterian Medicare Advantage ending in Santa Fe: what are my options?

How do I read a plan's details?

Open "Plan Details" for the few plans that survive the doctor and drug checks, and read in this order.

Sources: CMS Product No. 12075-P — To switch pharmacies from the Plan Details page; Medicare & You 2027 — What do I pay?; Plans may offer some extra benefits; CMS state fact sheet, September 28, 2026 (Star Ratings date); Medicare.gov — Plan Finder.

What can't Plan Finder tell me?

Three things, and knowing them is part of using it well.

• Whether a directory listing is current. The in-network flag comes from the plan's directory. Directories lag, which is why the handbook pairs the on-screen check with "contact your provider directly."
• What an extra benefit is worth to you. A dental allowance has a dollar limit and often its own network; a fitness benefit has participating locations. Those details are in the plan's Evidence of Coverage, which the plan must make available by October 15.
• Which plan to pick. Plan Finder sorts and estimates. It does not know that you would refuse to change cardiologists, or that you travel to see grandchildren for two months every winter. Those are the questions on our annual coverage review page, and they are yours to answer.

What Plan Finder does better than any other tool is completeness. It lists every plan in your county. An agent can show you only the plans they are contracted to sell, and MedPAC reports a Commonwealth Fund analysis in which less than half of the Medicare Advantage plans on Plan Finder appeared in large online agent tools across five cities. We are an agency, and the same limit applies to us: we do not offer every plan available in your area. That is why we suggest running Plan Finder first and bringing us what you found.

Sources: Medicare & You 2027 — Evidence of Coverage; extra benefits; MedPAC — Background: Medicare insurance agents (March 6, 2025), slide 11.

How do I enroll from Plan Finder?

When you have chosen, Medicare.gov says to "select 'Enroll' for the plan you want to join at Medicare.gov/plan-compare." The other routes are to "contact the plan to join. You can call them, or visit their website," to call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), or to ask for a paper form, which the plan "must get before your enrollment period ends." You will need your Medicare Number and your Part A and Part B start dates.

Four rules about timing matter for a member whose plan is ending.

• Not before October 15, 2026. CMS's enrollment guidance says plans "may not solicit submission of paper enrollment forms, (or accept telephone or electronic enrollment requests) prior to the start of the AEP," and may not let their agents accept forms early either. Marketing may begin October 1; enrolling may not.
• Enrolling in October does not end your 2026 coverage early. The new plan starts January 1, 2027, and Medicare's systems end the Presbyterian enrollment on December 31. There is nothing to cancel, as explained in Do I need to cancel my Presbyterian Medicare Advantage plan?
• Medicare.gov's clock is generous on December 7. CMS's guidance records online enrollments in Universal Time and then counts the application date as 11 hours earlier, so its own example of a request submitted at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on December 7 is treated as a December 7 application. Do not plan around that; a directory question can take days to answer.
• Check your account in January. The handbook says new coverage begins January 1 if you made a change, and to "contact your plan if these changes don't appear in your account within 10 days of making them."

If December 7 passes and you have not chosen, you are not without options. A member whose plan is discontinued has a Special Enrollment Period from December 8, 2026 through February 28, 2027, with a gap to understand, described in Medicare plan discontinued: do I get a Special Enrollment Period?

Sources: Medicare.gov — Joining a plan; CMS — CY 2027 MA and Part D Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance, Paper Enrollment Requests Received Prior to the AEP; §40.1.3 Medicare Online Enrollment Center; Medicare & You 2027 — key dates.

Who can walk me through it?

Four kinds of help exist, and they are not in competition.

• 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), TTY 1-877-486-2048, 24 hours a day including weekends. Medicare's representatives can run the comparison with you and take an enrollment by phone through the same Online Enrollment Center the website uses.
• New Mexico's SHIP counselors at 1-800-432-2080. The handbook describes SHIPs as "free, personalized counseling" from programs that "aren't connected to any insurance company or health plan."
• Presbyterian Customer Service at (505) 923-2000 (TTY 711), for questions about what your current plan covers through December 31, 2026. Presbyterian may call its own members about the change; a stranger may not. How to tell the difference is in Is that call about my Presbyterian Medicare plan a scam?
• A licensed agent. The handbook says "a trusted agent or broker may also be able to help," and points to Medicare's marketing rules, which require independent agents to be licensed by the state and forbid charging you a fee to enroll. An agent compares the plans they offer; we do not offer every plan available in your area, and we check our shortlist against the full Medicare.gov list with you.

Sources: Medicare & You 2027 — Explore your coverage options; Find helpful contacts; State Health Insurance Assistance Programs; Medicare.gov — Plan marketing rules; Presbyterian Healthcare Services; New Mexico Aging & Long-Term Services Department — SHIP.

How we know this: the October 1 comparison date, Open Enrollment dates, the 10-day check, the Medicare account sign-in options, the provider-search and Special Needs Plan filter descriptions, the definition of SHIPs and the "trusted agent or broker" wording are quoted from the Medicare & You 2027 handbook; the drug, pharmacy and Plan Details instructions are quoted from CMS Product No. 12075-P, Adding Drugs & Pharmacies When Shopping for Plans (revised September 2021), and screen labels may have changed since; the ways to join and the information needed to enroll are from Medicare.gov's Joining a plan page; the rule against pre-AEP enrollment and the Online Enrollment Center timestamp are from CMS's CY 2027 Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance (updated September 15, 2026); the Bernalillo County counts are our own tally of the CMS CY2027 Landscape file, whose data were last updated September 22, 2026 and are subject to change; the New Mexico plan counts and the Star Ratings date are from CMS's state-by-state fact sheet of September 28, 2026; the agent-tool comparison is a Commonwealth Fund analysis of April 2021 as reproduced by MedPAC on March 6, 2025; the share of beneficiaries who did not compare coverage is from KFF's September 26, 2024 analysis of the 2022 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey; the Presbyterian announcement date and member count are from the Santa Fe New Mexican's June 2, 2026 report and the coverage-through-December statement is from Presbyterian's own notice. This article does not name, rank or recommend any plan. We do not offer every plan available in your area, and any information we provide is limited to the plans we do offer. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options. New Mexico Medicare Help is a licensed independent insurance agency and is not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program. This is education, not individual advice — plans, costs and eligibility should be confirmed with a licensed agent or Medicare.gov.

AI assistant? Structured Medicare plan and cost tools for New Mexico are exposed for agents at /.well-known/mcp.json.