Best Cheap Medicare Advantage Plans in Florida

Aetna has the best Medicare Advantage plans in Florida. Its plans are cheap, at just $1 per month on average. And they have a high rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which means they have good plan quality and customer service.

But Aetna plans can require you to pay a lot for your medical care and prescription drugs each year, especially when compared to other options. You could pay around $5,000 per year toward your medical bills before your plan starts to pay in full. While that's not much higher than the state average of $4,900 per year, it's higher than a lot of other companies.

And you could pay an average of $450 per year for your prescription medications before your plan fully covers them. That's quite a lot more than the state average of $242 per year. If you don't have the money to cover a large share of your medical bills, Aetna might not be the best option. Look for a company with plans that have lower out-of-pocket maximums and lower drug deductibles.

Aetna sells Medicare Advantage plans in 41 Florida counties. About 96% of people in Florida who are eligible for Medicare can get a plan from Aetna.

• Alachua
• Baker
• Brevard
• Broward
• Charlotte
• Citrus
• Clay
• Collier
• Columbia
• DeSoto
• Duval
• Escambia
• Flagler
• Hernando
• Highlands
• Hillsborough
• Indian River
• Lake
• Lee
• Levy
• Manatee

• Marion
• Martin
• Miami-Dade
• Nassau
• Okaloosa
• Orange
• Osceola
• Palm Beach
• Pasco
• Pinellas
• Polk
• Putnam
• Santa Rosa
• Sarasota
• Seminole
• St. Johns
• St. Lucie
• Sumter
• Volusia
• Walton

UnitedHealthcare (UHC) is a good option if you want the flexibility to choose your doctors and still have coverage. That's because the company sells PPO plans throughout Florida.

With a PPO, you don't have to stay within a limited network of doctors when you get medical care. Your plan will still pay for at least part of your medical bills if you go to an out-of-network doctor, but you'll pay less if you stay in-network. This gives you more options to choose what doctors to go to.

PPOs also let you go to specialists without a referral from your primary care doctor. This can help you get medical care faster.

Because PPO plans offer more flexibility, they usually cost more than other plan types. A UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plan costs an average of $7 per month in Florida, but a PPO plan from UHC costs $12 per month, on average.

UnitedHealthcare is also a good option even if you don't want a PPO plan. More than 1.5 million doctors and 6,200 hospitals take UnitedHealthcare plans, which can make it easier to find medical care even if you have to stay inside the network.

But remember that some doctors and hospitals have stopped taking Medicare Advantage plans because of problems getting the plans to pay for medical care. Even if you get a PPO, check that your doctors are in the plan's network. Although PPOs cover out-of-network doctors, you'll still pay less when you go to an in-network doctor. So it's worth it to make sure your regular doctors are in your plan's network.

While UnitedHealthcare plans usually have good coverage, you could still pay a lot for medical care. The plans have an average out-of-pocket maximum of $5,585. That means you could pay nearly $5,600 toward your medical bills in a given year. You can find Medicare Advantage plans in Florida with lower out-of-pocket maximums.

Leon has the best 5-star Medicare Advantage plans in Florida. Not only do the plans have excellent coverage and customer service, but they also help you save on medical care. All of Leon's plans cover prescription medications right away, so you don't have to pay a drug deductible.

And Leon's plans have the lowest out-of-pocket maximums in Florida. If you need a lot of medical care, you could pay an average of $1,817 per year with a plan from Leon. Two of the company's three plans have $1,000 out-of-pocket maximums, which is far lower than the state average of $4,900 per year. That means after you pay $1,000 toward your medical bills, your plan will pay for all your covered medical care.

You won't pay anything for a 5-star plan from Leon, which makes them a great choice if you're on a budget and still want a good-quality plan. None of the company's plans have a monthly rate. But you'll still have to pay the $185-per-month cost for Medicare Part B.

But Leon's plans are only available in Miami-Dade County in Southeastern Florida. If you live anywhere else in Florida, HealthSun or Optimum are good options. Both companies also have 5-star plans and are more widely available than Leon.