HMO plans, most of the time. But the cheapest plan to buy and the cheapest plan to use aren’t always the same one, so here’s the quick tour.
HMO. Usually the lowest premium, and very often $0. You stay inside the plan’s network of doctors and hospitals, and seeing a specialist usually takes a referral first. Less freedom, lower price.
PPO. A little more each month on average. In return you can see doctors outside the network, as long as you’re fine paying more for those visits.
Special Needs Plans. These are built for specific groups, like people who have both Medicare and Medicaid, or who live with certain chronic conditions. If you qualify for one, it can be the lowest cost option of all.
The rare ones. Private fee-for-service and medical savings account plans exist, but very few people are in them.
Premium is the small number. In 2026, about three out of four people in Advantage plans with drug coverage pay no extra premium at all. Where plans really differ is the yearly out-of-pocket limit, which is the most you’d pay for covered care in a rough year. HMOs average around $4,600 and PPOs around $6,600, and a plan is allowed to set it as high as $9,250 for in-network care. All of that sits on top of Part B, which everyone still pays, and we go through it in what Medicare costs at 65.
So a $0 plan with a high limit can cost more than a $20 plan with a low one, if this turns out to be the year you need surgery.
Three things decide what’s cheapest for you.
- Whether your doctors are in the network
- How the plan covers your prescriptions
- That yearly out-of-pocket limit
If you’re still deciding between Advantage and a supplement, our comparison of Medigap or Advantage in Denver covers that choice.