Wellcare Opens 2026 Medicare Enrollment Season With New Choices for Florida Seniors
Wellcare, the Medicare brand of Centene Corporation, has announced the start of the 2026 Medicare Annual Enrollment Period for Florida. From October 15, 2025 through December 7, 2025, Medicare beneficiaries can review their coverage and switch to a plan that fits how they live now, not how they lived three years ago. Coverage for new enrollments and changes will begin on January 1, 2026.
Florida sits at the center of this effort through Sunshine Health, Centene’s health plan in the state. Charlene Zein, CEO of Sunshine Health, framed it in simple terms: choosing Medicare coverage each year is one of the biggest health decisions older adults and their families make. The message from Wellcare and Sunshine Health is clear: use this window, look at your options, and do not just let last year’s choice roll over out of habit.
What the 2026 Medicare Annual Enrollment Period Means
The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period, often shortened to AEP, is the yearly window when people with Medicare can switch Medicare Advantage plans or Prescription Drug Plans. Medicare Advantage, also known as MA or MAPD when drug coverage is included, replaces Original Medicare with a private plan that must follow federal rules. Prescription Drug Plans, known as PDPs, add stand-alone drug coverage for those who keep Original Medicare or pair it with certain other coverage.
For 2026, Wellcare Medicare Advantage plans will be available to more than 51 million beneficiaries in 32 states and more than 1,850 counties. That reach covers over 75 percent of eligible beneficiaries in those states. The company has added 51 more counties across California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada, Texas and North Carolina. Florida beneficiaries stay within an already large footprint that ties into Sunshine Health’s long-standing presence in the state.
From a digital marketing perspective, this is a classic “high-stakes, low-clarity” decision point. People see television ads, postcards, robocalls and website banners, then end up confused. They often default to auto-renewing. As I would tell any client or friend: if you never compare your Medicare plan against your current prescriptions, doctors and budget, you are leaving value on the table year after year.
Wellcare’s 2026 Medicare Advantage Lineup
Wellcare’s 2026 Medicare Advantage plans aim at three things that matter to Medicare shoppers: predictable costs, meaningful extras and support that actually explains how to use the benefits.
Value-Oriented Plans With Predictable Costs
For 2026, Wellcare is promoting a variety of plan options for people who watch every dollar. Many plans feature predictable copays, including $0 or low copays for primary care physician visits. That structure gives beneficiaries a clearer sense of what a routine visit will cost before they step into the exam room.
The Part D prescription benefit inside these plans will include three phases, with total out-of-pocket drug costs capped at no more than $2,100 for the year. The monthly cost for insulin will be capped at either $35 or 25 percent of the drug’s negotiated or maximum fair price, whichever number is lower. Vaccines recommended for adults by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, will have $0 cost-sharing under Part D. This helps older adults manage long-term conditions and preventive care without constant financial surprises.
Spendables Card and Rewards on a Single Platform
The Wellcare Spendables® card continues in 2026 as a single prepaid card for eligible members across the company’s 32-state footprint. Members can use the card at more than 66,000 retailers nationwide. Depending on the plan, the allowance can apply to over-the-counter health items, as well as covered out-of-pocket dental, vision and hearing expenses. In some cases, the allowance can support other benefits connected to overall well-being.
The company has also integrated the Wellcare Spendables® card with the Wellcare Rewards™ program, creating one combined experience. Members can earn rewards for actions such as annual preventive visits, flu shots, health screenings and use of the member portal. This is classic behavior design: reward the actions that keep people healthy, and they are more likely to repeat them.
With the federal Value-Based Insurance Design, or VBID, program phasing out, extra benefits such as help with groceries, gas, rent and utilities will only be available for people who meet certain health conditions through a different program. Wellcare notes that it has tried to make the process easier so members can check eligibility. Those who do not qualify will still have access to other benefit types, such as over-the-counter items or out-of-pocket medical expenses, depending on their plan.
Behavioral Health and Digital Support 24/7
In mental health, Wellcare is leaning on Dario’s digital mental health and social support resources, formerly known as Twill Therapeutics. These online tools are available 24 hours a day across all Medicare Advantage plans. Services include peer-to-peer support, self-guided behavioral health programs and access to Centene health plan resources.
For a senior who might feel isolated, a peer group and self-guided modules on a smartphone or tablet can be the difference between stewing alone and taking a small step toward support. For caregivers, it gives them an option to recommend outside normal office hours, which is often when stress peaks.
Pharmacy Networks and Home Delivery
Wellcare will keep a preferred retail pharmacy network that includes Walgreens, CVS and select grocery chains, with a network of more than 60,000 pharmacies in total. Express Scripts® Pharmacy will remain the preferred home delivery service for prescriptions filled for more than 35 days. For many older adults and caregivers, that consistent 90-day supply on auto-refill has become a quiet anchor of their medication routine.
Preventive Care and Screening Benefits
Many Medicare Advantage plans from Wellcare will continue to offer $0 cost-sharing for routine physical exams, kidney evaluation and A1c labs, preventive and diagnostic mammograms, preventive and diagnostic colonoscopies, routine and medical eye exams for people with diabetes, and Tier 6 adherence medications at preferred pharmacies.
For anyone advising seniors, this is the checklist you want them to review each fall. Does the plan encourage annual physicals? Does it cover screenings that catch problems early? A plan that supports preventive care often costs less in the long run than a bare-bones option that looks cheap but ignores screening and monitoring.
2026 Prescription Drug Plans: Classic and Value Script
On the stand-alone drug plan side, Wellcare will continue to offer Prescription Drug Plans across all 34 regions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. There will be two products: Classic and Value Script, with 68 PDPs nationwide.
The Value Script option is positioned for people who want a lower premium and are comfortable with a leaner structure. Wellcare states that the Value Script plan will keep one of the lowest premiums in the country. The Classic plan will sit under the benchmark set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, in every region. That benchmark status makes Classic attractive for members receiving Low-Income Subsidy, often called LIS, since many of them can enroll in a benchmark plan with little or no monthly premium.
Both PDPs will feature a $0 copay on Tier 1 pref