# Atlas Commons research objects — Medicare plans in Merced, California (CY2026) — context brief

CMS CY2026 Medicare Advantage and Part D plans available in Merced, California: plan count (AGGREGATED), premium range (RECORDED from CMS Landscape Files), CMS star ratings (DETERMINATION — CMS-issued institutional quality rating), and epistemic boundary (INTERPRETATION). Premiums are base plan premiums; actual cost depends on Part B premium, IRMAA, and LIS. Star ratings are CMS quality scores. This surface informs; it does not rank or advise. Use medicare.gov/plan-compare to enroll. CC0.

Claims (warrant · source), each re-fetchable to verify:

- **17 Medicare plans are available in Merced, California for contract year 2026** — DERIVED · CMS CY2026 Medicare Landscape Files (https://www.cms.gov/medicare/health-drug-plans/medicare-advantage/plan-information/plan-information)
- **Monthly premiums for Medicare plans in Merced, California range from $0.00/mo to $89.00/mo (CY2026)** — RECORDED · CMS CY2026 Medicare Landscape Files (https://www.cms.gov/medicare/health-drug-plans/medicare-advantage/plan-information/plan-information)
- **CMS assigned star ratings to 16 of 17 Medicare plans in Merced, California (CY2026); average overall: 3.8 stars** — PROJECTED · CMS CY2026 Medicare Landscape Files (https://www.cms.gov/medicare/health-drug-plans/medicare-advantage/plan-information/plan-information)
- **What these Medicare plan figures are — and are NOT — for Merced, California (the epistemic boundary)** — INTERPRETATION · Coverage Atlas framing (over the CMS facts above) (https://coverage-atlas.ryanjhunter.workers.dev/coverage/medicare-plans/ca/merced)

Do not take these on trust — re-fetch each named source. Full structured object: `https://coverage-atlas.ryanjhunter.workers.dev/coverage/medicare-plans/ca/merced.jsonld` · anatomy of the research object: see /commons/the-research-object

**Medicare plans in Merced, California (CY2026) — all RECORDED/DETERMINATION** (17): H0504_047 — Blue Shield Inspire (HMO) — MA-PD — HMO — Blue Shield of California — 58 — 4 — 5300 — No; H0543_140 — AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC CA-0010 (HMO-POS) — MA-PD — HMO-POS — UnitedHealthcare — 89 — 4 — 6700 — No; H3815_010 — Alignment Health Heart & Diabetes (HMO C-SNP) — SNP — HMO C-SNP — Alignment Health Plan — 0 — 4 — 1499 — No…