Is Your Medicare Advantage Plan Ending? UnitedHealthcare and Humana Cuts Hit Nearly 1 Million Members

Nearly 1 million Medicare beneficiaries will lose their current Medicare Advantage plans next year as UnitedHealthcare and Humana, the two largest insurers in the program, discontinue plans for 2027.

About 600,000 people are in Humana plans that are ending, and UnitedHealth Group confirmed roughly 390,000 members will be affected by its plan closures, Fortune reported, citing Healthcare Brew.

Humana Chief Financial Officer Celeste Mellet disclosed the company’s figure on a July earnings call. It amounts to about 8% of the insurer’s nearly 7.2 million Medicare Advantage members, according to the report.

UnitedHealthcare President Bobby Hunter attributed the changes to “funding pressures, rising medical costs, rising drug costs, and increased utilization,” Quartz reported.

The cuts come as both companies shrink their footprints. A KFF analysis of federal plan data found UnitedHealth is exiting 228 counties while entering nine, and Humana is leaving 62 counties while entering four.

UnitedHealth will offer Medicare Advantage drug plans in about 70% of U.S. counties next year, down from nearly 80% in 2026, KFF found. Humana will remain in about 80% of counties.

Other insurers are retreating, too. Health Care Service Corporation is exiting 498 counties and Centene 359, while Molina Healthcare and Group 1001 are leaving the Medicare Advantage drug plan market entirely, according to KFF.

In 193 counties across 16 states, about 638,000 beneficiaries will have no Medicare Advantage drug plan open to general enrollment in 2027. That is up from 399,000 people in 123 counties this year.

What Affected Seniors Need to Do

Members whose plans are ending should already have received non-renewal notices. UnitedHealthcare said its notices are dated Oct. 2 and list other options, such as other plans, Medigap coverage or Part D drug plans.

Seniors who do nothing will be moved into traditional Medicare by default, according to KFF. Those without other drug coverage or Extra Help would then need a separate Part D plan to keep prescription coverage.

Open enrollment runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7. People whose plans are discontinued get a special enrollment period that runs through the last day of February, KFF says.

They may also have a guaranteed right to buy a Medigap supplement policy without medical underwriting, meaning an insurer cannot turn them down based on their health history.

Seniors who keep their plans may still see changes, including leaner benefits.

“A senior may be able to keep their plan, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to have the same level of benefit that they had from the previous year,” Alexis Levy of HealthScape Advisors told Healthcare Brew.

An Oct. 1 analysis by investment bank Leerink Partners found that many major carriers cut dental benefits and raised enrollees’ cost-sharing for 2027, according to Healthcare Brew.

Federal officials say choices remain broad. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says more than 99% of beneficiaries will have at least one Medicare Advantage plan available, Quartz reported.

CMS also projects the average monthly Medicare Advantage premium will fall to $12.00 in 2027 from $14.37 this year.

Beneficiaries can compare 2027 plans using the Medicare Plan Finder at Medicare.gov or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE.

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