There will be no Medicare Advantage plans in 181 counties in 2027, up from 67 in 2026 Millions of older adults will need to find new healthcare coverage for 2027 after several insurers exited markets and cut back on their offerings to protect profit margins. Medicare’s open-enrollment period will begin Oct. 15 and run through Dec. 7. The average Medicare beneficiary can choose from among 35 plans in 2027, compared with 39 plans in 2026, according to healthcare policy and research firm KFF.
During open-enrollment periods, eligible adults can switch from traditional Medicare to a private Medicare Advantage plan, change from one Medicare Advantage plan to another, and join or change a Medicare Part D prescription-drug plan. These changes start on Jan. 1. Don’t Short Yourself offers weekly money tips to help you earn it, stack it and grow it.
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Medicare Advantage, which controls more than half of the overall Medicare market of about 69.6 million subscribers, offers extra benefits such as vision and dental coverage and caps annual out-of-pocket costs, but with a limited choice of doctors and extra requirements for specialist referrals. UnitedHealth Group, Humana and CVS Health subsidiary Aetna are among those exiting markets or tweaking their coverage offerings as they try to protect profit margins instead of pushing for growth in new subscribers, analysts said. **Read:**Health insurers are dumping Medicare Advantage plans. Here’s how many seniors could be affected.
At least 3.8 million enrollees will be forced to find new coverage for 2027, and there will be no Medicare Advantage plans in 181 counties — up from 67 this year, according to a report by Modern Healthcare. Beneficiaries should read their annual notice of change documents from their insurers to find out exactly what has changed for 2027 and what their new costs will be. The changes for 2027, however, are seen as less dramatic than 2026, when as much as 10% of the Medicare Advantage market was forced to find new plans as insurance companies exited markets, according to an analysis published in February in JAMA, a medical journal published by the American Medical Association.
In 12 states, more than 20% of Medicare Advantage enrollees lost their plans in 2026. In Vermont, 92% of Medicare Advantage enrollees were dumped from plans. And that’s not surprising.
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