Almost 3 million older Americans were dropped from Medicare Advantage plans after insurance carriers pulled out of their counties, according to a recent analysis.
The analysis, published in JAMA, analyzed the impacts of insurers dropping MA plans in 2026. MA enrollment has increased over the last two decades and has doubled over the last seven years.
Here’s what to know.
1. This year, many MA plans were pulled from rural communities due to rising healthcare costs and reduced government reimbursements that hurt profitability, The Washington Post reported. In 2025, UnitedHealthcare, the largest MA carrier, said it would exit counties with 600,000 beneficiaries.
“Health plans are focused on shielding seniors from the full impact of those costs and protecting the affordability, benefits and comprehensive coverage 35 million Americans count on through Medicare Advantage,” Conner Coles, spokesperson for the insurance industry’s lobbying group, AHIP, told the Post.
2. Rural states like Idaho, New Hampshire and Vermont were the hardest hit. Nationally, many older Americans had other MA options to choose from, but around 30,000 residents were left without coverage, a KFF analysis found.
3. This year’s drop represented 10% of MA beneficiaries that had to find new insurance. Between 2018 to 2024, involuntary terminations were below 2% annually.
4. In 2026, Medicare advisors estimated that MA would cost taxpayers $76 billion in overpayments, compared to the cost of traditional Medicare. CMS has reduced annual reimbursement growth in an attempt to shrink overpayment gaps.
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