“Our No. 1 priority was to make the necessary progress to remain on track to deliver on our 2028 commitment of returning to a sustainable margin of at least 3%,” Humana’s Mellet said on a recent earnings call. Expected margin expansion in 2027 “will benefit from our ongoing benefit adjustments and targeted plan exits.”

What to expect

Despite the cuts, most seniors on Medicare Advantage will still have options, said Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, deputy director for the Program on Medicare Policy at KFF.

“The vast majority of people still have a number of Medicare Advantage options to choose from,” she said.

That includes plans that cover prescriptions and some vision, dental, and hearing benefits, she said.

Plans can offer these additional benefits because, in 2026, they receive an additional $2,664 per enrollee from the federal government above their estimated costs of providing Medicare-covered services, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). 

Read more: Medicare open enrollment — how to add or adjust your coverage

This portion of plan payments, also called the rebate, has increased substantially in the past several years, more than doubling since 2018, per KFF.

That said, some enrollees can anticipate higher out-of-pocket prescription copays in some plans and reductions or even the elimination of certain benefits, Biniek said.

At the same time, Medicare Advantage plans use cost-management tools, such as prior authorization requirements, which can make it harder for seniors to receive care without jumping through time-consuming hoops. Virtually all enrollees in Medicare Advantage are required to obtain prior authorization for some services — most commonly, higher-cost services such as inpatient hospital stays, skilled nursing facility stays, and chemotherapy, according to Biniek.

This contrasts with traditional Medicare, which requires prior authorization for only a few services.

What to do

“A person’s experience is really going to depend on what plan they’re in, where they live, and what benefits they actually use,” Biniek said.

When a plan is terminated by the insurer, if they offer another plan of the same type in the county, the insurer can crosswalk somebody to that other plan, Biniek added.

You might also opt to jump to traditional Medicare during Medicare open enrollment, which runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, or switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan and provider.

“People should always be paying attention because even if there is no change in the plans that are offered in your area, the particular costs and benefits almost always change,” Biniek said. “There can be increases to certain copays, changes in prior authorization requirements, changes to what drugs are on the formulary or what tier they’re on.”

A critical factor, though, is to check if your doctors and provider network are part of any plan you switch to. Medicare Advantage plans often have a limited network of providers, which can restrict the choice of physicians and hospitals, and those networks are ever-changing.

If you do nothing when you receive a notice, you’ll be enrolled in a replacement plan. If the company is leaving the market altogether, you would have to sign up for a new Medicare Advantage plan if you want to stay in it or switch to traditional Medicare for next year.

Kerry Hannon is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 books, including “Retirement Bites: A Gen X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future,” “In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work,” and “Never Too Old to Get Rich.” Follow her on Bluesky.

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