Roughly a million Medicare Advantage enrollees are being told to find new coverage for 2027, after Humana and UnitedHealthcare confirmed they are shutting down a wave of underperforming plans at year's end.

Humana is ending plans that currently cover about 600,000 members, while UnitedHealthcare is closing plans covering roughly 390,000 more, according to figures reported by Newsweek and corroborated by CBS News, which put the combined national total — across all affected insurers — at more than 1 million seniors.

Neither company is leaving the Medicare Advantage business altogether, or dropping out of Medicare. Instead, both are exiting specific plans, often in counties or regions where the math no longer works for the insurer.

"The main difference" between Advantage and traditional Medicare

Humana's chief financial officer, Celeste Mellet, told investors on a July 29 earnings call that the cuts target the "lower tail" of the company's Medicare Advantage portfolio — plans that fail to hit profitability targets — rather than a broad retreat. She said Humana expects to recapture a significant portion of that volume, pointing to a recapture rate above 40% after a similar round of exits in 2025, when many members simply re-enrolled in a different Humana plan.

THIS UNDERPINS THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEDICARE ADVANTAGE AND TRADITIONAL MEDICARE: PROFIT MOTIVE.

That's how Drew Powers, founder of the Illinois-based Powers Financial Group, put it to Newsweek. Because private insurers must hit a minimum margin on each plan, he said, members can be dropped the moment their plan isn't profitable enough — a dynamic that doesn't exist in government-run original Medicare.

Kevin Thompson, CEO of 9i Capital Group, warned the pullback could squeeze the market further. "As plans leave the marketplace, you will see consolidation within the industry, which will lead to lower supply," he said, predicting that less competition could eventually mean higher prices or thinner benefits for everyone left in the system.

Affected members don't lose Medicare itself — they keep their eligibility and must simply pick new coverage. Those who don't actively choose another Medicare Advantage plan are automatically shifted back to original Medicare once their current plan lapses.

What seniors need to do now

Plan Non-Renewal Notices generally began arriving in member mailboxes this month, spelling out exactly when current coverage ends. Medicare's annual Open Enrollment period runs from October 15 through December 7, giving affected seniors a window to shop for a new Medicare Advantage plan, switch to original Medicare, or change drug coverage, with changes typically taking effect January 1. A separate Special Enrollment Period, from December 8 through the end of February, exists specifically for anyone whose plan is non-renewed effective January 1.

The move is part of a broader industry retrenchment. Rising medical costs and tighter federal reimbursement have pushed several major insurers to prune their Medicare Advantage offerings over the past two years, even as the program — which lets private insurers administer Medicare benefits, often bundled with extras like dental and vision — continues to cover more than half of all Medicare beneficiaries nationwide. Insurance counselors are urging affected members not to wait to shop for a replacement plan, since provider networks and drug formularies vary widely from one plan to the next.