UnitedHealthcare and Humana are ending Medicare Advantage plans for nearly 1 million people
Source: Fortune ·
When payers end a plan, they either want to lose those customers altogether or get those customers to switch to a different, typically pared down and more profitable plan, Brooks Conway, a principal at Oliver Wyman actuarial consulting, told Healthcare Brew.
From the source
Payers’ yearslong pullback from Medicare Advantage (MA) will continue in 2027. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has described MA 2027 plan options as “stable,” with lower average premiums. But experts told Healthcare Brew that payers are increasing cost-sharing for enrollees, shifting them into narrower networks, and cutting supplemental benefits in response to a spike in utilization and medical costs over the last couple years. “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, and in many cases, they may not,” Alexis Levy, senior partner at consulting firm HealthScape Advisors, told Healthcare Brew. CMS did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. Benefits shrink, costs rise. An Oct. 1 analysis of the Medicare Plan Finder from healthcare investment bank Leerink Partners found that many major carriers cut dental benefits and raised enrollees’ cost-sharing…