Humana is cutting about 2,400 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. UnitedHealthcare is cutting roughly 690 more.
Yet from a national perspective, almost nothing appears to be changing.
CMS says the total number of Medicare Advantage plans available nationwide will fall from 5,553 in 2026 to about 5,532 in 2027, a net decline of just 21 plans. At the same time, the weighted average monthly premium is projected to fall 16.5%, from $14.37 to $12.
That sounds reassuring.
But the national numbers hide a much more disruptive story underneath.
Several major insurers are pulling plans or leaving counties, while other insurers are adding coverage elsewhere. For some Medicare beneficiaries, 2027 could mean a cheaper premium and plenty of choices. For others, it could mean the current plan disappears and a new one has to be chosen.
The difference comes down to one thing: where the plan is offered.
Humana and UnitedHealthcare are cutting thousands of plans
Humana is making one of the largest reductions, eliminating about 2,400 individual Medicare Advantage plans for 2027.
UnitedHealthcare, the largest Medicare Advantage insurer, is cutting about 690.
Those figures come from an analysis of CMS’s newly released 2027 landscape data by investment bank Stephens, reported by Healthcare Dive. Every major publicly traded Medicare Advantage insurer analyzed by Stephens reduced the number of individual MA plans it offers for 2027. (healthcaredive.com)
But that does not mean 3,000-plus plans are simply disappearing from Medicare.
Other insurers are adding plans, and insurers are also shifting toward Special Needs Plans, which serve specific groups of Medicare beneficiaries.
That is why the national total barely moves.
CMS expects approximately 5,532 Medicare Advantage plans to be available nationwide in 2027, compared with 5,553 in 2026. (cms.gov)
The bigger issue may be your county
The number that matters most to an individual Medicare beneficiary is not 5,532.
It is how many plans are available at the person’s address.
Some insurers are pulling out of large numbers of counties.
Centene is leaving 344 counties for 2027, according to Stephens’ analysis. CVS is leaving 103, UnitedHealthcare 63 and Elevance 56. (healthcaredive.com)
Humana is a little different geographically. While it is cutting about 2,400 individual plans, it is also adding coverage in 39 counties for 2027. (healthcaredive.com)
So a headline saying an insurer is “cutting plans” does not automatically mean that insurer is disappearing from a particular person’s area.
The county-level details are what determine whether a current plan remains available.
What happens if the current plan disappears?
If an insurer stops offering a particular Medicare Advantage plan in a county, the beneficiary cannot simply keep that exact plan for 2027.
A new coverage decision may be necessary.
That could mean switching to another Medicare Advantage plan, moving to Original Medicare, or evaluating other available coverage options, depending on the individual’s circumstances.
This is why the upcoming Medicare Open Enrollment period matters even for people who are satisfied with their current coverage.
Open Enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7, 2026, and changes made during the period generally take effect January 1, 2027. (cms.gov)
Most people will still have plenty of choices
The national picture is not one of Medicare Advantage suddenly running out of options.
CMS projects that more than 99% of Medicare beneficiaries will have access to at least one Medicare Advantage plan in 2027.
About 97% will have access to 10 or more plans.
That is why the national plan count can remain almost unchanged despite major insurer cutbacks in individual markets. (cms.gov)
A county losing one insurer may still have several alternatives.
But alternatives are not necessarily equivalent.
A replacement plan can have different doctors, hospitals, drug formularies, premiums, deductibles, copays and supplemental benefits.
That is where simply looking at the number of available plans can become misleading.
The surprising part: premiums are going down
There is another reason the 2027 Medicare Advantage market initially looks better than the plan-cut headlines suggest.
CMS projects the weighted average monthly Medicare Advantage premium will fall from $14.37 in 2026 to $12 in 2027.
That is a 16.5% decline. (cms.gov)
But $12 is a national weighted average.
It is not a promise that an individual beneficiary’s premium will fall by 16.5%.
Local premiums vary by plan and market. A beneficiary whose plan disappears could end up paying more, less or roughly the same after switching.
The same applies to benefits.
CMS expects supplemental benefits such as dental, hearing and vision coverage to remain broadly stable across the program, but individual plans can make different decisions about what they offer. (cms.gov)
Why are insurers shrinking their offerings?
The pullback is happening against a backdrop of changing Medicare Advantage economics.
Insurers have been reducing some lower-return offerings while concentrating on markets and products where they expect better financial results.
At the same time, insurers are increasingly offering Special Needs Plans, or SNPs.
Healthcare Dive’s analysis found that the decline in traditional MA and MA-prescription drug plans is being offset in part by growth in SNP offerings. (healthcaredive.com)
The enrollment outlook also changed.
CMS projects approximately 34 million people will be enrolled in Medicare Advantage in 2027, down from about 36.3 million in 2026 based on current plan projections.
CMS cautions that its plan-based enrollment projections have historically underestimated actual enrollment and expects actual 2027 enrollment to be stronger than the current projection. (cms.gov)
So the projected decline should not be treated as a confirmed 2.3 million-person exodus.
Can most people simply stay with their current plan?
For many, yes.
CMS estimates that approximately 8 in 10 Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will be able to remain in their current plan with the same or a lower premium in 2027. (cms.gov)
But that still leaves roughly 2 in 10 outside that group.
A person can therefore be in a perfectly stable national market and still face a significant personal change.
The relevant question is not whether Medicare Advantage is stable nationally.
It is whether the specific plan, network and benefits currently being used will still be available in 2027.
What should Medicare beneficiaries check?
Before deciding to stay with a current plan, check more than the monthly premium.
The important questions include:
- Is the current plan still offered in the county in 2027?
- Are the current doctors and hospitals still in network?
- Are prescription drugs still covered under the same formulary?
- Have deductibles, copays or maximum out-of-pocket costs changed?
- Are dental, vision and hearing benefits changing?
- Is another plan offering similar coverage for less?
- If the current plan is ending, what alternatives are available locally?
Medicare’s official comparison tools will contain the 2027 plan information during Open Enrollment.
CMS specifically recommends using Medicare.gov to compare coverage and costs during the October 15 to December 7 enrollment period. (cms.gov)
2027 Medicare Advantage numbers
| Metric | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Total MA plans nationally | 5,553 | ~5,532 |
| Humana individual MA plans cut | n/a | ~2,400 |
| UnitedHealthcare individual MA plans cut | n/a | ~690 |
| Weighted average monthly MA premium | $14.37 | $12.00 |
| Change in weighted average premium | n/a | -16.5% |
| MA enrollment | 36.3 million | ~34 million projected |
| Beneficiaries with access to at least 1 MA plan | n/a | 99%+ |
| Beneficiaries with access to 10+ MA plans | n/a | 97% |
| Beneficiaries expected to remain in current plan at same/lower premium | n/a | ~80% |
The national figures come from CMS’s 2027 Medicare Advantage landscape and announcement. The insurer plan and county reductions come from Healthcare Dive’s analysis of the landscape data and Stephens research. (cms.gov) (healthcaredive.com)
The real 2027 Medicare Advantage story
The headline sounds contradictory.
Thousands of Medicare Advantage plans are being cut, yet CMS says the market is stable and average premiums are falling.
Both things can be true.
The national marketplace is being reshuffled rather than dramatically shrinking. Some insurers are cutting plans and leaving counties. Others are adding coverage. Special Needs Plans are growing. Average premiums are projected to fall.
For an individual Medicare beneficiary, however, the national numbers are only background.
The important question is much smaller:
Will the plan covering that person in 2026 still be there in 2027, and if it is, will the doctors, drugs, benefits and costs still make sense?
Medicare Open Enrollment begins October 15, 2026, and ends December 7, 2026. See also: Medicare Enrollment Ends December 7: What Changes for 2027, Plus the Part A Bill Immigrants Do Not Expect.
That is the window to find out before the new coverage year begins.
For immigrants and other Medicare beneficiaries trying to understand the broader 2027 changes, including Part A costs and enrollment deadlines, see Medicare Enrollment Ends December 7: What Changes for 2027, Plus the Part A Bill Immigrants Do Not Expect.
