Medicare Advantage Insurers Slash Plans and Networks for 2027, Even After Federal Payments Rose

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its 2027 landscape file on Monday, giving the clearest look yet at how insurers are reshaping Medicare Advantage ahead of open enrollment, which runs October 15 through December 7.

The headline numbers look fine. CMS projects the average MA premium will fall from $14.37 a month in 2026 to $12.00 in 2027, a 16.5% drop. More than 99% of the program's roughly 34 million beneficiaries will still have access to at least one plan, and 97% will have 10 or more choices, according to CMS. The agency's press release touted "stability" for seniors.

Healthcare Dive's analysis of the same data tells a different story underneath those averages. The total number of MA plans nationally is basically flat, sliding from 5,553 in 2026 to 5,532 in 2027. But that flat top-line number hides major churn at the insurer level. Researchers at investment bank Stephens found that every major MA insurer cut the number of individual plans it offers for 2027. Centene is dropping about 3,000 plans. Humana is culling roughly 2,400. UnitedHealthcare, the largest MA insurer, is eliminating about 690 plans. Elevance's cuts are smaller, around 150.

Networks Get Tighter, Not Just Smaller

UnitedHealthcare and Aetna, owned by CVS Health, both announced they're narrowing provider networks for 2027. UnitedHealthcare President Bobby Hunter said the company will pull back in markets where it leans heavily on Preferred Provider Organization plans, which let members go out-of-network but cost the insurer more. "We can't ignore the realities facing the healthcare system," Hunter said, according to Reuters. "Funding pressures, rising medical costs, rising drug costs, and increased utilization are affecting every part of healthcare."

UnitedHealthcare says 66% of its members will have access to both HMO and PPO plans in 2027, down from 70% in 2026. Aetna is moving the opposite direction on plan type, expanding its HMO offerings, which rely on smaller, cheaper networks, while shrinking its geographic footprint from 43 states to 41. That change alone is expected to affect roughly 950,000 Aetna enrollees. Humana will offer plans in more than 80% of U.S. counties next year, down from 85% in 2026, with previously announced exits affecting about 600,000 members.

Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor at the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek the people most exposed are "beneficiaries with established relationships with major hospital systems or other providers who may no longer be in-network." Keeping the same insurance card doesn't mean keeping the same doctor.

A Pattern, Not a One-Year Blip

Insurers have cut back for two consecutive years. Nearly 3 million seniors had to find new MA coverage for 2026 after losing access to their prior plans, according to research from Johns Hopkins cited by Healthcare Dive. Reuters reported insurer filings point to a roughly 6% enrollment decline in 2027.

A KFF analysis cited by the Medicare Rights Center found the average beneficiary can choose from 35 MA plans in 2027, down slightly from 39 in 2026 but still nearly double the 18 options available in 2017. The Medicare Rights Center's Lindsey Copeland argues the MA landscape "remains cluttered" and that comparing dozens of plans each fall is "overwhelming" for many seniors, with marketing tactics further complicating the decision. That's a fair concern: more options on paper doesn't necessarily mean an easier or better-informed choice, particularly for beneficiaries without family or professional help navigating open enrollment.

CMS actually finalized a 2.48% average increase in MA payments for 2027, worth more than $13 billion, and the agency estimates the effective increase at nearly 5% once risk-score adjustments are factored in. That increase is part of why insurer stocks rallied when it was announced. So insurers aren't absorbing a federal funding cut. They're responding to their own rising medical costs, drug spending, and utilization, as Hunter and other executives have said on earnings calls reported by Reuters. Whether that justifies the scale of network and plan reductions is a judgment call CMS data alone can't settle.

What's Changing Outside MA Networks

Standard Medicare costs are also shifting. The 2026 Medicare Trustees Report projects the Part B premium will rise to $209.50 a month in 2027 from $202.90, with the deductible increasing from $283 to about $292. CMS will finalize those figures later this year. A temporary federal subsidy that stabilized standalone Part D premiums expires after 2026, and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz has said most beneficiaries should expect Part D premium increases of under $10 a month. Separately, 15 more drugs, including Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy, join Medicare's price negotiation list starting January 1, 2027, though a lower negotiated price doesn't guarantee a lower copay for any individual beneficiary.

For seniors, the practical task is unchanged from past years but arguably more urgent. Check whether your current doctor, hospital or drug formulary is still in-network before December 7, because CMS's own data confirms the plan you have this year may not look the same, or may not exist at all, in January.