Humana Chief Financial Officer Celeste Mellet disclosed during a July earnings call that roughly 600,000 members, about 8 per cent of the company's nearly 7.2 million MA members, will lose their current plan. UnitedHealth Group spokesperson Eric Hausman confirmed that approximately 390,000 members will be affected by UHC's plan closures. Mellet said Humana hopes to "recapture a significant portion" of the displaced members through a "targeted" approach that primarily ends low-return plans while keeping high-return products.
UHC President Bobby Hunter said during the company's third-quarter earnings call that its cuts focused on PPO plans, continuing a yearslong strategy that prioritises health maintenance organization (HMO) and special needs plans (SNPs). Experts told Healthcare Brew that HMOs typically have more limited networks and higher cost-sharing, giving insurers more control over utilisation.
Benefit reductions are not limited to plan exits. An analysis by Leerink Partners of the Medicare Plan Finder found many major carriers cut dental benefits and raised enrollees' cost-sharing for 2027. Clover Health increased its maximum out-of-pocket cost by $1,144 for all sampled members. Jamie Reynoso, CEO of Medicare Advantage at Clover, argued that benefit changes must be viewed in context, telling Healthcare Brew that "looking only at how much the benefits have changed from one year to the next doesn't tell the full story."
The shift extends to standalone Part D drug plans, with 4 million enrollees losing access to $0 premium options available last year. Brooks Conway, a principal at Oliver Wyman, told Healthcare Brew that $0 premium MA products are also disappearing or becoming leaner. "In most regions, for a long period of time, if you wanted to be a competitive Medicare Advantage insurer, you needed a $0 product. In 2026 and continuing into 2027 … you're either seeing no options for a $0 product or the benefits associated with that $0 product becoming leaner," Conway said.
Alexis Levy, senior partner at HealthScape Advisors, warned that even enrollees who keep their plans will likely see reduced coverage. "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," Levy said. Forrester Principal Analyst Arielle Trzcinski noted that the industry-wide turn toward SNPs and C-SNPs is accelerating, as these plans allow more active care management and carry higher margins.