Fewer insurers are selling Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage for 2027, and some people with Medicare will find their current plan gone from their county. UnitedHealth Group is pulling its Medicare Advantage drug plans out of 228 counties while entering 9, and Humana is leaving 62 while entering 4, according to a KFF analysis of federal plan data updated Nov. 5. Molina Healthcare and Group 1001, which sells as Clear Spring Health, are dropping out of the market for these plans entirely, though Molina still offers special needs plans in many counties.
For 2027, 193 counties have no Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage open to general enrollment, up from 123 this year. About 638,000 people live in them, up from 399,000. That includes all of Alaska, about 110,000 people, and counties in 15 other states: California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah and Vermont.
Which insurers are leaving and entering
The biggest pullback comes from Health Care Service Corporation, which is leaving 498 counties and entering none. Centene is next, leaving 359 counties while adding just 15. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is leaving 177 counties and will sell these plans only in Michigan and Wyoming. CVS Health is leaving 186 counties while adding 63. Elevance Health exits 66 counties and enters 10.
Devoted Health is expanding into 342 counties without leaving any, while Kaiser Foundation Health Plans is keeping its footprint about the same.
Some of the exits are in big metro areas. Health Care Service Corporation no longer offers these plans in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and Humana left Monroe County, New York, which includes Rochester. In four rural Minnesota counties, three different insurers each stopped offering them.
Most people still have many plans to choose from. The average person with Medicare can pick from 28 Medicare Advantage drug plans offered by seven companies, one fewer company than in 2026. In 259 mostly rural counties, though, only one insurer sells them, up from 180.
What to do if your plan is leaving
Open enrollment runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, and a plan you join in that window starts Jan. 1, according to Medicare.gov.
If your plan's contract with Medicare is not renewed, you also get a special enrollment period from Dec. 8 through the last day of February to switch to another Medicare Advantage plan or drug plan. If you do not join another Medicare Advantage plan before yours ends, you are moved to Original Medicare. Original Medicare does not include drug coverage, so anyone in that position needs to join a separate Medicare drug plan to keep it.
KFF's analysis counts plans by county and does not compare costs or benefits. To see what is sold where you live, use the plan finder on Medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE.
