Americas largest health insurance companies cancel nearly 1M Medicare Advantage plans heres what that means for recipients

Health insurance giants are cutting back on benefits to maximize their profit. UnitedHealthcare and Humana — the two largest private health insurance companies for older adults in the US — are canceling several Medicare Advantage plans, affecting nearly 1 million people.The two major health insurers are ending specific plans in areas where they make less money to protect their corporate profits, according to Healthcare Brew.According to company reports, they are primarily discontinuing Preferred Provider Organization (PPOs) — flexible doctor-network plans — and ending coverage in less profitable regions. UnitedHealth Group spokesperson Eric Hausman confirmed to Healthcare Brew via email that about 390,000 members will lose their current plans.

Unexpectedly high healthcare usage and rising medical costs caught the company off guard and lowered its stock value in 2025.About 600,000 people are enrolled in a Humana Medicare plan that is ending in 2027, Humana Chief Financial Officer Celeste Mellet said during a July financial call, representing about 8% of the company’s 7.2 million Medicare members, according to Fortune. When insurance companies end a plan, their goal is for customers to leave or encourage them to switch to a different plan that typically offers fewer perks and costs the insurer less money, industry experts explained.Humana stated it hopes to retain a large portion of the 600,000 affected members under different plans.The company focused on cancelling low-profit plans while keeping high-performing ones, rather than cutting coverage evenly across the board, Mellet noted.However, industry experts told Healthcare Brew that insurance companies are making patients pay more out of pocket, limiting which doctors patients can see, and reducing extra plan perks to handle a recent surge in medical care usage and costs.An older adult might be able to stay with their insurance company, but that doesn’t mean they’ll get the same level of coverage ...