Almost every Medicare beneficiary in a plan that ended coverage by 2026 had at least one other MA prescription drug plan available this year, according to a March 13 KFF analysis.
MA pullbacks, further illustrated by enrollment dips, have been a challenge in recent years. KFF used CMS data for plans available in 2025 and 2026. Terminations represent coverage withdrawals on the county level.
Here are six other notes from KFF’s analysis:
- More than two-thirds of these enrollees could access another MA plan from the same insurer, as well as additional choices from other carriers. Just under two-thirds had at least one choice from another insurer but not their current carrier.
- Only 1.1% of those in terminated plans have no MA-PD alternative this year.
- Nearly half of those in terminated plans received coverage through small insurers, despite UnitedHealthcare and Humana’s high MA concentration.
- UnitedHealth Group had the most enrollees in terminated plans, at 532,869.
- UCare Minnesota and BCBS Michigan Mutual Insurance Co., which also operates in Vermont, were among the insurers with exits affecting at least 100,000 enrollees.
- Fewer than one-quarter of enrollees in a terminated plan reside in a rural area. While the terminations affected just under 13% of MA-PD enrollees nationwide, that impact translated to at least 60% of enrollees in six mostly rural states: Wyoming, South Dakota, Idaho, New Hampshire, Vermont and North Dakota.
