STAT+: Medicare Advantage plans shift more costs onto seniors in 2027 — SkimNews
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- Medicare Advantage insurers are raising out-of-pocket costs for enrollees, drastically cutting dental and other supplemental benefits, and eliminating plans with broad hospital and doctor networks for 2027, according to federal data analyzed by STAT and several investment firms.
- UnitedHealth Group and Humana are pruning benefits to chase higher profits after investors grew dissatisfied with margins that fell short of what the insurers had promised.
- The benefit cuts come even after the industry won a payment increase and delayed regulatory reforms from the Trump administration in April.
- Medicare's annual enrollment period for 2027 plans opens Oct. 15, and STAT warns older adults who don't shop carefully could face shock discoveries like their doctor no longer being in-network.
- The changes affect the segment of seniors enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans rather than traditional fee-for-service Medicare, leaving them to absorb both higher cost-sharing and reduced supplemental coverage.
Why it matters: Millions of seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage will face higher cost-sharing, reduced dental coverage, and narrower hospital networks during the Oct. 15 enrollment window, as UnitedHealth and Humana prioritize the margins investors demanded after a disappointing stretch. The rollback is especially stark because it follows the Trump administration's April payment increase to insurers — the industry got paid more, then cut what enrollees receive.
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