Medicare Advantage Gaps Widen as Plans Exit Hundreds of Counties
Medicare Advantage coverage will be absent in 181 counties by 2027, nearly tripling from 67 counties in 2026.
Millions of Medicare-eligible Americans will face a shrinking set of coverage options during open enrollment in the coming years, as private insurers continue to pull Medicare Advantage plans from an expanding number of counties across the United States.
By 2027, Medicare Advantage plans will be entirely unavailable in 181 counties, a dramatic increase from the 67 counties that lacked such coverage in 2026. The trend signals an accelerating retreat by insurers from markets they have deemed unprofitable or operationally difficult to serve.
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Medicare Advantage, the privately administered alternative to traditional fee-for-service Medicare, has grown substantially in enrollment over the past decade, attracting beneficiaries with benefits that often include dental, vision, and hearing coverage not available under standard Medicare. The withdrawal of plans from rural and underserved counties could disproportionately affect older Americans in those areas who had come to depend on those added benefits.
Beneficiaries in counties losing coverage will generally retain access to original Medicare, but may lose supplemental benefits and face different cost structures. Enrollment periods remain critical windows for affected individuals to assess remaining options or transition back to traditional Medicare coverage paired with supplemental Medigap policies.
The contraction comes amid broader financial pressures on Medicare Advantage insurers, who have cited rising medical costs and tighter federal reimbursement rates as factors in their market exit decisions. Policymakers and patient advocates are watching the trend closely as the scale of county-level withdrawals grows. Continue reading at MarketWatch.com
