Why 10% of Medicare Advantage Members Lost Coverage in 2026

Millions of retirees are scrambling to find new coverage this year as insurers drop a wave of Medicare Advantage plans.

In a letter published in JAMA earlier this month, researchers found that in 2026 10% of Medicare Advantage enrollees were disenrolled by their insurer, up from 6.9% in 2025. The average annual disenrollment rate was just 1% between 2018 and 2024.

More than half (54%) of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage, according to KFF, a nonprofit organization that provides health policy research.For retirees, disenrollment from their Medicare Advantage plan can be disruptive, requiring them to find a new plan, new doctors, and more.

“Disenrollment means that retirees will have to find new Medicare Advantage plans or instead enroll in traditional Medicare,” wrote Mark Meiselbach, a researcher on the JAMA paper and a professor at Johns Hopkins, in an email. “New plans may not cover all the same services, providers, or supplemental benefits. In some areas, there may no longer be any MA plans available.”

With Medicare Advantage, people designate a private insurer to cover their Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) and Part B (medical insurance) services.

Unlike original Medicare, Medicare Advantage typically offers additional benefits for dental and vision and imposes an out-of-pocket limit on covered Part A and B services. Medicare Advantage also has limited provider networks and may require patients to seek a referral to see a specialist.

According to the analysis, a significant number of Medicare Advantage enrollees in certain states were disenrolled this year. In 12 states, more than one in five enrollees were impacted, and in Vermont, 92% of enrollees were affected.

Meiselbach says insurers may be pulling back from Medicare Advantage plans due to policy changes aimed at reducing overpayments to Medicare Advantage insurers—something the Trump administration has also targeted.

In January, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a proposal to leave Medicare Advantage payments roughly flat in 2027, with a proposed increase of just 0.09%. In contrast, in 2026, payments rose more than 5%.

Insurance companies that offer Medicare Advantage have been criticized for years regarding overpayments. A recent report from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, an independent congressional agency, estimated that the government will spend $76 billion more in 2026 on Medicare Advantage enrollees than it would have paid if those seniors had traditional Medicare.