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In recent years, a handful of insurers have left the Medicare Advantage market, and others have scaled back, continuing a pattern of insurers stepping back Medicare Advantage that shows no signs of slowing more than halfway into 2026.
What’s Driving This Wave of Insurers Stepping Back From Medicare Advantage
Medical costs and federal cost-containment efforts have affected MA’s financial viability. For example, ongoing tensions around how star ratings are calculated, and, thus, which plans secure bonus payments, have complicated matters. Amid prior authorization denials and reimbursement issues, some hospitals have also moved away from accepting these plans.
The Enrollee Impact of These Insurer Exits
A study published in JAMA found that 10% of MA enrollees had to disenroll from their plan heading into 2026 as they faced insurer exits. Still, nearly all MA beneficiaries who needed to switch plans had at least one other option for 2026, according to KFF, suggesting the market disruption, while significant, has not left most displaced enrollees without any coverage alternative.
Humana and Clear Spring Health Among Insurers Stepping Back From Medicare Advantage
Humana will exit MA plans covering 600,000 members in 2027. Just like in 2025, the company plans “to recapture a significant portion of that volume.”
Clear Spring Health’s Full Market Exit
Clear Spring Health fully departed the MA market June 1, discontinuing its Illinois, Georgia, and Colorado businesses. The payer had more than 12,000 members enrolled in MA as of April, according to CMS.
Molina and Providence Also Stepping Back From Medicare Advantage
Due to underperformance, Molina Healthcare will no longer offer its MA Part D product in 2027. The company is focusing exclusively on its dual-eligible line, a narrower strategic focus that suggests Molina sees stronger prospects in that specific segment than in broader MA prescription drug coverage.
Providence’s Uncertain Path Forward
Renton, Wash.-based Providence is closing most of its health plan, based in Portland, Ore., in 2027. The future of its MA offerings is in limbo, as the organization said an unnamed national insurer may “potentially operate” it going forward. The MA business has more than 64,000 members, meaning the eventual outcome of this transition could significantly affect a substantial enrollee population depending on whether another insurer steps in.
Presbyterian Rounds Out This List of Insurers Stepping Back From Medicare Advantage
Albuquerque, N.M.-based Presbyterian Healthcare Services will discontinue most MA plans in 2027, affecting about 30,000 members.
A Common Thread Across These Five Insurers
Across Humana, Clear Spring Health, Molina, Providence, and Presbyterian, the common thread is a retreat from MA driven by underperformance, financial strain, or a strategic narrowing of focus, rather than a single shared cause, suggesting the pressures facing the MA market are broad enough to affect insurers of very different sizes and business models simultaneously.
What This Pattern of Insurers Stepping Back From Medicare Advantage Means for Beneficiaries
With hundreds of thousands of members across these five insurers facing plan discontinuations in 2026 and 2027, the continued pattern of MA exits and pullbacks underscores the financial pressures reshaping the program even as overall MA enrollment remains substantial nationally. Given KFF’s finding that nearly all displaced beneficiaries had at least one alternative plan option in 2026, the practical impact on individual enrollees may be less severe than the scale of these exits initially suggests, though the trend bears continued monitoring.
What to Watch Going Forward
As more insurers evaluate their MA strategies heading into 2027, industry observers will likely watch whether this list continues to grow, particularly given the unresolved question of who might take over Providence’s MA business and how CMS’s star ratings methodology disputes continue to affect insurer participation decisions. Given the persistent tension between rising medical costs, federal cost-containment measures, and star ratings bonus payment structures, this pattern of insurers stepping back Medicare Advantage may continue well beyond the five companies currently on this list.
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