Medicare Advantage plans: Higher deductibles, fewer benefits in 2027

Bob covers the money in health care, focusing on health insurance and hospitals. His stories delve into Medicare Advantage, opaque prescription drug benefits, and how much executives actually make. He is also the author of the Health Care Inc. newsletter. You can reach Bob on Signal at bobjherman.09.

People who have a Medicare Advantage plan — and wind up needing care and prescriptions next year — are in for a rude awakening.

Medicare Advantage insurers are raising out-of-pocket costs for enrollees, drastically cutting money for dental work and other benefits, and eliminating plans that have broad networks of hospitals and doctors, according to federal data released this week and analyzed by STAT and several investment firms. That could result in more shock for older adults, like discovering their doctor is no longer accepted by their plan, if they don’t shop carefully during Medicare’s annual enrollment period for 2027 plans, which starts Oct. 15.

Big companies like UnitedHealth Group, Humana, and others are chasing higher profits by pruning benefits, after investors grew dissatisfied with margins that were smaller than the insurers had promised. The changes in plans even come even after the industry won a payment increase and delayed reforms from the Trump administration in April.