Florida Loses 51 Medicare Advantage Plans for 2027

On September 28, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that Medicare Advantage is expected to “remain stable” in 2027. That description fits the national averages, but it does not fit Florida. The state will have 560 Medicare Advantage plans next year, down from 611, according to a Medical Daily review of the plan data CMS released with the announcement, and three Florida hospital systems have left or are leaving Medicare Advantage networks. Open enrollment opened October 15 and closes December 7, and many of the patients who choose a plan before it closes will ask their physician what to do.

What CMS Announced

The agency’s press release projects that the average monthly Medicare Advantage premium will fall from $14.37 to $12.00, a decline of 16.5 percent. CMS counts 5,532 plans nationally for 2027, compared with 5,553 this year, and expects 34 million people to enroll, which is 47.4 percent of everyone on Medicare. According to the release, 97 percent of beneficiaries will have a choice of ten or more plans, and eight in ten current enrollees can keep their plan at the same or a lower premium.

The plan-level data show more movement than those totals suggest. Healthcare Dive, citing an analysis by the investment bank Stephens, reported on September 29 that every large insurer reduced its individual Medicare Advantage offerings for 2027. Centene is leaving 344 counties, CVS 103, UnitedHealthcare 63, and Elevance 56. The average maximum out-of-pocket limit is rising 10 percent and the average Part D deductible is rising 30 percent. Healthcare Dive attributes the lower average premium largely to the growth of special needs plans.

Why Florida Is Different

Florida had 5,287,658 Medicare enrollees in January 2026, and 57 percent of them, about 3 million people, were in Medicare Advantage plans, according to CMS monthly enrollment data compiled by healthinsurance.org. Medical Daily’s state count shows Florida losing 51 plans, Ohio 32, and Illinois 21. A net count also understates the change for patients, because a plan that survives into 2027 may have left a county or dropped a hospital.

Hospitals are the second half of the Florida story. On August 26, Lee Health, the largest system in Southwest Florida, gave notice that its hospitals and physicians will be out of network for UnitedHealthcare’s employer, individual, and Medicare Advantage plans beginning January 1, 2027. Becker’s reported that Lee Health alleges UnitedHealthcare owes it more than $100 million in disputed and underpaid claims, and that about one-third of the system’s medical necessity denials are linked to UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans. UnitedHealthcare said the notice arrived “without any advance notice or discussions” and that it intends to negotiate during the months that remain. In Naples, NCH will stop accepting HealthSpring (formerly Cigna) and Wellcare Medicare Advantage plans on the same date. Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa left Aetna’s Medicare Advantage network in December 2025 and Humana’s on July 1. Becker’s now counts 34 health systems nationally that are dropping Medicare Advantage plans, and the reasons the systems give most often are prior authorization denials and slow payment.

These exits reach physicians who had no part in them. An independent cardiologist in Fort Myers who holds her own UnitedHealthcare contract will still be in network on January 1, but the hospital where she admits her patients will not be. Her patients will need to know that before December 7, and the plan’s directory will not explain it to them.

What the Rules Allow Physicians to Say

Many physicians believe they are not allowed to discuss Medicare Advantage plans with patients at all. The federal regulation is narrower than that. Under 42 CFR 422.2266, a contracted provider may give patients the names of the Medicare Advantage organizations with which the practice participates, may answer questions, may announce new or continuing plan affiliations once the contract is signed, and may refer patients to Medicare.gov or the State Health Insurance Assistance Program. The same regulation prohibits plans from having providers urge patients toward a specific plan, accept enrollment applications, or offer inducements to enroll. A patient who asks which plans the practice will accept next year can be answered completely. A patient who asks which plan to choose should be referred to SHINE, Florida’s free counseling program, at 1-800-963-5337.

A second rule matters for patients who are in the middle of treatment. The 2024 Medicare Advantage final rule requires a minimum 90-day transition period when an enrollee switches plans, and during that period the new plan may not require prior authorization for an active course of treatment. The same rule states that an approved prior authorization must remain valid for as long as the course of treatment is medically reasonable and necessary.

What Florida Physicians Should Do Now

1. Confirm your own 2027 status in writing before open enrollment closes on December 7. Ask every Medicare Advantage payer you contract with whether your participation and your plan list are unchanged for January 1, and check how the practice appears in each plan’s provider directory. Then check the hospitals and surgery centers where you work, because their network status may no longer match yours.
2. Give patients a list. Post the Medicare Advantage plans the practice will accept in 2027 at the front desk and on the patient portal, and hand it to every Medicare patient seen between now and December 7. Train staff to stop at the list and to refer plan-selection questions to SHINE or Medicare.gov.
3. Identify patients in active treatment now. Run a report of Medicare Advantage patients who are receiving infusions, radiation, staged procedures, or other ongoing care. If any of them change plans, document the course of treatment and its start date in the record so that the practice can invoke the 90-day transition period when the new plan asks for a new authorization in January.
4. Re-verify every Medicare patient in January. Patients whose plans were not renewed and who did not choose another will return to traditional Medicare, and others will arrive with a new card and different referral requirements. Run eligibility before each visit during the first quarter instead of relying on the card on file.
5. None of this constitutes legal advice, so if you are considering ending a Medicare Advantage contract yourself, or if your compensation depends on a risk arrangement with a plan that is leaving your county, have a health care attorney review the termination and notice provisions before you act. Keep a record of denials and payment delays by plan in either case, because it is the evidence that the Florida Medical Association and CMS will ask for.

The Bigger Picture

Lee Health could decide that a payer’s denials had made the contract unworkable, and it had the size to end the relationship. A three-physician practice in the same county has the same denials and does not have that option. That difference is the reason physicians should collect their own data and report it together, through the county medical society, the Florida Medical Association, and their specialty societies. CMS described the 2027 market as stable on the basis of national averages, and the physicians who see these patients are in a position to tell the agency what the market looks like in Lee County and in Collier County.

For more on Medicare Advantage and payer changes, see our coverage of the 2027 UnitedHealthcare network split in Florida, the proposed Medicare Advantage directory rule, UnitedHealthcare’s October 1 prior authorization change and the $541.5 million Villages Health upcoding settlement. All of our reporting on this subject is collected in our guide to Medicare and payer changes for 2027.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Medicare Advantage plans is Florida losing in 2027?

Florida will have 560 Medicare Advantage plans in 2027, down from 611 in 2026, a net loss of 51 plans according to a Medical Daily review of CMS plan data released September 28, 2026. About 3 million Floridians, 57 percent of the state’s Medicare population, were enrolled in Medicare Advantage as of January 2026.

Can a Florida physician tell patients which Medicare Advantage plans the practice accepts?

Yes. Federal regulation 42 CFR 422.2266 allows contracted providers to give patients the names of the Medicare Advantage organizations with which they participate, to answer questions, and to refer patients to Medicare.gov or the State Health Insurance Assistance Program. Plans may not have providers urge patients toward a specific plan, accept enrollment applications, or offer inducements.

When is Medicare open enrollment for 2027?

Medicare open enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7, 2026, and the choices take effect January 1, 2027. Florida patients can get free, unbiased plan counseling from SHINE at 1-800-963-5337.

What happens to a prior authorization when a patient switches Medicare Advantage plans?

Under the 2024 Medicare Advantage final rule, the new plan must provide a transition period of at least 90 days during which it may not require prior authorization for an active course of treatment. The practice should document the treatment and its start date so that the transition period can be invoked.

Which Florida hospital systems are leaving Medicare Advantage networks?

Lee Health in Fort Myers will be out of network for UnitedHealthcare plans, including Medicare Advantage, on January 1, 2027. NCH in Naples will stop accepting HealthSpring (formerly Cigna) and Wellcare Medicare Advantage plans on the same date. Moffitt Cancer Center left Aetna’s Medicare Advantage network in December 2025 and Humana’s on July 1, 2026.

This article was drafted with the assistance of AI writing tools, then reviewed, edited, and approved by Dr. Sean C. Orr, M.D., who holds full editorial responsibility for its content. The header illustration was created with AI image tools.

References

1. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, “Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Programs Expected to Remain Stable in 2027” (press release, September 28, 2026). cms.gov
2. Healthcare Dive, “Here’s how much insurers are cutting Medicare Advantage plans for 2027” (September 29, 2026). healthcaredive.com
3. Medical Daily, “Average Medicare Advantage Premium Falls to $12 for 2027 as Florida, Ohio, and Illinois Lose Dozens of Plans” (September 30, 2026). medicaldaily.com
4. healthinsurance.org, “Medicare in Florida” (CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment data, January 2026). healthinsurance.org
5. Lee Health, “UnitedHealthcare Insurance Plan Notice.” leehealth.org
6. Becker’s Payer Issues, “‘Fundamentally different priorities’: Lee Health to go out of network for UnitedHealthcare members” (August 28, 2026). beckerspayer.com
7. NCH, “Medicare Advantage Update.” nchmd.org
8. Becker’s Hospital Review, “34 health systems dropping Medicare Advantage plans” (updated September 23, 2026). beckershospitalreview.com
9. 42 CFR 422.2266, “Activities with healthcare providers or in the healthcare setting.” ecfr.gov
10. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, “2024 Medicare Advantage and Part D Final Rule (CMS-4201-F)” (fact sheet). cms.gov
11. Florida Department of Elder Affairs, SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders). floridashine.org