Humana’s chief financial officer, Celeste Mellet, told investors on July 29 that the insurer’s 2027 Medicare Advantage plan exits will affect approximately 600,000 members. The numbers come from Humana’s second-quarter earnings call, and they land as Medicare’s annual open enrollment begins October 15 and runs through December 7, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
What Humana said on the July 29 call
Mellet told analysts the company expects to “recapture a significant portion” of the affected members, as it did in 2025, when she said the share was “just over 40%.” She also said the company would use the exits “to prioritize higher performing plans,” and that “the majority of the plan exits were in plans with 3.5 or lower ratings” for the 2027 bonus year. Asked whether the exits were a Stars rating story, she answered that she “wouldn’t really think about this as a Stars item.”
The call named no counties and no plan names. When Healthcare Finance News reported the figure on September 1, Humana had not publicly identified the affected plans or counties, and members learn their own status from a letter instead.
Where a Humana member finds out
For a Humana Medicare Advantage member, the open question is whether the plan on the card is one of the ones leaving, and the answer arrives in the mail. Federal rules require nonrenewal notices for most plan contracts ending December 31 to be dated October 2, according to Healthcare Finance News, and the notice has to explain when coverage ends and what happens to someone who takes no action. Anyone in a Humana plan who has a letter dated October 2 has until December 7 to pick the plan that replaces it.
A nonrenewal letter starts a seven-week clock that ends on December 7. The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit includes a cost calculator spreadsheet that compares plans on cost, drugs and doctors, plus the Open Enrollment calendar.
Compare replacement plans on cost, drugs and doctors with the Open Enrollment Decision Kit →
Why 600,000 is not the number left without coverage
The 600,000 counts members whose current plan will not be offered in 2027. It does not count members who end up uninsured or on Original Medicare. If Humana keeps about 40 percent of them, as it did after the 2025 exits, Healthcare Finance News calculated that roughly 360,000 members would still need a different insurer or Original Medicare. That 360,000 is the outlet’s arithmetic, not a number Humana has given. Mellet’s own words were that the company would “work to recapture” a significant portion.
Humana is not the only insurer pulling back. The same report lists UnitedHealthcare exits covering more than 600,000 members, Providence Health Plan winding down with more than 64,000 members, and Presbyterian dropping most of its plans after more than $59 million in 2025 losses.
What CMS says the 2027 market looks like
CMS expects the weighted average monthly Medicare Advantage premium to fall to $12.00 in 2027 from $14.37 in 2026, a 16.5 percent drop. It counts about 5,532 Medicare Advantage plans nationally for 2027, against 5,553 this year, and says more than 99 percent of beneficiaries have access to at least one plan. CMS also says about eight in 10 Medicare Advantage members can keep their current plan at the same or a lower premium. Those are averages across the whole market. They say nothing about whether a specific Humana plan stays, and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz used the release to urge people to use open enrollment to review their coverage and compare options.
Replacing a Humana plan before December 7
The free starting point is Medicare’s Plan Finder, where a member can enter the drug list and doctors and see 2027 costs side by side. Plan year 2027 information for the new plan, including drug formularies and provider networks, should be checked against the exact prescriptions and doctors the member uses now, since a lower premium can come with a smaller network.
A member who does nothing does not simply stay put. Medicare says someone in a Medicare Advantage plan who has not joined another plan by the time the old one ends is enrolled in Original Medicare. For a plan that is not renewed, Medicare also opens a special enrollment period from December 8 through the last day of February, so the December 7 date is the main window and not the only one.
Anyone planning to return to Original Medicare should look at Medigap before the Advantage coverage ends. Medicare says guaranteed issue rights for a Medigap policy begin 60 days before Advantage coverage ends and last no more than 63 days after, and the right applies only to people who switch to Original Medicare. Keep the nonrenewal letter, since Medicare says copies may be needed to prove coverage ended. Questions can go to 1-800-MEDICARE.
The December 7 date for a plan Humana is dropping
Choosing a 2027 plan without a side-by-side comparison is how a member ends up with the right premium and the wrong doctor network. The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit includes a prescription-by-plan comparison and a provider call script, so the check of each drug and each doctor is written down before the deadline.
Check each drug and doctor before December 7 with the Decision Kit’s plan comparison →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
