Naples Comprehensive Health, the hospital system in Naples, Florida, will stop accepting Cigna HealthSpring and Wellcare Medicare Advantage plans on Jan. 1, 2027. The system, known as NCH, says care under those plans is unchanged until then. After that date, its doctors and elective hospital services will not schedule appointments for patients who still hold either plan.
What NCH has announced
NCH posted the change on its Medicare Advantage update page, which was last modified Oct. 27. The page says that beginning Jan. 1, 2027, NCH “will no longer accept” Cigna/HealthSpring and Wellcare Medicare Advantage plans. It also warns that patients who stay in those plans will likely face higher out-of-pocket costs or limited coverage.
The page gives two reasons. NCH says it regularly reviews the Medicare Advantage plans it takes to make sure they support high-quality, patient-centered care, and it wants to cut what it calls unnecessary administrative barriers. It also says more people in its community are reaching Medicare age, so it wants a smaller, more coordinated group of Medicare Advantage partners.
The page does not name an NCH executive, and it does not say how many members are affected. NCH describes itself as a locally governed, nonprofit health system. Its main line is 239-624-5000, and questions can go to [email protected].
Who has to decide before Dec. 7
The people affected are Medicare members in Southwest Florida who carry a Cigna HealthSpring or Wellcare Medicare Advantage plan and see an NCH doctor or use the hospital. Medicare’s annual enrollment period runs through Dec. 7, and NCH says plan changes must be made by then to take effect Jan. 1. A member who does nothing keeps the current plan in 2027, and that plan will no longer be accepted at NCH.
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Emergency care is not part of the cutoff. NCH says it will always be available for emergencies, whatever plan a patient holds. The limit is on scheduled care: primary care visits, specialist appointments and elective hospital services with NCH doctors.
This is not the first time NCH has reshaped what Medicare Advantage members can use. An NCH Medicare event page describes an earlier round, when Florida Blue and Cigna changed primary care access in their Medicare Advantage plans effective Jan. 1, 2025. NCH says thousands of residents had to find new coverage to keep in-network benefits with their NCH primary care doctor, and more than 150 people came to the system’s information session, which included about a dozen regional insurance brokers.
Which plans NCH still lists
NCH keeps a list of contracted insurance plans, last updated Aug. 27. It marks HealthSpring and Wellcare Medicare Advantage as “Out of Network 12/31/26.” The Medicare Advantage plans it shows without that mark are Aetna, Florida Complete Care, Freedom Health, Humana and UPMC Health Plan.
Two details on that list matter. Humana is shown as HMO and PPO for the hospital but PPO only for the NCH Medical Group, so the type of Humana plan changes the answer. Florida Blue Medicare Advantage is also listed, but it carries a note that it has been out of network for primary care since Jan. 1, 2025. NCH adds that the list can change at any time and that participation can vary by plan product.
Anyone picking a new plan therefore needs two answers: whether the hospital takes the plan, and whether the specific NCH doctor does. The plan’s own provider directory and a call to the doctor’s office settle the second one.
Original Medicare, Medigap and what to check first
Switching to Original Medicare is the other route. NCH says it accepts all Medicare Supplement, or Medigap, plans. Because Medigap plans do not use provider networks, NCH says in-network and out-of-network status does not apply to them.
NCH also reminds patients that traditional Medicare typically pays 80 percent of covered costs, leaving the patient with the remaining 20 percent. A Medigap policy is the product that covers part of that gap. The page gives no premium figures, so anyone weighing a Medigap policy needs to get a price from an insurer before dropping a Medicare Advantage plan.
Medicare.gov runs a Plan Finder that lets people compare 2027 health and drug plans through the end of open enrollment on Dec. 7. NCH points patients without a broker to Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). Those with a broker can raise it during annual enrollment.
The order of work is short. List each NCH doctor and each prescription. Check each candidate plan for the hospital and those doctors. Confirm any drug is covered in 2027. Then enroll before Dec. 7, the date NCH gives as the deadline for plan changes.
NCH’s page makes one more point worth holding onto. Benefits and care at NCH do not change until Jan. 1, 2027, so patients can keep seeing their NCH providers until then. The open question for a Cigna HealthSpring or Wellcare member is whether the doctor they use in January will still take their card.
Is a Wellcare or HealthSpring plan about to cost an NCH doctor?
A Cigna HealthSpring or Wellcare member who misses Dec. 7 starts 2027 with a plan NCH no longer accepts, and the doctors and elective hospital care at NCH stop being bookable on that plan.
The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit is a 55-page guide built for this choice. It includes a cost calculator spreadsheet that compares plans on cost, drugs and doctors, plus a prescription-by-plan comparison and a provider call script for asking an NCH office whether it will take a new plan in January.
Get the plan-comparison calculator and provider call script for NCH patients →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
