A running count kept by Becker’s Hospital Review now shows 29 health systems that have ended, or are actively ending, a contract with a Medicare Advantage insurer at some point in 2026, up from 25 just weeks earlier. For the roughly half of Medicare enrollees who have chosen an Advantage plan over Original Medicare, that steady drumbeat of contract breaks means a favorite hospital or physician group can slip out of network with surprisingly little advance warning. Three of the newest, best-documented additions to the tracker put real dates and dollar figures behind the trend, showing what is actually pushing hospitals to walk away from Medicare Advantage business rather than simply renew.
Becker’s Running Tally Just Climbed From 25 To 29
Becker’s Hospital Review has tracked hospital systems dropping Medicare Advantage contracts since 2023, adding new entries as each becomes public and linking most of them to the hospital’s own patient notice. Its running list stood at 29 systems as of September 4, and the publication’s own editor’s note describes it as “not an exhaustive list” that “will continue to be updated this year.” That framing matters: the real number of contract breaks touching Medicare Advantage enrollees in 2026 is very likely higher, not lower, than whatever total sits on the page on a given day.
Each entry on the list is its own local story rather than part of one coordinated event. A cancer center in Florida parting ways with an insurer has no direct connection to a health system in Idaho doing the same, and the systems range from single-hospital community providers to some of the largest nonprofit networks in the country. What connects them is scale: Medicare Advantage plans now cover more than half of everyone eligible for Medicare, so even a modest run of separate contract cancellations adds up to a large number of households discovering, often through a mailed notice, that their hospital no longer accepts their plan.
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Genesis, Lee Health And Sentara Show Why 2027 Is The Real Deadline
Zanesville, Ohio-based Genesis Healthcare System told patients in late August that it has notified Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Medical Mutual of Ohio and CareSource that their Medicare Advantage agreements, along with CareSource’s Medicaid contract, will end January 1, 2027, unless the insurers agree to new terms. Genesis CEO Matthew Perry said the system is contesting 9,000 active claim denials worth millions of dollars and called ending the contracts a last resort rather than a first choice. Coverage does not change before the end of 2026, and commercial employer plans and Medigap supplements are not part of the dispute.
Fort Myers, Florida-based Lee Health has posted a nearly identical notice of its own. Its insurance update page confirms that Lee Health’s hospital and physician contracts with UnitedHealthcare end December 31, 2026, and that Lee Health becomes out-of-network on January 1, 2027, for UnitedHealthcare’s employer-based, individual and Medicare Advantage plans alike.
Norfolk, Virginia-based Sentara Health is working through a similar standoff with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia, though the numbers involved are different. Sentara is asking for a 6.2% blended reimbursement increase across its commercial, Medicare and Medicaid agreements with Anthem; Anthem countered with roughly a 1% cut. Sentara issued formal notice on July 31 that it will let the agreements lapse without a new deal, a split that could touch nearly 380,000 Anthem members in Virginia, including roughly 215,000 in the Hampton Roads region.
Denied Claims And Reimbursement Fights Are Driving The Split
The specific numbers differ, but the underlying complaint repeats across the Becker’s list: hospitals say Medicare Advantage insurers are denying or slow-paying claims for care that was already approved and delivered. Genesis frames its dispute around thousands of denials it believes are inconsistent with federal Medicare rules for how covered care must be paid. Sentara has gone further, alleging Anthem owes it more than $105 million in claims unpaid for over 90 days, another $12 million tied to a 2025 billing settlement, and more than $4 million withheld by downgrading the severity of emergency department visits after the fact.
Reimbursement rates are the other half of the fight. Sentara executive Aubrey Layne Jr. has said the health system’s existing Anthem rates already fall short of what it costs to deliver care, and that accepting a cut would force decisions about staffing, services and how many patients the system can take on. Anthem has responded publicly that it is negotiating in good faith on behalf of the members and employers who ultimately absorb higher premiums when reimbursement rises, and that it remains optimistic a deal will be reached before any contract actually expires.
Checking Your Hospital’s Network Status Before The October Enrollment Window
Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, the one stretch of the year when anyone with a Medicare Advantage plan can switch plans or move back to Original Medicare, with any change taking effect January 1. Enrollees do not have to wait for that window to find out whether their own hospital is affected by one of these 29 contract breaks. Genesis, Lee Health and most of the other systems on the Becker’s list have posted the details directly on their own billing or insurance pages, and calling the member services number on the back of an insurance card can confirm whether a specific plan and hospital pairing is still in-network heading into 2027.
Sentara has been explicit about who carries the most risk if its dispute with Anthem is not resolved before the current contracts lapse: seniors, people with disabilities and lower-income households who have the least flexibility to absorb higher out-of-pocket costs or find a new physician mid-year. That is the same population these Medicare Advantage contract breaks affect nationwide, whether the insurer involved is Anthem, UnitedHealthcare, Humana or Aetna, and whether the hospital is a single-county system in Ohio or one of the largest nonprofit health networks in the country.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Figures are linked to their primary sources; where a claim could not be verified from the public record, we say so.
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