Fairview Health Services will stop scheduling non-emergency appointments for patients enrolled in UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans starting January 1, 2027, the Minneapolis-based health system confirms on its own patient-notice page. The change reaches every M Health Fairview hospital and clinic across the Twin Cities metro area, plus Fairview Range in Hibbing and Grand Itasca Clinic…

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services confirmed on March 13, 2026, that the manufacturers of all 15 drugs picked for the next round of Medicare price negotiations had agreed to take part, locking in a process that now has a hard federal deadline. By law, CMS has to publish the negotiated price for each…

Medicare runs on a fixed fall calendar, and the next few months follow it closely. Sometime in September, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will publish the finalized 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D plan lineup, along with the final average premiums that replace the preliminary figures insurers have been working from all summer.…

A letter arrives from a Medicare Advantage insurer notifying a household that their plan is leaving Medicare, pulling out of their county, or no longer covering their address. For a retired couple used to a low premium and routine dental coverage, the news reads like a threat: shop for new coverage with a lung condition,…

Beginning with the 2027 Medicare Advantage plan year, the prepaid debit cards insurers hand out for groceries, over-the-counter items and other supplemental extras will have to check every purchase against an approved list the instant the card is swiped. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized that requirement on April 2, 2026, writing it…

On July 28, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services set the government’s benchmark for what Part D prescription drug coverage will cost to obtain in 2027, and confirmed that a program which had been softening premium increases since 2025 is going away. The base beneficiary premium for next year will be $41.33, and…

More than 64,000 Medicare Advantage members across Oregon, Washington and California are about to lose their insurer entirely. Providence Health Plan confirmed in mid-August that a proposed sale of its Medicare Advantage business to another national insurer has fallen apart, meaning the nonprofit is now closing every line of coverage it sells rather than the…

A quiet move by one of the biggest Medicare insurers is worth a retiree’s attention. Aetna will pay brokers no commission for signing up new members in 123 of its Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. It sounds like an industry detail, but it is often a signal that a plan is being wound down, and…

One of the most important pieces of mail a Medicare enrollee gets all year lands around now, and it is easy to toss unread. By September 30, every Medicare Advantage and Part D plan must send each member an Annual Notice of Change spelling out what their coverage and costs will look like next year.…

Medicare has a trap that can cost people for the rest of their lives, and it catches those who assume signing up can wait. Miss the window to enroll in Part B without having other qualifying coverage, and Medicare adds a late penalty to the monthly premium, permanently. Understanding the timing is the difference between…