About 600,000 people are about to get a letter that changes their health coverage. That is roughly 8% of the 7.2 million members enrolled in Humana’s Medicare Advantage plans, and the company is walking away from their plans for 2027. It is the second year running that Humana has pruned its lineup, and for the…

When a Medicare Advantage plan and a hospital system part ways, members get a letter in the mail. It is easy to skim that notice, feel annoyed, and file it away. But buried in that kind of letter can be the key to a rarely used escape hatch: a special window to switch plans outside…

Patients who get their care at Ohio State University’s hospitals and carry a Humana Medicare Advantage plan are facing a hard deadline. Beginning October 1, 2026, Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center, the James Cancer Center, and OSU-affiliated physicians will be out of network for Humana Medicare Advantage and Humana Medicaid members. That means care you…

For the first time, some Medicare beneficiaries can fill certain popular GLP-1 weight-loss medications for a flat $50 a month. The catch worth understanding up front is that this is a temporary program with an expiration date, not a permanent new Medicare benefit. It is called the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, and for households where a…

UnitedHealthcare is weighing whether to stop offering some of its Medicare Advantage plans in 34 counties spread across 12 states for the 2027 plan year, according to an early exit list that surfaced this month. Nothing is final. The company has not filed binding non-renewal notices, and the map could still shrink or grow before…

For most people on Medicare, the chance to change coverage comes just once a year, and that window opens October 15 and closes December 7. During those weeks, enrollees can switch, join, or drop a Medicare Advantage plan or a Part D drug plan, and any change made takes effect January 1. Missing the deadline…

Millions of Medicare enrollees pay their Part B premium out of pocket every month without realizing a state program could cover it for them. Medicare Savings Programs are designed to do exactly that for people with limited income, yet they remain one of the most under-claimed forms of help in the Medicare system. For a…

Losing a Medicare Advantage plan is unsettling, but it can also unlock a protection that is otherwise hard to get. Federal rules give people whose Advantage coverage ends through no fault of their own a limited window to buy a Medigap policy without a health screening. That window is time-sensitive, and enrollees who do not…

The blockbuster weight-loss drugs that many households could not afford are getting markedly cheaper under a pricing arrangement between the federal government and the two companies that make them. Starting-dose versions of drugs like Wegovy, Zepbound, and the Ozempic class are being sold for about $350 a month in cash, and Medicare enrollees are looking…

For most older Americans, the hospital and doctors they trust are only “in network” because of the specific Medicare plan in their wallet. That link is fraying. A running industry tally now counts 25 health systems that have dropped, ended, or narrowed their Medicare Advantage contracts so far in 2026, and the number keeps climbing…