Category: Medicare
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UnitedHealthcare says it is no longer negotiating, and University of Miami hospitals leave its Medicare Advantage network on January 1
UnitedHealthcare ended 14 months of contract talks with the University of Miami Health System on July 31 by signing a multi-year agreement that left one group of patients outside it. The deal secured in-network access at UHealth for people covered through employer plans, Affordable Care Act marketplace plans and Florida Medicaid. A different contract governs…
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Medicare’s drug deductible jumps to $700 in January, with a $2,400 out-of-pocket cap
Seven hundred dollars is the figure that governs January. That is where the standard Medicare Part D deductible lands on January 1, 2027, up from $615 in the current year, and it is the amount of covered drug spending a beneficiary absorbs before a plan begins paying its share. The increase is $85, and it…
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The subsidy holding down stand-alone Medicare drug plan premiums ends after this year, and 2027 plans are priced without it
No 2027 premium has been published for any individual Medicare drug plan, and none will be until federal officials release the plan landscape in September. What has already been settled is a subtraction. On July 28, 2026, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that the Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration, the voluntary program…
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Valley Health goes out of network for UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage on October 1, two weeks before Medicare’s enrollment window opens
Three dates now sit within a six-week span for older adults in Virginia and West Virginia who get their care at Valley Health and carry a UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage card. The contract between the health system and the insurer terminates on September 30, 2026. Valley Health’s hospitals, facilities and physicians become out of network for…
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Nearly a quarter of hospital finance leaders say they have already dropped or narrowed a Medicare Advantage contract
A Black Book Research flash poll of 112 hospital finance leaders found 23.1 percent of Medicare Advantage-exposed organizations have already cut a contract. It is not a probability sample.
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Brown University Health patients have until August 31 to use a special Medicare window after their doctors left UnitedHealthcare’s network
A CMS-approved special enrollment period for Brown University Health patients on UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage closes August 31, 2026, and it reaches a narrow group.
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Income above $109,000 pushes the Medicare Part B premium as high as $689.90 a month, and it is based on your 2024 tax return
The 2026 Part B premium is $202.90, but income above $109,000 adds a surcharge on a six-step ladder topping out at $689.90 a month, scored on a 2024 tax return.
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Medicare’s late drug plan penalty is 1 percent of $38.99 per month, forever
The Part D late enrollment penalty adds 1 percent of the $38.99 national base premium for every full uncovered month, and Medicare adds the result to the premium permanently.
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Medicare covers a skilled nursing stay in full for 20 days, then charges $217 a day and pays nothing past day 100
Part A pays skilled nursing costs in full for 20 days, charges $217 a day from day 21 through 100 in 2026, and covers nothing after that. The 3-day rule decides eligibility.
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Mary Washington Healthcare could leave Humana’s Medicare Advantage network September 1
The Fredericksburg system’s contract with Humana Medicare Advantage expires September 1, 2026 unless a renewal is reached. Emergency care stays protected either way.