Becker's counts 35 health systems dropping Medicare Advantage plans in 2026

Becker's Hospital Review now counts 35 health systems ending contracts with certain Medicare Advantage insurers in 2026, and reports that the contract breaks between major health systems and MA plans are continuing this year. Providers that drop plans often cite prior authorization denials and slow reimbursement. In other cases, the insurers are the ones terminating the contracts. Becker's notes that MA now covers more than half of eligible Medicare beneficiaries, which makes each termination more consequential for patient access.

For the CFO and revenue cycle team, the stated reasons are measurable. Prior authorization denials and slow payment show up in denial logs, appeal workloads and days to payment. They also show up in administrative staff time spent chasing approvals and payments rather than supporting patients. A contract that pays slowly and denies often may cost more to administer than it returns, and that is a question the organization's own data can answer.

For the CEO and board, the decision is not only financial. With MA covering more than half of eligible beneficiaries, according to Becker's, an exit can change which patients can reach the system in network. The patient experience lens matters here: members of a dropped plan face choices about switching coverage or switching providers, and front desk and call center teams absorb those conversations. Any exit plan needs a patient communication plan and a staffing plan for the teams who answer the phones.

The evidence has limits. Becker's tally documents the terminations and the reasons providers commonly give. It does not measure the effect on patient access, on clinical outcomes or on the financial results of the systems that exited. The count tells leaders that peers are making this call; it does not tell them whether it worked.

The move: rank your Medicare Advantage contracts by denial rate and days to payment, using your own claims data. Bring the bottom two to the board with a clear renegotiate or exit recommendation, including the patient population affected, the administrative hours each contract consumes and the communication plan for members if the answer is exit. Renegotiation backed by that data is a stronger position than a termination notice, and either outcome should aim for less administrative work for staff and fewer disruptions for patients.

You are a revenue cycle and finance advisor to the CFO and executive team of [your organization].

Context: Becker's Hospital Review reports that 35 health systems are ending contracts with certain Medicare Advantage insurers in 2026. Providers that drop plans often cite prior authorization denials and slow reimbursement. In some cases the insurers ended the contracts. Becker's notes that MA now covers more than half of eligible Medicare beneficiaries. The tally documents terminations and stated reasons. It does not measure the effect on patient access, clinical outcomes or the finances of the systems that exited.

Task: Using my figures below, rank our Medicare Advantage contracts by denial rate and days to payment. Identify the bottom two and draft a renegotiate or exit recommendation for each, for the board.

Output: a one-page board memo with these sections: Why now, citing Becker's. Ranking table of all contracts. The bottom two, with members affected and administrative hours each consumes. Recommendation, renegotiate or exit, with reasoning. If exit, a member communication plan and a staffing plan for front desk and call center teams. What the evidence does not tell us.

My inputs:
Contracts: [your Medicare Advantage contracts by plan name]
Denial rate: [denial rate for each contract, from your claims data]
Days to payment: [average days to payment for each contract]
Administrative hours: [staff hours per month on prior authorization, appeals and payment follow up for each contract]
Members affected: [aggregate member count per plan, no names or identifiers]

Guardrails: Use only the facts above and the slots I filled. Cite Becker's Hospital Review by name for any outside fact. Flag anything uncertain, missing or that needs verifying, including gaps in my data. Do not request or include patient data. Nothing here is medical or legal advice. Mark the memo as a draft for the finance and executive team to check before it goes to the board.