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.