Katie Adams reports for MedCity News on hospitals dropping Medicare Advantage and steering patients to traditional Medicare. Medicare Advantage plans too often don’t pay the hospitals. And, the frequency of their denials is only rising. Traditional Medicare is the reliable option.
So far in 2026, 30 health systems have dropped or have said they plan to drop a big Medicare Advantage plan. These hospital systems include Mayo Clinic, Mount Sinai, UNC Health, Lehigh Valley Health Network and University of Miami Health System.
Physicians are steering patients to traditional Medicare, which does not burden them anywhere near the degree to which prior authorization in Medicare Advantage burdens them.
Many providers now recognize that traditional Medicare is more efficient and cost-effective. People enroll in Medicare Advantage under the false illusion that they will get needed care. Once they develop a serious condition, however, they find that they can’t see the physicians or use the hospitals they want to use. And, when they find a provider, their Medicare Advantage insurer can create major obstacles to care and coverage.
Traditional Medicare has the advantage of scale over Medicare Advantage, as well as of not needing to profit. It does better than corporate health insurers on provider satisfaction, efficiency and cost. Insurers design Medicare Advantage for healthy people.
