Even as the number of seniors enrolling in Medicare Advantage plans rises every year, the program’s stability is threatened by the withdrawal of those plans from the program.

According to a new JAMA Network analysis, after years of just one percent of Medicare Advantage participants being forced to find new plans because their plan left the program, the rate of participants who need to find new plans for that reason rose to 6.5 percent in 2025 and to ten percent in 2026.  This is occurring, moreover, even though the number of plans participating in Medicare Advantage continues to increase.

The plans most likely to leave the program are PPOs, those with lower star ratings, and plans operated by smaller insurers, especially in rural areas and those with fewer Medicare Advantage participants.

Learn more about the latest challenge Medicare Advantage faces from the Fierce Healthcare article “Study:  Forced Medicare Advantage disenrollments rise amid payer plan exits,” which draws from the JAMA Network report “Forced Disenrollments Among Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries Following 2026 Plan Exits” (subscription required).