UnitedHealthcare, other insurers to scale back Medicare Advantage plans [View all]

Source: Yahoo! News/KMSP-TV Minneapolis

Wed, October 1, 2025 at 10:50 PM EDT


(FOX 9) - UnitedHealth said on Wednesday that it plans to withdraw Medicare Advantage coverage from nearly four dozen Minnesota counties, a move it blamed on Medicare funding cuts.
UnitedHealth to stop offering Medicare Advantage plans in parts of Minnesota

What we know

Eden Prairie-based UnitedHealth said it plans to reduce its Medicare Advantage footprint from 72 to 27 counties. It said the decision would affect about 20% of its Medicare Advantage subscribers statewide. The insurer said the impacts will disproportionately impact southern Minnesota but did not specify why.

The reason

UnitedHealth blamed the decision on "funding pressures," specifically federal funding cuts to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

What are the options

Medicare Advantage plan subscribers who lose their coverage will automatically be covered under Original Medicare. But that program does not include prescription drug coverage or other additional benefits that come with Medicare Advantage plans. If a current subscriber wants to find another Medicare Advantage plan, they can do so online or with the help of an agent.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/unitedhealthcare-other-insurers-scale-back-025059118.html

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I heard about this on the radio this morning and it was apparently buried by the M$M in the midst of the shutdown fiasco (i.e., not readily available as a link on their main pages, although apparently some impacted localities reported it on their local news sites).

The total counties nationwide that I saw (stories outside of LBN criteria) was 109.