Here is what you’ll find in this week’s newsletter!

1. Important links 🔗 - the best articles we found this week about the Medicare Market along with links to Jared’s recent LinkedIn posts.

2. Deep Dive 📚 - 2026 MA Market Exits: Which Companies Are Out & What It Means for Key States

3. Sponsor Snapshot 🚀 - brought to you by Spark

It’s only a 6 minute read, but it will make you 10x smarter.

DEEP DIVE 📚

2026 MA Market Exits: Which Companies Are Out & What It Means for Key States

AEP is well on it’s way, and the Medicare Advantage market continues to reshape itself.

This week, we’re taking a closer look at which companies are exiting the MA/MAPD market, confirmed using the latest CMS Landscape data.

Many of these exits were predicted in our Tea Leaves deep dive earlier this year. Now the data confirms which carriers are pulling out entirely or shifting focus toward SNP-only offerings.

Note: This analysis focuses on company-level exits. It does not include plan-level terminations or service area reductions. We’ll validate those once CMS releases the Crosswalk file.

In the meantime, MMI+ subscribers can access a preliminary dataset identifying 2026 plan renewals and terminations. [Get it here → Preliminary MA/MAPD Plan Terminations - 2026]

Company Exits

For this analysis we developed 3 buckets of companies.

1) Exiting Entire Market — Had plans in 2025 but none in 2026.
2) Exiting Non-SNP — Had both SNP and non-SNP plans in 2025 but will only offer SNPs in 2026.
3) Exiting SNP — Had both SNP and non-SNP plans in 2025 but will only offer non-SNPs in 2026.

Below are the confirmed company exits from the 2026 Landscape data, organized by parent company, marketing name, and market scope:

While each of these impact the MA market in different ways, there are a few exits that have a outsized impact on their specific markets.

UCare

The UCare exit of all non-SNP plans is a major development in Minnesota.

As of September 2025, UCare held roughly 26% of the state’s non-SNP market (~152,000 of 585,000 members), including 31,900 members in Hennepin County alone.

All of whom will need to select a new plan during this AEP.

To make things even more complex, multiple carriers are not paying commissions on at least some of their 2026 offerings (including UnitedHealthcare, Humana, and Allina).

[UCare exit details → (link)]

Vermont Blue Advantage

The Vermont Blue Advantage exit (BCBS of Michigan Mutual) has an outsized impact on a small state.

As of September 2025, Vermont Blue Advantage controlled 71% of Vermont’s total MA market (~26,000 of 37,000 enrollees) after growing more than 170% during last year’s AEP.

Compounding the disruption, UnitedHealth Group (the #2 carrier) is also exiting Vermont, leaving Humana as the only carrier offering MA plans statewide.

Notably, at least one of Humana’s 2026 plans is non-commissionable.

[State of Vermont exit info → (link)]

Samaritan Advantage Plans

While Samaritan is a smaller player, its exit will ripple through three Oregon counties (Linn, Benton, Lincoln) where it controls ~40% of the non-SNP market (~12,000 of 30,000 members).

[Samaritan exit details → (link)]

Bottom Line

The 2026 exits open new doors for some carriers, but they also reveal how cautious others have become about chasing growth.

A growing number of plans are non-commissionable, signaling a desire to “not grow too much”.

For agents, this creates a difficult environment: in many markets, the available options are narrowing, and some of the remaining plans simply don’t pay.

For carriers willing to support distribution and expand where others have retreated, however, the opportunity has rarely been clearer.

If you’re ready, here are some ways we can help you:

• Newsletter Sponsorship opportunities: Promote your product or services to leaders in the Medicare space. Let’s discuss. (link)

• Market Research: Reports that help you wrap your arms around the Senior focused insurance markets. (link)

• Consulting: We can help you develop new insurance products for the Medicare market, appraise your books of business, and keep you compliant. Let’s discuss. (link)