Seniors in the Concord area who want to keep a Medicare Advantage plan next year are facing slimmer pickings: Their choices will be pared down to Humana and United Healthcare and one plan from WellSense, compared to multiple plans from six providers this year.
Choices will be even more sparse in Coos County, which will only have Humana’s options and one WellSense option.
The news comes as officials are still trying to pin down exactly which Advantage plans are available in different counties as health-insurance firms throughout the country reduce offerings while raising prices in the face of federal cuts to Medicaid and other factors.
Medicare Advantage is a program for people over age 64 to buy health benefits from private companies beyond basic federal Medicare. Different companies offer different plans.
From publicly available information, this reduction in choices will take effect on Jan. 1 for individual Medicare Advantage accounts in New Hampshire. This list does not reflect changes to group plans, and also does not reflect Medicare Supplement plans, known as Medigap.
Martin’s Point and Anthem will withdraw entirely from Medicare Advantage in the state; Aetna will pull out of all counties except Hillsborough and Rockingham; Wellsense will have only one plan, an HMO, in all counties except Hillsborough, where it will have several types of Advantage plans; United Healthcare and Humana will offer all their plans in all counties, while Humana has added one or two plans in many counties, including Merrimack County.
Approximately 77,000 state residents pay for the private Medicare Advantage plans, which supplement standard Medicare coverage for people over age 64, according to the state Insurance Department.
Both Medicare Advantage and Medigap are ways for people over age 64 to buy health benefits beyond basic Medicare. They differ in how much they charge, their relationship to provider networks, and their reaction to preexisting conditions.
The Medicare enrollment period runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7 for plans that begin Jan. 1. People who have lost their Advantage carrier entirely have until early February to decide on a replacement, although they would be without coverage following the start of the year.