Centene, the parent company of Wellcare, is pulling its individual Medicare Advantage plans out of 344 counties for 2027. That shrinks its map from 1,731 counties to 1,387, a 19.9 percent drop, according to counts from Becker’s Payer Issues. For Wellcare members, the question is whether their plan is still sold in their county before Open Enrollment closes on December 7.
A 19.9 percent shrink in the Wellcare map
Becker’s ranked insurers by county footprint using the federal plan landscape that CMS released September 28. Becker’s Payer Issues counts show Centene going from 1,731 counties in 2026 to 1,387 in 2027. The tally covers individual Medicare Advantage and MA-PD plans, which are Advantage plans that include drug coverage, and leaves out special needs plans and stand-alone drug plans.
The other national carriers are cutting too, though by less. UnitedHealthcare drops from 2,597 counties to 2,457, a loss of 140. Aetna falls from 2,083 to 1,960, a loss of 123. Humana loses 57 counties and Elevance Health loses 56, so Centene’s 344 is far bigger than any of the four.
Two insurers pulled back much further. Health Care Service Corp. went from 948 counties to 450, a cut of 498. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan went from 299 to 106, and Molina Healthcare went from 75 counties to none. Devoted Health moved the other way, growing from 999 counties to 1,341.
Anyone in a Wellcare individual plan has one thing to settle first: is the plan on the member card still sold in the home county for 2027? The numbers measure where plans are offered, not how many people are affected, and Becker’s does not report how many Wellcare members live in the 344 counties.
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The county tally also does not say which plans survive in the 1,387 counties Centene keeps. A member there can still face a different premium, drug list or doctor network for 2027, so staying in the footprint is not the same as staying with the same coverage.
What CMS says the 2027 market looks like
CMS says in its September 28 announcement that the national count of Medicare Advantage plans stays roughly flat, from 5,553 in 2026 to about 5,532 in 2027. It also says 97 percent of beneficiaries will have access to 10 or more Advantage plans. A flat national total can hide steep losses in particular counties, which is what the Centene numbers show.
CMS projects the weighted average monthly Advantage premium will fall from $14.37 to $12.00, a 16.5 percent decline. The average stand-alone Part D premium is projected to rise from $35.09 to $36. About 34 million people, or 47.4 percent of everyone with Medicare, are expected to be in Advantage plans in 2027.
Becker’s adds that Advantage options are shrinking in 29 of the 51 jurisdictions where individual plans are sold. For members in a hard-hit county, an average premium drop at the national level does little to answer which plan they can buy locally.
The gap between the national picture and the county picture is the reason the Becker’s count matters. CMS describes a stable market with lower average premiums. A Wellcare member in a county Centene is leaving does not shop in the national market, only among the plans that remain sold in that county.
Plan choice is not the only thing at stake. Doctors and hospitals sign network contracts plan by plan, so a member who moves to a new carrier may find a familiar clinic outside the network. That check has to happen before the December 7 request, because a switch made in the first months of 2027 can be limited to the narrower January window.
What the December 7 date controls
Medicare.gov lists the annual Open Enrollment Period as October 15 to December 7, with coverage starting January 1 of the next year. The plan must receive the request by December 7. A member who waits until January to learn the plan left the county has missed the main window.
CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said: “We urge beneficiaries to use Open Enrollment as an opportunity to review their coverage.” CMS also says people who want to keep their current coverage generally do not need to re-enroll. That advice assumes the plan is still sold, so a member whose plan is leaving the county has to pick something new.
Medicare.gov lists a second, narrower window from January 1 to March 31 for people already in an Advantage plan. In it they can switch to another Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare and join a separate drug plan. It is a safety net, not a substitute for acting before December 7.
Each option has to be compared on the same three things: the monthly premium, whether every prescription is covered and at what cost, and whether the member’s own doctors and hospital take the plan. A lower premium on a plan that drops a specialist is not a saving.
Wellcare members in the 344 counties are not the only ones to check. Members of the UnitedHealthcare and Aetna plans that are leaving 140 and 123 counties face the same December 7 date. The open question for each of them is whether the plan on the card is still sold at home on January 1.
Is the Wellcare plan still sold in the home county for 2027?
A Wellcare member who learns in January that the plan left the county has missed the main window. Medicare.gov says the plan must receive the request by December 7 for coverage to start January 1.
The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit includes a cost calculator spreadsheet that compares plans on cost, drugs and doctors, a prescription-by-plan comparison and a provider call script. The Open Enrollment calendar inside keeps December 7 on one page next to the plan comparison.
Compare 2027 plans on cost, drugs and doctors with the Open Enrollment Decision Kit →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
