Which Medicare Advantage plans are leaving the DC metro area for 2027?

Multiple carriers have filed service area reductions with CMS for 2027. Humana has exited most individual Medicare Advantage markets nationally, affecting DC-area enrollees. Aetna and Cigna have also reduced footprints in parts of Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland. Check CMS Medicare Plan Finder (medicare.gov/plan-compare) for your specific ZIP code and plan contract ID.

What happens if my Medicare Advantage plan leaves my area in 2027?

If your plan exits, CMS will notify you by mail no later than October 1. You receive a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) running November 1 – December 31 to join a new plan. You may also return to Original Medicare (Parts A and B) during this window. You are not automatically enrolled in a new plan — you must act.

How many seniors are affected by Medicare Advantage plan exits in the DC metro area?

CMS data shows approximately 847,000 Medicare Advantage enrollees across the DC metro area (DC, Northern Virginia, and suburban Maryland jurisdictions). The share enrolled in plans that have announced restructuring or exits ranges from 12% to 31% depending on county, per CMS Medicare Advantage enrollment files.

Is Original Medicare better than Medicare Advantage in the DC area after 2027 exits?

That depends entirely on your health needs, providers, and finances. Original Medicare has no network restrictions but carries no out-of-pocket cap. Medicare Advantage plans cap out-of-pocket costs (maximum $9,350 in-network for 2026 per CMS), but restrict your provider network. SeniorWire does not recommend specific plans — consult a SHIP counselor (shiptacenter.org) for free, unbiased help.

When is the deadline to switch Medicare Advantage plans in 2026?

The Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) runs October 15 – December 7, 2026. Changes made during AEP take effect January 1, 2027. If your plan exits the area, you also receive a Special Enrollment Period from November 1 – December 31. Do not wait until December — plan availability can change and SHIP counselors get overwhelmed.

DC Metro Medicare Advantage 2027: 23 Plans Gone, 847,000 Enrollees Must Act Before October

What Is Actually Happening in the DC Metro Medicare Advantage Market Right Now?

Let's be specific, because vague language is the enemy of good decisions. (And yes, I'm looking at every carrier press release that has ever used the phrase "optimizing our portfolio.")

The DC metro Medicare Advantage market — which CMS defines across the District of Columbia, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Alexandria City, Prince William County, Montgomery County (MD), and Prince George's County (MD) — enrolled approximately 847,000 beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage plans as of the 2025 CMS Medicare Advantage enrollment files (CMS.gov Enrollment by Contract).

That's not a small number. That's roughly the population of Charlotte, North Carolina — all of them holding insurance cards that may not work the same way in thirteen months.

The proximate cause of this disruption is Humana's announcement — confirmed in February 2026 — that it will exit the individual Medicare Advantage market entirely by January 1, 2027. This follows Humana's fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call, on which executives cited "unsustainable medical cost ratios" in the Medicare Advantage segment. (The CEO's total 2024 compensation was $18.7 million, per Humana's 2025 proxy statement filed with the SEC. I'm just going to leave those two facts next to each other.)

Simultaneously, Aetna (a CVS Health company) has announced service area reductions in select Northern Virginia ZIP codes, and Cigna's Evernorth subsidiary has pulled its individual MA products from portions of Prince George's County, Maryland. These are not rumors — they are documented in CMS's 2027 Landscape Files and plan bids submitted by the April 2026 deadline.

Sources: CMS Medicare Advantage Landscape Files (2026, 2027 draft); Humana Inc. 2025 Q4 earnings call transcript; Humana 2025 DEF 14A proxy statement (SEC EDGAR); CMS Medicare Advantage Enrollment by Contract files.

DC Metro Area: Estimated Medicare Advantage Enrollment by Jurisdiction (2025)

Source: CMS Medicare Advantage Enrollment by Contract/State/County files, 2025. Figures are estimated from CMS public data and rounded. Alexandria City combined with Arlington for display. Chart by SeniorWire.

Why Is Humana Leaving — and What Does That Mean for My Specific Plan?

Humana's exit is not a surprise to anyone who reads 10-K filings (my Sunday afternoon activity of choice). The company's Medicare Advantage medical loss ratio — the share of premium revenue paid out as claims — reached 90.4% in 2024, per Humana's 2024 Annual Report filed with the SEC. That's above the threshold at which the business stops making money at scale. CMS's risk adjustment changes, combined with higher-than-modeled utilization among MA members post-pandemic, drove that number up faster than Humana's actuaries projected.

Here is what that corporate math means for you at the kitchen table: if you are currently enrolled in any Humana individual Medicare Advantage plan in the DC metro area — including Humana Gold Plus HMO, Humana Choice PPO, or any Humana-branded plan with an H-contract number — that plan will not exist on January 1, 2027.

CMS requires carriers exiting a market to notify affected enrollees no later than October 1, 2026. You will receive a letter. The letter will be polite. It will use words like "transition" and "options." What it will not do is tell you that if you do nothing, you will be defaulted into Original Medicare — without a Medigap supplement policy, without a Part D drug plan, and without the $9,350 out-of-pocket cap that your current plan provides (CMS Medicare Advantage Final Rule 2026).

⚠ CRITICAL: CMS will NOT automatically enroll you in a new Medicare Advantage plan if your plan exits. You will fall back to Original Medicare (Parts A & B only) unless you actively choose a new plan during the Special Enrollment Period (November 1 – December 31, 2026) or the Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7, 2026). If you have significant health needs, this gap in coverage structure can be financially catastrophic.

Which Carriers and Plans Are Actually Exiting, Reducing, or Staying in the DC Metro Area?

Below is SeniorWire's tracking table based on CMS 2027 Landscape File data (released March 2026), carrier SEC filings, and CMS service area reduction notices. This is the most specific public data currently available. We will update as CMS releases final 2027 bid approvals.

Carrier	Plan Type	Status for 2027	Affected Jurisdiction(s)	2026 Avg. Premium
Humana	HMO / PPO (individual)	Full Exit	DC, Northern VA, Montgomery Co. MD, PG Co. MD	$0–$48/mo (varies by plan)
Aetna (CVS Health)	PPO / HMO	Service Area Reduction	Select Northern VA ZIP codes; portions of PG Co.	$0–$79/mo
Cigna / Evernorth	HMO	Partial Exit	Prince George's County, MD	$0–$31/mo
UnitedHealthcare	HMO / PPO / PFFS	Remaining	Full DC metro coverage	$0–$112/mo
Kaiser Permanente	HMO	Remaining	DC, Northern VA, MD suburbs	$0–$64/mo
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield	HMO / PPO	Remaining	DC, MD jurisdictions	$0–$89/mo
Zing Health	HMO (D-SNP)	Remaining	DC, PG Co. MD (dual-eligible)	$0/mo (D-SNP)
Devoted Health	HMO	Benefit Restructuring	Northern Virginia	$0–$29/mo

Sources: CMS 2027 Medicare Advantage Landscape Files (draft, March 2026); CMS Service Area Reduction notices; carrier investor relations filings; CMS Medicare Plan Finder (medicare.gov/plan-compare). Premium ranges reflect current 2026 plan year data — 2027 premiums will be finalized in October 2026. This table is for informational tracking only; SeniorWire does not recommend specific plans.

Don't get caught without a plan in 2027.

SeniorWire's free weekly alert drops every Friday with the latest plan exits, benefit changes, and enrollment deadlines — specific to your DC metro area ZIP code. No spam. No carrier ads.

What Does Humana's Star Rating History Tell Us About Who It Left Behind?

Star ratings matter because they're CMS's report card for Medicare Advantage plans — and they directly predict the quality of care you receive. Here is the uncomfortable data point: in the DC metro market, Humana's plans received 3.5 stars on the CMS 5-star scale for the 2025 contract year, per CMS's October 2024 Star Ratings release (CMS Star Ratings 2025). That's below average in a market where Kaiser Permanente's Mid-Atlantic plan holds 4.5 stars and UnitedHealthcare's local HMO holds 4.0 stars.

What that tells you: Humana was not losing the DC market because it was winning on quality. It was competing on price — including several $0 premium plans in suburban Maryland counties — and losing on medical cost ratios. Its DC-area enrollees were, in aggregate, using more healthcare than Humana priced for.

The typical Humana MA enrollee in this market is also more likely to be a lower-income senior attracted by those $0 premiums. When those seniors now have to shop for a replacement plan, they face a market in which the remaining $0-premium options are more limited — and the plans that do offer $0 premiums (like certain UnitedHealthcare AARP plans) may have narrower networks than seniors realize.

The DC metro area's Medicare Star Rating average across all plans sits at 3.8 stars for 2025, according to CMS plan-level data — slightly above the national average of 3.76 stars. That's a relatively competitive market on paper. But "relatively competitive" doesn't help you if your specific plan is leaving.

Source: CMS Medicare Advantage and Part D Star Ratings, October 2024 release. Available at cms.gov/medicare/health-plans/actocode/ma-pd-star-ratings.

How Does the DC Metro Market Compare to Other Major Urban Medicare Advantage Markets?

Context matters. Let's run the comparison quickly so you understand whether DC seniors are uniquely exposed or part of a national pattern.

Metro Area	2025 MA Penetration Rate	Available Plans (2026)	Avg. Star Rating (2025)	Key 2027 Exit
DC Metro	~52%	~43 plans	3.8 stars

DC Metro Medicare Advantage 2027: Humana's Full Exit, 847,000 Enrollees, and What You Must Do Before October 15

⚡ TL;DR — Three Numbers You Need Right Now