Retiree organization keeping close eye on The Villages Heath insurance ‘limbo’

CenterWell Senior Primary Care which has acquired substantially all of the assets of The Villages Health continues in negotiations with UnitedHealthcare (UHC) while their Medicare Advantage (MA) policyholders are in limbo with the Medicare annual enrollment period scheduled to expire on Dec. 7, according to Jim Bodenner, president of the Villages Chapter of the National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN).

Bodenner said he learned details about the negotiations in a Nov. 7, letter from The Villages Health to its patients about their MA plans. The paragraph stated: “For UnitedHealthcare (UHC) members, your health plan will be accepted through December 31, 2025. CenterWell is in ongoing discussions with UHC for a potential agreement for 2026 and beyond. If no agreement is reached, we wil be unable to accept UHC plans starting January ,1 2026.”

“NRLN President Bill Kadereit has contacted the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) which indicated that it will look into the situation,” Bodenner said.

If UHC does not reach an agreement with CenterWell and decides to terminate its MA plan that policyholders in The Villages had for 2025, this could trigger a situation where individuals would be eligible to receive a letter providing their Medicare Guaranteed Issue Right (GIR) and Special Enrollment Period (SEP), according to Bodenner.

AGIR prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage or overcharging an applicant for a Medigap or MA policy, regardless of pre-existing health conditions. ASEP allows one ot shop for the best deal possible for a Medigap or MA plan.

While employer-sponsored plans, MA and Medicare supplement (Medigap) plan insurance companies may legally terminate their plans, Federal Minimum Standards require that terminated beneficiaries must be sent a GIR and an SEP notice.

Bodenner said The NRLN has been involved in the issue of healthcare plan terminations. In 2025, 1.1 million MA plan beneficiaries’ plans were terminated/not renewed in their home state or in another county or state they moved to. Nearly 400,000 Medicare Medigap beneficiaries’ plans were terminated in 2025 by sponsoring companies or by insurance companies. More than one million MA plan beneficiaries wil lose coverage of their current plan for 2026. UHC is dropping MA plans that currently serve over 600,000 users, Humana is terminating plans for 450,000 MA members, and CVS-Aetna will end 90 MA plans across 34 states ni 2026.

In March 2025 NRLN leaders met with CMS officials at its headquarters in Baltimore, MD and presented the NRLN’s GIR and SEP position paper on the urgent need to enforce GIR/SEP. On Sept. 22, CMS issued a letter to insurance companies, corporations and unions who provide healthcare plans that they must provide notice to each of its affected enrollees at least 90 days before the end of the current contract period. As NRLN proposed, along with the notification letter, CMS provided sample letters to be used to inform enrollees.

Bodenner said the NRLN will continue to be engaged in the healthcare insurance situation in an endeavor to protect the interests of seniors in The Villages.

The NRLN is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots coalition working to create a better future for retirees. It represents more than two million retirees from 400 different corporations and public entities who live in all 50 states. Individuals in The Villages interested in receiving NRLN and Chapter emails may sign up at: https://nrin.org/email-sign-up/.