Medicare Advantage Companies Focus on Profits Over Care as Open Enrollment Ends

The open enrollment period for Medicare ends on December 7, and chaos in the privatized Medicare Advantage market has left many who depend on MA plans confused and possibly uninsured in 2026.

Health insurance companies that sponsor Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have aggressively recruited members in the past. Low or $0 premiums plus supplemental benefits that traditional Medicare is not authorized by Congress to cover — dental, vision and hearing care — have attracted increasing numbers of seniors. The many disadvantages, including the need to get preauthorization for procedures or medicines your doctor has prescribed or the narrow group of health professionals that are in-network in many MA plans, are not mentioned in advertisements by brokers hired to recruit members. In 2025, more tha