Medicare Advantage coverage will remain available in Coos and Carroll counties in 2027 after Gov. Kelly Ayotte helped secure a new insurer for the two rural counties, where nearly all existing plan options had disappeared from the federal marketplace.
The change follows the decisions by CVS Health’s Aetna and BMC Health System’s WellSense to leave New Hampshire’s Medicare Advantage market on Jan. 1. Their departures initially left about 14,200 New Hampshire seniors facing the need to find other coverage for the coming year.
A late addition to the market
After the 2027 insurance offerings were disclosed in mid-October, nearly all of the approximately 10,500 Medicare Advantage enrollees in Coos and Carroll counties had no plan available in their counties. Carroll County had an option only for a limited group of seniors with chronic health conditions.
Devoted Health, an insurer new to New Hampshire, agreed to resubmit plans to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services so it could serve the two counties. The company had initially developed plans for all 10 counties in the state but reduced its proposed coverage, in part because of the regulatory burden, according to Ayotte.
“I reached out to a lot of people on a very busy weekend and a long week.”
Ayotte said she learned about the coverage gap from New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner D.J. Bettencourt and began contacting insurers that might be able to serve Coos and Carroll counties even though the filing deadline had passed.
“Not only did I reach out to Devoted Health, I contacted another (insurance) entity to ask, ‘If you have the ability to serve those counties, even though the deadline has passed, would you be willing to do this for us?’”
Ayotte said Devoted Health executives ultimately agreed to step in. Because the deadline had passed, she then contacted Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz to seek a waiver allowing the insurer to add the two counties.
The 2027 market
With Aetna and WellSense leaving and Devoted Health joining the market in Coos and Carroll counties, three insurers are expected to offer Medicare Advantage plans statewide going forward: Humana, UnitedHealthcare and Devoted Health.
- Coos County: About 10,500 seniors across Coos and Carroll counties were affected by the initial lack of broad plan availability.
- Carroll County: The initial 2027 offering was limited to a small number of seniors with chronic health conditions.
- Jan. 1, 2027: Aetna and WellSense are scheduled to leave the New Hampshire market.
The developments involve Medicare Advantage, the privately administered health insurance program for Medicare beneficiaries. The county-level changes followed the annual disclosure of insurers’ 2027 offerings and negotiations involving the governor, state Insurance Department, Devoted Health and federal regulators.
