Naples Comprehensive Health, one of Southwest Florida’s largest nonprofit hospital systems, will go out of network with two Medicare Advantage insurers at the end of 2026, part of a wave of contract breaks between hospitals and insurers spreading across the state. Centene’s Wellcare and HCSC’s HealthSpring Medicare Advantage plans will no longer include Naples Comprehensive Health’s hospitals and physicians once the new plan year begins, according to Becker’s Hospital Review’s ongoing tracking of these disputes. For older residents of Collier County who built their care around the system, the split forces a decision well before most people start thinking about Medicare’s fall enrollment window.
What Naples Comprehensive Health Is Changing for 2027
Naples Comprehensive Health confirmed it will end its contracts with Wellcare, Centene’s Medicare Advantage brand, and HealthSpring, HCSC’s Medicare Advantage brand, effective at the end of 2026, according to Becker’s Hospital Review’s list of health systems dropping Medicare Advantage plans this year. The change means the system’s hospitals, physicians, and outpatient sites will no longer be considered in-network for members enrolled in either plan starting with the 2027 plan year.
Unlike a Medicare Advantage plan leaving a county entirely, a hospital-network termination like this one does not force affected members out of their plan. Wellcare and HealthSpring enrollees who take no action will keep the same Medicare Advantage plan on January 1, 2027; what changes is whether Naples Comprehensive Health counts as in-network for that plan, not whether the plan itself continues to exist or gets sold to them by a different insurer.
The break is not an isolated event in the region. The same Becker’s Hospital Review tracking shows Fort Myers-based Lee Health, another major Southwest Florida system, is separately going out of network with UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans on the same end-of-2026 timeline, meaning two of the area’s largest hospital systems are cutting ties with Medicare Advantage insurers within months of each other.
What Going Out of Network Actually Means for Medicare Advantage Members
The practical effect of the split depends heavily on plan type. Members enrolled in an HMO-style Wellcare or HealthSpring Medicare Advantage plan typically have no coverage at all for non-emergency care received at an out-of-network hospital, while members in a PPO version of the same plans usually retain some coverage, just at a steeper out-of-pocket cost. Either way, a beneficiary who has relied on Naples Comprehensive Health for years could face a materially different bill for the identical care starting January 1, 2027…