For about 11,000 older Minnesotans, a routine Medicare Advantage plan is about to stop working the way it always has. Fairview Health Services, the Minneapolis-based system behind M Health Fairview hospitals and clinics, has told patients it will stop accepting UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans starting January 1, 2027. That leaves affected enrollees with a decision to make this fall, and a real dollar cost if they wait too long.
What Fairview told its patients
In a notice posted for patients, Fairview says that beginning January 1, 2027, it will no longer schedule appointments or services for people covered by UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans, meaning those patients would be treated as out-of-network. Until then, coverage continues as usual: UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members stay in network with Fairview through December 31, 2026. The system frames the split as final, pointing to what it describes as ongoing prior-authorization delays, claim denials, and administrative complexity that it says have made it harder for patients to get timely care.
Why “out-of-network” is the phrase that costs money
The reason this matters to a household budget comes down to how Medicare Advantage networks work. A Medicare Advantage plan pays the most, and sometimes only, when you use doctors and hospitals inside its network. Once Fairview leaves the UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage network, a member who keeps that plan and keeps seeing Fairview doctors would generally face higher out-of-pocket costs, and in some cases the full non-network price, depending on the plan’s rules. For someone in the middle of treatment or attached to a particular physician, that can turn a familiar copay into an unpredictable bill.
The one window that fixes it
The clean way to avoid that outcome is to change plans during Medicare’s annual open enrollment, which runs October 15 through December 7, 2026. During that window, a Fairview patient on a UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plan can switch to a Medicare Advantage plan that still counts Fairview as in-network, or move back to Original Medicare. Fairview says its in-network Medicare Advantage options for 2027 will still include Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, HealthPartners, and Medica. The practical takeaway is to confirm, before you sign anything, that the specific plan you choose lists your Fairview doctors and hospital as in-network for 2027, since networks can vary plan by plan even within the same insurer.
How to check your own situation before you switch
Not every UnitedHealthcare member sees Fairview, and not every Fairview patient is on UnitedHealthcare, so the first step is to confirm whether this even applies to you. Look at your insurance card and your plan documents to see whether you are enrolled in a UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plan, then check whether your regular clinic or hospital is part of Fairview. If both are true, you are in the affected group and should plan to act during open enrollment. If you use Fairview but have a different insurer, this change does not touch you, and if you have UnitedHealthcare but use a different health system, your care there is unaffected.
What to weigh besides the network
Switching plans is not only about keeping one hospital in-network. When you compare 2027 options, look at the monthly premium, the prescription drug coverage and its formulary, the annual out-of-pocket maximum, and whether your other providers and pharmacies are included, not just Fairview. A plan that keeps your hospital but drops your preferred pharmacy or a needed medication may not be the bargain it looks like. Minnesota’s State Health Insurance Assistance Program offers free, unbiased counseling for exactly this kind of comparison, and Medicare’s own Plan Compare tool lets you enter your drugs and providers to see how plans stack up before you commit.
Why these network exits keep happening
Fairview is not an isolated case. Over the past two years, a growing number of hospital systems have publicly walked away from specific Medicare Advantage contracts, usually citing the same friction Fairview names: slow prior authorizations and denied claims that leave the system covering care it expected the insurer to pay for. For patients, the lesson is less about the corporate dispute and more about staying alert. A Medicare Advantage network is not permanent, and the only way to be sure your plan still covers the doctors you rely on is to reread your plan’s network each fall during open enrollment. Fairview’s patient notice is the authoritative source for its own timeline, and checking it directly, rather than a secondhand summary, is the surest way to know where you stand for 2027.
What happens if you do nothing
Inertia is the expensive choice here. A UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage member who takes no action by December 7, 2026, stays on that plan into 2027, at which point Fairview treats them as out-of-network and the higher costs begin. There is a separate Medicare Advantage open enrollment period from January 1 to March 31 each year that allows one plan change, but leaning on it means starting the year out-of-network at your own hospital, which is exactly the situation the fall window exists to prevent. The cleaner path is to decide during open enrollment rather than scramble in January. Fairview’s patient notice lays out the timeline and the in-network alternatives, and treating that notice as your checklist, rather than waiting for a reminder that may never come, is how affected patients avoid an unwelcome bill in the new year.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Figures are linked to their primary sources; where a claim could not be verified from the public record, we say so.…