Aetna, Blue Cross of New Mexico and NextBlue are pulling Medicare Advantage plans from Maryland, most of New Mexico and North Dakota, where 21 counties lose every general-enrollment plan, as Wyoming loses 6 of 14

Aetna is leaving Maryland’s Medicare Advantage market for 2027, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico is keeping a single plan in four counties, and NextBlue of North Dakota is out, which leaves 21 North Dakota counties with no general-enrollment Medicare Advantage plan. Wyoming, separately, goes from 14 plans to eight. Members in all four states have until Dec. 7, the close of Medicare open enrollment, to choose 2027 coverage.

The notices matter most to members who assumed their plan would simply renew. A plan that is leaving cannot be kept, and the choice becomes another Medicare Advantage plan, if one is sold in the county, or Original Medicare. Medicare’s open enrollment opened Oct. 15, CMS says, and runs through Dec. 7…