Virginia hospitals are among those affected by the growing trend of health systems dropping or engaged in tense negotiations over Medicare Advantage plans.
Becker’s Hospital Review, which has been monitoring the trend since 2023, announced in late September that nationally 34 health system are either dropping or engaged in difficult Medicare Advantage conversations, which covers half of eligible Medicare beneficiaries. Three of those systems are in Virginia.
Valley Health Link
According to a press release by Valley Health, which is a nonprofit healthcare provider serving the Northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and the Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands of West Virginia, “In early August, UnitedHealthcare informed Valley Health that it rejected Valley Health’s proposal to renew its contract for group retiree and individual UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage. As a result, Valley Health is out of network for impacted UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans effective October 1, 2026.”
Not all UnitedHealthcare plans are affected, according to Valley Health. People enrolled in Medicare supplement plans, sometimes called Medigap plans, are not affected. Commercial UnitedHealthcare plans are also not affected. Also, Medicaid plans issued by UnitedHealthcare Community Plan are unaffected.
Sentara
With a network of hospitals across Virginia and in northeaster North Carolina, Sentara is one of the larger healthcare networks in the commonwealth. The hospital has been locked in negotiations with Anthem.
In a press release, Sentara has said that “After eight months of discussions, Anthem refuses to negotiate a fair agreement with Sentara that supports the delivery of care to Virginians. As a result, Sentara has formally notified Anthem of its intention to allow the current agreement for Sentara to provide services to Anthem members for some services to expire as early as December 31, 2026.”Both commercial and Medicare agreements will expire on December 31, 2026, and Medicaid agreements will expire in early 2027 unless an agreement can be reached.
If an agreement cannot be reached, Sentara estimates this will affect some 380,000 Anthem members in Virginia.
Centra
Based in Lynchburg, Centra provides services in central and south Virginia.
The organization announced on January 1, 2026, that it would no longer accept be in contract with Humana. The move affected people with Humana Medicaid, Medicare Advantage or commercial insurance plans.
