Press Release
Jim Bodenner, President
Villages Chapter – National
Retiree Legislative Network
Phone: 616-866-8180
Email:
presvillageschapter@nrln.org
An Alert: When a Healthcare Plan Will Not Be Renewed for 2027
This is the time of year that Medicare Advantage (MA), Medicare supplement (Medigap) and/or Medicare Part D plan enrollees in The Villages are receiving their Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) letters from their insurance companies or company plan administrators notifying them of any changes being made to their 2026 healthcare insurance policies to be effective in 2027.
Normally, an ANOC informs plan participants about any benefit changes or changes to premiums, deductibles, copays, coinsurance or out-of-pocket maximums. However, if the ANOC states that your plan is not being renewed and will not be available in 2027 that is cause for alarm, according to Jim Bodenner, President of the Villages Chapter of the National Retirees Legislative Network (NRLN).
Number of Plans to Be Cancelled
“UnitedHealthcare has announced that it expects to discontinue MA plans affecting 1.1 million seniors and Humana plans to shut down plans that will impact 600,000 seniors in 2027,” Bodenner said. “Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health estimates that about 2.9 million Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollees will not have their plans renewed for 2027.”
Bodenner pointed out that Humana’s Chief Financial Officer has stated Humana expects to “bring back” about 240,000 people in other plans from the 600,000 seniors whose plans will be dropped. This is called “cross-walking” into a plan offered by the same company. These new plans will likely have higher premiums, deductibles, copays and/or out-of-pocket costs.
While the number of Medigap and Part D plans to be discontinued seldom appears in news reports, a sizeable number of people have not had their plans renewed in recent years and the trend will continue into 2027.
Why Should We Be Concerned?
Bodenner said if your ANOC includes a nonrenewal notice from your healthcare insurer for your MA or Medigap or Medicare Part D prescription drug plan it should include a Guaranteed Issue Right (GIR) and a Supplemental Enrollment Period (SEP) qualification notice as required by federal law. This also applies to company sponsored healthcare plans that will be discontinued.
Bodenner noted a GIR prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage or overcharging an applicant for a Medigap or MA or Part D policy, regardless of pre-existing health conditions. An SEP allows one to shop for the best deal possible for a Medigap or MA or Part D plan.
NRLN’s Action to Ensure GIR and SEP
“NRLN President Bill Kadereit sent a letter on September 8, 2026, to Robert F Kennedy, Jr., Secretary Health and Human Services and Medicare Trustee, requesting enforcement of the federal law that requires insurers and corporate plan sponsors to inform plan participants this year of their GIR and SEP,” Bodenner said. “A copy of the letter was sent to the other three Medicare Trustees, the CMS Administrator and the U.S. Attorney General.”
Bodenner noted that the letter can be read by clicking a link in the NRLN President’s Forum message posted on www.nrln.org . An NRLN podcast about GIR and SEP can be accessed by clicking on the Podcast tab on www.nrln.org .
“After NRLN leaders met with Center for Medicare and Medicaid staff members in March 2025, CMS sent letters in September 2025 reminding insurers and corporate plan sponsors of their obligation to provide GIR and SEP notices when a plan was not going to be renewed in 2026,” Bodenner said. “The NRLN is seeking assurance from the HHS Secretary that will happen again in September 2026.”
What You Can Do
Bodenner said if your plan will not continue in 2027 and your notice does not provide for a GIR and SEP you should contact your healthcare insurance provider or company benefits staff immediately and request the GIR and SEP notification you are entitled to receive. If necessary, call your health insurance agent, or Medicare at 1-800-633-4227 or call 1-877-839-2675 to learn how to contact an advisor for the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP).
“The annual deadline for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to post 2027 plans and premiums on its website is October 1, ahead of the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period October 15 – December 7”, Bodenner said. “Go to www.Medicare.gov and click on “Find health and drug plans” to shop for the best deal you can get.”
About the NRLN
The National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) endeavors to secure federal
legislation for retirement income security and reduce the cost of healthcare
along with keeping Social Security and Medicare strong. It is a non-profit,
non-partisan, grassroots coalition representing more than two million
retirees who came to the NRLN from retiree associations, NRLN chapters and
as individual members who have retired from over 400 different corporations
and public entities. Members live in all 50 states and practically all
Congressional districts. Individuals in the Villages interested in receiving
NRLN and Chapter emails may sign up at:
Email Sign-Up
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To: NRLN Villages Chapter Members
September 2020
The National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) and the NRLN Villages Chapter are partners in making sure that retirees have a strong voice in Washington, DC. Jim Bodenner, Chapter Leadership Team Member joined other leaders of the NRLN, retiree associations and chapters in February to lobby for the key parts of the NRLN’s legislative agenda on Capitol Hill. Your individual contribution is very important to the NRLN and your Chapter. Please make a contribution as noted in the last paragraph.
Is your Social Security benefit going to last your lifetime and that of your spouse? What about future generations? Social Security will deplete it reserves by 2034. At that time, it will only be able to pay 76% of benefits. The NRLN is supporting passage of Social Security 2100 Act in Congress that will fund the program for the next 75 years.
How secure are your Medicare benefits? Where does the money come from that provides some Medicare participants with more benefits than others? Medicare will deplete its reserves by 2026 and will only be able to pay 90% of benefits. The NRLN opposes the use of taxpayer dollars to subsidize private insurance companies for Medicare Advantage (MA) special benefits that original Medicare beneficiaries are denied. The NRLN is advocating that original Medicare enrollees have access to the special benefits being offered by MA.
Are you paying too much for your prescription drugs? The NRLN Is advocating that Congress should remove the prohibition on Medicare negotiating drug prices and replace it with a competitive bidding model. Legislation is needed to end pay-for-delay and other brand name drugmakers’ tactics that obstruct generic drugs from coming to market. The NRLN has lobbied to allow importation of less expensive drugs from Canada. A July executive order will accomplish that. The NRLN supports S. 4199 in the Senate Committee on Finance and H.R. 3 passed in the House in December. We want the Senate to pass its bill so it will go to a conference committee with the House bill. Congress needs to do its job and compromise to provide relief from sky- rocketing drug prices.
Is your retirement pension secure? Many employers have converted pension plans to third-party insurance company annuities. When “de-risking” occurs with the purchase of an insurance annuity, pension plan participants lose the protection of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The NRLN’s proposed legislation would protect retirees.
What would happen to your pension if your former employer acquired another company and merged pension plans? The NRLN is concerned about the merging of pension plans with very different levels of plan assets and liabilities. The PBGC not only lacks advance notice of intra-firm mergers, the agency has waived the requirement for post-event reporting of plan mergers. The NRLN is lobbying for legislation to require plan mergers to be reviewed in advance by the PBGC and IRS and challenged if necessary.
Have you or someone you know experienced pension recoupment because your pension benefit was miscalculated? Currently, there is no limitation on recovering pension overpayment due to a calculation error. Under the NRLN’s proposal being considered on Capitol Hill, the legislation would clarify that a company does not have a fiduciary duty to recoup overpayments, but if it chooses to do so, it must be done within three years of the initial overpayment. Further, the company may not recoup more than 10% of the amount of the overpayment per year, and it may not recoup against a beneficiary of a participant.
For additional information contact your Villages Chapter Leadership Team.
Bob Bienvenue
rbienven@sprynet.com
Mallory
Jim Bodenner
bodennerj@gmail.com
Terra Del Sol South
Doris Branson
dorisbranson@gmail.com
Santa Domingo
John Canner
wwjc914@gmail.com
Amelia
Madge Koscelnik
nursemadge@gmail.com
Chatham
Jackie Kuhn
jakuhn@alzheimersfamily.org
Bonita
Ray Pasternak
janice1@tir.com
La Belle
Heather Rabinowitz
heatherrab@comcast.net
Sunset Point
Carolyn Reichel
carolynreichel@gmail.com
Sunset Point
Bill Yelverton
wey44@aol.com
Mallory
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For Information Contact:
Jim Bodenner, NRLN Villages Chapter Leader
Phone: 616-866-8180
Email: Bodennerj@gmail.com
Concern Over Social Security Payroll Tax Deferral
The Villages Chapter of the National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) is concerned executive orders to defer from September 1 through December 31 the payroll tax will deplete the Social Security retirement trust fund by 2023, and its disability insurance funding by the middle of 2021.
According to Jim Bodenner “If the Social Security Trust is drained and there is a subsequent recession, then General Tax Revenues will dry up which will create a crisis for a large portion of the 65 million Social Security beneficiaries, destroying Social Security for our children and grandchildren. Bodenner is a member of the Villages Chapter leadership team.
A 12.4 percent payroll tax split evenly between employers and workers earning up to $137,700 (for 2020) is a vital funding source for Social Security.
If no alternative source of revenue to replace the payroll tax, the Social Security Administration estimates that Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund asset reserves would become permanently depleted in about the middle of calendar year 2021, with no ability to pay DI benefits thereafter. The Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund reserves would become permanently depleted by the middle of calendar year 2023, with no ability to pay OASI benefits thereafter.
Bodenner said the Villages Chapter has endorsed the NRLN’s support for House bill H.R. 860 and Senate bill S. 269, the Social Security 2100 Act.
He said the Social Security 2100 Act comes the closest to the NRLN’s position to make Social Security financially strong for the current generation, our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren by funding the program for the next 75 years. The bill would achieve the funding by a minimal increase of 1.2 percent in the payroll tax for employees and employers on earnings with the annual escalation of a few hundred dollars as it does now. The major difference in funding is that the payroll tax would apply on earnings of $400,000 and above.
The NRLN and AREF Partnership
The National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) created the American Retirees Education Foundation (AREF) in 2014 to develop whitepapers and advocate policy recommendations for retirement security to federal policymakers, constituency groups, the media, and the general public. The AREF, an IRS 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization, researches and produces whitepapers and other materials and can use them to educate NRLN members and other advocates on how to present legislative proposals. The AREF can advocate proposals to members of Congress and federal agencies but once a proposal is introduced as a bill, only the NRLN, an IRS 501(c)4 non-exempt organization, can lobby for passage of a bill. The AREF can advocate but not lobby. This allows members to make tax-deductible donations that are accounted for separately from NRLN contributions. To learn more about the AREF go to www.arefseniors.org .
NRLN and AREF Revenue
Seventy-five percent of NRLN revenue comes from non-deductible individual contributions. The other twenty-five percent of NRLN revenue comes from company retiree association dues paid to the NRLN. NRLN Chapters are supported by a portion of contributions made by Chapter members. For individual contributions to the NRLN go HERE (Either click on the link to printout the contributions form and mail it with a check or click on the link to make a credit card contribution.)
All AREF revenue comes from individual tax-deductible donations. A donation to the AREF may be made by going to the AREF website at arefseniors.org and clicking on the “Donations” tab.
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