AdventHealth’s contract with UnitedHealthcare ends December 31, and the two sides have not reached a new one. Without a deal, AdventHealth says all of its Florida clinicians and services would be out of network for UnitedHealthcare members starting January 1, 2027. That includes people on Medicare Advantage. The window to switch plans closes December 7.
Nothing has changed yet. AdventHealth’s notice to patients says current and new appointments can continue as usual through the end of the year. Emergency care stays available no matter what happens to the network. But the notice leaves no doubt about the clock: the current agreement ends December 31, 2026.
The dispute reaches a large group. The plan types listed as affected include Medicare Advantage and Medicare D-SNP, the special needs plans for people who also have Medicaid. UnitedHealthcare has about 27,000 Medicare Advantage members in Marion County alone, according to the Ocala Gazette. Anyone on a UnitedHealthcare plan who sees an AdventHealth doctor, uses an AdventHealth hospital or has surgery planned there in 2027 has a decision to make before December 7.
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What each side says about the contract
UnitedHealthcare ended the contract. WFTV reported on September 25 that the current agreement stays in effect through December 31 and that UnitedHealthcare members may pay more out of pocket at AdventHealth locations if talks fail. AdventHealth told the station it is working to prevent interruptions in care and wants an agreement that helps cover rising operating costs.
On its patient page, AdventHealth says it is not seeking rate increases above inflation. It says it wants terms that address delays, denials and prior authorization requirements, the pre-approval step insurers use before covering certain care. UnitedHealthcare says AdventHealth has “the most expensive” costs in Florida. A company spokesperson told the Ocala Gazette, “Our goal is to renew the relationship and reach an agreement that is affordable.”
Contracts like this one often get signed in the last weeks of the year. Some do not. The enrollment calendar does not move either way.
The December 7 deadline
Medicare’s Fall Open Enrollment runs October 15 through December 7. During that window, Medicare.gov says people can join, drop or switch Medicare Advantage plans, or move between Original Medicare and a Medicare Advantage plan. The new coverage starts January 1, and the plan must receive the request by December 7.
That is the date that matters for this fight. A member who stays put and then finds AdventHealth out of network on January 1 does not automatically get another full chance to change. Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment, which runs January 1 through March 31, only lets people already in a Medicare Advantage plan switch to another plan or return to Original Medicare. It does not let someone move into a new plan from Original Medicare, and the switch is allowed once.
The ordinary rules still apply to anyone who moves, loses other coverage or gets help from Medicaid. Those life events open separate special enrollment periods. A contract dispute between a hospital and an insurer is not on that list.
What out-of-network could cost
Costs depend on the plan. Medicare.gov lists Medicare Advantage premiums, deductibles, copayments and coinsurance as varying by plan, and says the plan pays 100 percent of covered services once a member reaches the plan’s yearly out-of-pocket limit. The 2026 Part B premium is $202.90 a month, and anyone who stays in Medicare Advantage must keep paying it.
Plan documents set the rules for going out of network. Some plans, usually HMOs, cover little or nothing outside the network except emergencies. Others, usually PPOs, cover out-of-network care at higher cost. The plan’s Annual Notice of Change, the letter that spells out next year’s changes, and its provider directory show which applies.
UnitedHealthcare may let some patients keep seeing their current clinicians at in-network rates through a continuity of care application, AdventHealth’s page notes. That covers people who are pregnant or getting complex or critical chronic-illness care. UnitedHealthcare decides eligibility case by case.
Florida plan choices are shrinking
Switching is harder than it sounds in a year of cuts. Florida will have 560 Medicare Advantage plans in 2027, down from 611 in 2026, a net loss of 51, according to a review of federal plan data. About 3 million Floridians were enrolled in Medicare Advantage as of January 2026.
In Marion County, KFF senior policy manager Meredith Freed told the Ocala Gazette there are 41 Medicare Advantage options with drug coverage for 2027, against a state average of 32. More choice helps, but each plan has its own doctor list. Agents quoted by the paper say people are calling after losing access to their doctors, and that doing nothing after a plan ends can prove costly.
Where the talks stand
Both sides say they want a deal, and neither has said one is close. Medicare.gov’s plan enrollment page is the free official place to see the dates and the ways to change coverage. Members can also call the number on the back of the insurance card to ask whether a specific AdventHealth doctor or hospital will be covered on January 1.
Before December 7, the practical questions are narrow. Is the primary care doctor an AdventHealth clinician? Is a surgery or cancer treatment planned at an AdventHealth hospital? Does the alternative plan list those same doctors? A new plan that drops them solves nothing.
If a deal is signed, the question goes away for 2027. If it is not, the people who waited will have paid for the guess.
On UnitedHealthcare with AdventHealth doctors?
Members who wait on the AdventHealth talks and lose the doctors on January 1 can be stuck with out-of-network bills until a full year of coverage runs out, because the Fall window closes December 7. Missing that date leaves only the narrower January to March change.
The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit includes a cost calculator spreadsheet that compares plans on cost, drugs and doctors, plus a provider call script for asking each plan about specific doctors. It also holds the Open Enrollment calendar and a prescription-by-plan comparison, so the AdventHealth question gets a written answer before the deadline.
Get the calculator and call script to test AdventHealth doctors against each plan →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
