“This was not our first choice,” Matthew Perry, president and chief executive of Genesis HealthCare System, writes in a letter posted on the system’s website. “It was our last resort.” The Zanesville, Ohio, health system has told Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Medical Mutual and CareSource that its Medicare Advantage contracts end after Dec. 31, unless new agreements are reached first.
Four insurers, one cutoff date
Genesis lists the contracts on its “Protecting our Mission” page: Aetna Medicare Advantage, UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage, Medical Mutual of Ohio Medicare Advantage and CareSource Medicare Advantage, along with CareSource’s Medicaid managed care plan. The page says: “Genesis has notified these insurance companies that current contracts will end after Dec. 31, 2026.” Perry’s letter puts the same cutoff as Jan. 1, 2027. Coverage stays the same through Dec. 31. The two phrasings describe one date, since a plan year runs Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, and the first day without a contract is Jan. 1 either way.
The termination is conditional. Genesis says it “continues to work with insurance companies on potential contract extensions and new agreements,” and the page carries a notice that some insurance-related dates may have changed. No new agreement has been announced. Without one, the four Medicare Advantage plans would be out of network for non-emergency care at Genesis starting Jan. 1, 2027.
An Aug. 31 contracted insurance list from the health system marks Aetna and UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage as “Pending contract termination for 2027.” Other Medicare Advantage plans on that list, including MediGold, Molina and Anthem, carry no termination notice. Becker’s Hospital Review included Genesis, with the same four insurers, in its roundup of health systems dropping Medicare Advantage plans.
Who is affected and who is not
The question for patients is concrete. Anyone with an Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Medical Mutual or CareSource Medicare Advantage plan who sees Genesis doctors or uses its hospitals has to decide, before open enrollment ends, whether to keep the plan and lose in-network access or move to one that still includes the system. Perry’s letter names six Ohio counties: Muskingum, Coshocton, Perry, Morgan, Noble and Guernsey. The page lists Genesis Hospital Zanesville, Genesis Coshocton Medical Center, Genesis Perry County Medical Center and Genesis Orthopedic Center among its sites. Genesis does not spell out which of those locations each insurer change applies to, so a patient’s own clinic or specialist is worth confirming by name. The system’s main line is (740) 454-4000, with a second number at (800) 322-4762.
A Genesis doctor who goes out of network on Jan. 1 leaves a member of one of the four plans choosing between a new doctor and a new plan before Dec. 7. The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit includes a provider call script and a prescription-by-plan comparison, so each doctor and drug can be checked against every plan under consideration.
Check each Genesis doctor against 2027 plans with the Decision Kit’s provider call script →
Not every plan in the area is touched. According to Genesis, commercial employer-sponsored insurance and traditional Medicare Supplement, or Medigap, plans are not affected.
9,000 denials behind the dispute
Genesis frames the break as a payment fight. The health system says it is contesting 9,000 active denials of coverage for care it has already provided, and Perry’s letter says the denials have caused millions of dollars in losses. “We are simply asking these insurance companies to do what they are already required to do,” he writes, “pay for the care our patients need.” The 9,000 figure is Genesis’s own count, and the insurers’ side of the dispute is not set out on the Genesis page.
Because Genesis says contract extensions are still being discussed, the Dec. 31 cutoff could move. Members of the four plans cannot count on either outcome when open enrollment begins.
What Genesis tells patients to do
The health system’s advice is practical. Patients should keep scheduled appointments, and emergency care is “always covered at an in-network rate.” Medicare Advantage patients can review and change plans during open enrollment, which Genesis lists as Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, and the page recommends talking with a trusted, local health insurance agent first. Patients in active treatment for cancer, a chronic condition or planned surgery are told to call to confirm their situation, because federal continuity-of-care rules may apply.
Medicaid is different. A CareSource Medicaid member can switch plans at any time through the Ohio Medicaid Consumer Hotline, 800-324-8680, or its portal at ohiomh.com. Genesis says it takes five minutes. Its own Patient Financial Advocate Hotline is 740-454-4335. The page also warns patients to avoid sharing personal information with unexpected callers about insurance enrollment, a standard precaution while plan changes are in the news.
Keeping Genesis doctors in network for 2027
The free first step is the Medicare Plan Finder, which lists the Medicare Advantage and drug plans sold in a ZIP code. Members of the four affected plans should list every Genesis doctor, clinic and hospital they use, then check each candidate plan’s provider directory by name. The insurer behind each plan matters as much as the plan type, since Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Medical Mutual and CareSource are the four with notices.
Medigap deserves a look for anyone considering leaving Medicare Advantage: Genesis says those policies are not affected. The system points patients to a local health insurance agent through healthcare.gov/find-local-help.
The date to hold onto is Dec. 7. The facts that can change before then are the ones in Genesis’s own notice: new contract extensions, which would restore in-network access, or none, which would not.
Four Genesis plans, one Dec. 7 choice
A member who picks a plan without confirming the Genesis hospital and the doctors in it can learn on Jan. 1 that the visit is out of network. The 2027 Medicare Open Enrollment Decision Kit gives a member a provider call script, the Open Enrollment calendar and an Excel cost calculator that compares plans on cost, drugs and doctors, laid out in a 55-page guide, so the check happens before Dec. 7 and not at the front desk.
Compare Medicare Advantage plans that keep Genesis doctors using the Decision Kit →
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Financial Wire’s editorial team.
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.
