By QUINTON SMITH/Lincoln Chronicle
Samaritan Health Plans has notified thousands of its Medicare customers in Lincoln, Benton and Linn counties that it will end its popular Advantage insurance plans at the end of the year.
In a letter received by its Advantage clients over the Labor Day weekend, Samaritan did not divulge its reasons for the change.
But in an emailed statement Wednesday to Lincoln Chronicle, Samaritan Health Plans chief executive officer Bruce Butler said the organization “has not been immune to nationwide challenges in health care.”
“As part of an integrated health system serving the mid-Willamette Valley and central Oregon coast, we are evaluating multiple options to ensure sustainability for the long term,” Butler’s statement said. “Meanwhile, we are pleased to continue to provide health coverage for our members in the Medicare, Medicaid and commercial group lines of business.”
The hospital system had been advised by a consultant last spring to find buyers or partners for its two largest health plans — a Medicare Advantage plan known as Samaritan Advantage, and its Medicaid plan and its community care organization, InterCommunity Health Plan. But a Samaritan official told the Lund Report this summer that Samaritan doesn’t intend to divest itself of its health plans division.
The official’s statement to the Lund Report said the organization is “constantly analyzing” the plans it offers and could not comment until Oct. 1 under the rules of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
And that’s what causing some consternation to thousands who received Samaritan’s letter the last few days.
Samaritan said it has 13,881 Medicare Advantage members in Lincoln, Benton and Linn counties – including 4,964 in Lincoln County. KFF News, formerly Kaiser Family Foundation News, said in 2024 there were 17,000 Lincoln County residents who were receiving some sort of Medicare benefits.
Under the strict federal rules, Oct. 1 is the first date when county-by-county insurance plans are made public and when Medicare, insurance companies, health systems and insurance agents can talk about them.
In 2025 two organizations – Samaritan Health and Devoted Health — offered three types each of Medicare Advantage plans in Lincoln County. Costs ranged from nothing to $138 a month, depending on the plan’s level of coverage. But if you live in Benton County, for example, there were 10 types of Advantage plans available in 2025.
Samaritan’s Advantage plans were popular because it also included some vision and dental coverage and offered a benefits card that accumulated funds to help pay for some out-of-pocket medical costs and some over-the-counter purchases.
Insurance providers are required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to notify policyholders in September about changes or discontinuation of their plan.
Samaritan had apparently told medical providers two months ago, causing word to leak out about the upcoming change, and Advantage insurance customers received their official notification letters over the Labor Day holiday.
While federal rules restrict what they can say this month, Samaritan and an insurance agent with offices in four coastal counties said there will be offerings to replace Samaritan’s plans.
“We’re very limited in what we can say,” said Wendy Abel-Hatzel, owner of Abel Insurance that has offices stretching from Newport to Gold Beach. “But there will be a full range of options of coverage.”
Abel-Hatzel said she was thankful that Samaritan sent their notices at the first of the month to give people time to think about what they might do and to schedule appointments with Medicare advisers or agents in October.
She advised Advantage policyholders to stay calm, make an appointment, and know that there will be options available. Those options become public Oct. 1 and people can sign up for new or revised policies between Oct. 15 and Dec. 31.
Abel-Hatzel and Samaritan’s letter also emphasized that because the Advantage plan was being discontinued, those customers have until as late as Feb. 28 to enroll in a new plan.
Samaritan also advised people shopping for a Medicare plan to visit www.Medicare.gov or refer to the Medicare & You handbook for a list of Medicare health and prescription drug plans in the area. People can also contact a no-cost program called Senior Health Insurance Benefit Assistance Program (SHIBA) at 800-722-4134 or at Shiba.oregon.gov.
And both advised people who got Samaritan’s letter to hold onto it because it is proof that “you have a special right to buy a Medigap policy or join a Medicare plan.”
“It’s your golden Willy Wonka ticket,” Abel-Hatzel said. “Keep it.”
- Quinton Smith is the editor of Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at YachatsNews@gmail.com
I’m sorry but this is not true we just got this notice. We live in Newport. The only other plan for us is one plan, not many as stated. This is devastating to us and the thousands of others who now are scrambling to find coverage and are nervous about how to get care. It’s never easy in Lincoln County to find coverage and the two local hospitals are what we have. We now will be lining up with the 1,000’s. Samaritan was the only one most of us had to choose from. Really we didn’t have a choice unless we got a supplemental plan which costs hundreds per month.
The SHIBA Medicare downloadable guide has been a great help to me today while I research this. I have gone from panicked to confident that I have a new and better plan in mind. Still, it was a shock to get that letter.
What does “But there will be a full range of options of coverage.” mean? There will be Medicare Advantage plans? With what company? I’ve already heard that Samaritan Health Hospitals and Clinics will not be accepting Devoted Medicare Advantage in 2026.
What does “It’s your golden Willy Wonka ticket,” mean? That those of us with cancelled Samaritan Advantage plans will get the Medicare Part B supplement plans at lower rates and without possible denial of coverage like we could have had when we first signed up for Medicare at age 65?
We are all very worried about the increased costs of this change.
I’ve already heard that there are no appointments with advisors. There are nearly 5000 of us who need them. That’s 100 people a day in Lincoln County who need an appointment between October 15 and December 31. Is that even possible? Our letters also said that we have to get Medigap plans set up a month before we need them. So that is by December 1st to have a plan by January 1, 2026.
Samaritan Health Plans should provide information sessions for all of us asap. The nearly 5000 Lincoln County residents affected by this need more information now.
It is very bad news that Samaritan Health Plans was not able to make creative changes that would have continued Advantage plans in our areas. There are three realities here, one is that capitalism and healthcare often don’t mix. Two is that the only negotiating power patients have is the government, and they have been ambivalent about getting involved. Three, is that healthcare costs are ever increasing, beyond the level of inflation. Advantage plans are the most efficient and popular insurance option for seniors. So, write your local, state, and federal politicians. We need their help, and if they chicken out and duck, then we send them to unemployment. Don’t be passive, organize and protest!!
I wonder what will happen if I don’t do anything at all? I have been on Medicare and sometimes Medicaid for 10 years. I dropped SNAP and Medicaid, even though I am financially eligible, when trump began his war against non-producers. The health insurance shake-up is case-in-point.
I don’t want to be on his generic~ and geriatric~ hit list.
Will a “provider” be assigned me? I don’t have the strength and patience to wade through this process, even with the help of SHIBA. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Shiba will be very helpful, and all it takes is a phone call. Nobody is riding in on a white horse here; gotta help yourself.
My husband and I finally have a great advantage insurance. Now like so many others we are left to try and find another plan. Two years ago we had United Health Insurance and Samaritan sent out letters letting people know that United Health Insurance was going to be out of network.
Oh my goodness.
I’m on my third Medicare Advantage plan since moving to OR. Regence was great, but left Lincoln County. (#2, Providence – lousy coverage and poor customer care.) Currently have Devoted, which is amazing, although relatively new. All five of my providers are in their network. I strongly suggest you folks who are being abandoned look into it.
Until October 1 we really won’t know what options we will have. That is when the new plans come out. I like the Devoted plans, but currently Samaritan and most providers here won’t accept them. I’m hopeful that now we can get some other plans here since they won’t be competing with Samaritan, and that Samaritan will accept other insurance plans. I feel there could have been something done to bring down the costs rather than just end the plans, knowing Samaritan has a monopoly here in Newport.
I am a SHIBA Counselor in Lincoln County. I can respond to some of the questions/comments in the preceding posts.
In 2025, two companies (Samaritan Health and Devoted Health) offered Medicare Advantage plans in Lincoln County. Each company offered three different plans, so there was a total of six. As stated in the article, Samaritan is shutting down its three plans. That leaves the three Devoted plans. However, Devoted has not yet disclosed whatever changes may be in store for 2026. In my opinion, while Devoted will probably make some detail changes, it is unlikely that they will make major changes at a time when Devoted stands to enroll thousands of new customers who are losing Samaritan plan coverage. (The Devoted plans were first available in Lincoln County in January 2025.)
In order to join a Medicare Advantage plan, you must have (and pay for) Medicare. However, joining a Medicare Advantage plan means that Medicare itself is no longer covering you. If and when your Medicare Advantage plan coverage ends, your coverage under original Medicare resumes. As stated in the article and in Samaritan’s letter, people who lose Samaritan coverage as a result of the plan closure will have a window to buy an Medicare Supplement insurance policy. These are individual insurance policies, not group plans, and are sometimes called “Medigap” policies because they plug the “gaps” in Medicare. That is, they cover, in whole or in part, the copays and deductibles in Medicare coverage.
I can explain the “golden Willy Wonka ticket” comment. Because a Medicare Supplement policy covers only one person (the Medicare-covered person who buys the policy), and because insurance companies would rather not issue a policy to a person who has health issues and is likely to file claims, there is a Federal rule that prevents an insurance carrier from denying a policy to someone who suffers an involuntary loss of other coverage. The letter from Samaritan is proof that the recipient qualifies under this “involuntary loss” rule and that is why the insurance agent called it a “golden ticket.” However, while the people who are losing Samaritan Medicare Advantage coverage as of Dec. 31 will have the right to buy a Medicare Supplement policy, regardless of any medical conditions, the “golden ticket” does nothing to make those policies more affordable. Medicare Supplement premiums are not based on the person’s health or claims history, but premiums generally do take into account age, gender and tobacco use. The monthly premiums can range from (very roughly) $170 to $300.
One comment above stated that there are no more available appointments with “advisors.” I can confirm that there are still open appointment slots with the SHIBA counselors. Our phone numbers are in the article.
Thank You, Barry.
I called SHIBA and talked to two different people and they said to go to my hospital and ask my hospital what they would accept. No help from them and I live in Linn County.
I’m going to have my 65th birthday soon and was looking forward to Samaritan Advantage. Guess not.