Home health providers grappling with Medicare Advantage reimbursement challenges are paying close attention to market changes. One such development occurred when Elevance Health (NYSE: ELV) made headlines when it announced plans to slash its Medicare Advantage marketing budget on Friday.

Elevance’s move to cull its Medicare Advantage marketing spend comes on the heels of another Medicare Advantage market shakeup. A week prior, UnitedHealth Group (UHG) (NYSE: UNH) reported headwinds associated with Medicare Advantage and lowered its anticipated earnings per share for 2025.

But Elevance’s move to limit marketing budget may be a standard strategic adjustment, according to Ali Rizer, executive vice president of payer solutions at ATI Advisory.

“Decommissioning Medicare sales is something the Medicare Advantage market does from time to time for different reasons,” Rizer told Home Health Care News in an email. “It’s often a temporary decision to give an MAO a year to ‘catch up’ or right-size impacts from the prior year. For example, it might be in response to larger-than-expected enrollment during the prior year, higher-than-expected utilization the plan is trying to get under control, or a change in federal policy.”

Elevance reported that it would stop marketing most Medicare Advantage products in a notice sent to marketers, according to Bloomberg, citing a need to strike a balance between stability and growth. 

The Indianapolis-based company offers Medicare Advantage plans to nearly 40.3 million Medicare-eligible people across 23 states and Puerto Rico. Elevance did not respond to Home Health Care News’ request for comment by the time of publication.

The company recently reported better-than-expected financial results in its Q1 2025 earnings call, citing home health as one of its key revenue drivers. It also noted that its year-over-year operating revenue increase was due in part to higher premium yields and growth in its Medicare Advantage plan membership. 

Less than a week later, Elevance announced the Medicare Advantage marketing budget cut, drawing “deep concern” from the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals (NABIP).

“This decision directly harms Medicare beneficiaries by limiting their access to essential healthcare options and support during Medicare’s enrollment period,” NABIP CEO Jessica Brooks-Woods said in a statement. “By removing digital tools and shifting to manual processes, Elevance Health is making it harder for seniors to make informed decisions. And these changes eliminate the trusted guidance seniors rely on, creating unnecessary barriers at a time when making informed healthcare decisions is most critical for them.”

NABIP called on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Congress and health plans to take action to mitigate any negative impacts on beneficiaries caused by Elevance’s announcement. The organization urged CMS to “freeze any carrier-initiated changes after October 1 that would reduce transparency, limit agent access, or create confusion during the crucial Medicare enrollment period.”

It is noteworthy that Elevance decided to keep marketing its Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs), Rizer said.

“Because of Model of Care and other requirements, [Special Needs Plans] (SNPs) can offer Medicare Advantage plans a more comprehensive and population-specific set of tools to care for their enrollees, and address some of the unexpected high utilization the market is experiencing.”