Major insurers and hospitals across the Sunshine State are cutting ties, leaving policyholders with active coverage they can’t actually use.
Florida News Network: Fort Lauderdale — The insurance card in Sarah Redmond’s wallet shows proof of coverage she pays for every month. But when the Wilton Manors mother of three tried to schedule her daughter’s follow-up appointment at Memorial Regional Hospital this fall, she learned a harsh reality now confronting hundreds of thousands of Floridians: having health insurance no longer guarantees providers will accept it.
Across Florida, a troubling trend has taken hold. Residents still carry active health insurance policies, yet hospitals, doctors, and medical systems increasingly refuse to honor them. These aren’t cases of denied claims or rejected coverage. Instead, major healthcare providers are ending contracts with insurers altogether, leaving patients stuck in the middle with limited options.
When networks collapse overnight:
The situation reached a breaking point in late 2025, when Florida Blue, the state’s largest health insurer with about 5 million members, removed Memorial Healthcare System from its network. The move affected more than 150,000 policyholders in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, who suddenly found their longtime hospitals and doctors classified as out-of-network.
Memorial Healthcare operates six hospitals and dozens of outpatient facilities across South Florida. For families in places like Pembroke Pines, Miramar, and Hollywood, Memorial often serves as the closest and most accessible healthcare option. Now, those same families face an impossible choice: pay steep out-of-pocket costs to continue seeing familiar providers or scramble to find new doctors who accept their insurance.
The Memorial–Florida Blue split reflects a broader pattern unfolding across the state. Broward Health, another major South Florida system, has faced similar network terminations involving Blue Cross Blue Shield plans. These disputes force patients to navigate a fragmented healthcare system where the coverage they purchased in good faith becomes less reliable month by month.
The Aetna departure and market instability:
The issue goes beyond individual provider disputes. Aetna, one of the nation’s largest insurers, announced it will completely exit Florida’s Affordable Care Act marketplace by January 2026. That decision leaves thousands of Floridians who bought Aetna plans through the federal exchange searching for new coverage during open enrollment, which runs from November 2025 through January 2026.
Even then, switching plans doesn’t fix the core problem. New insurance policies come with different provider networks, often forcing patients to give up doctors and specialists they’ve trusted for years. Someone who chose an Aetna plan specifically because it covered their oncologist or cardiologist must now either find a new insurer and new doctors or pay out-of-network rates that can reach thousands of dollars per visit.
This instability hits hardest for patients in the middle of ongoing treatment. While emergency care must be covered at in-network rates regardless of location, routine visits and scheduled procedures follow different rules. Most insurers offer continuity-of-care exceptions for only 90 days, often far too short to complete many treatment plans.
Money talks, patient care takes a walk:
At the heart of these network breakdowns lies a fight over money. Insurance companies cite rising costs, low reimbursement rates from government programs, and the administrative burden of Affordable Care Act requirements as reasons for dropping providers or exiting markets. From their perspective, maintaining broad networks at current payment levels threatens long-term viability.
Healthcare providers tell a different story. Hospital systems and physician groups argue that insurers prioritize profits, offering reimbursement rates so low they don’t cover the actual cost of care. When negotiations stall, providers face a difficult choice: accept unsustainable payments or leave the network and lose patients.
Patients ultimately pay the price. Families like the Martinez household suddenly must travel farther for care, rebuild trust with unfamiliar doctors, or drain savings to cover out-of-network bills. The burden is especially heavy in high-cost areas such as Miami-Dade County, where healthcare already consumes a large share of household income.
Limited options and mounting frustration:
Open enrollment offers a chance to switch plans, but it provides no guarantee that preferred providers will remain in-network. Provider directories are often outdated, and networks can change midyear. Patients who carefully research options during enrollment may discover months later that their new insurer has dropped their primary care doctor.
The challenges are greatest for vulnerable groups. Older Floridians managing multiple chronic conditions depend on consistent access to specialists who know their medical history. Low-income families can’t easily absorb higher costs or take time off work to travel to distant in-network facilities. Rural residents, already facing limited healthcare access, see their choices shrink even further.
Florida forward:
Florida’s health insurance landscape shows little sign of stabilizing anytime soon. As insurers and providers remain locked in tense negotiations, more network disruptions appear likely. Lawmakers remain divided on solutions, debating whether to require providers to accept certain insurance plans, enforce minimum network standards, or step into contract negotiations.
For now, Florida families will keep pulling out their insurance cards at every appointment, unsure whether today’s coverage will still work tomorrow. The larger question facing policymakers, insurers, and healthcare systems is how long this system can continue before it breaks the promise health insurance is supposed to represent.
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