If you have clients enrolled in Clear Spring Health Medicare Advantage plans, you have less than three weeks to act. The Clear Spring Health Medicare Advantage exit is official, and coverage ends for every enrolled member on May 31, 2026. That is not a lot of runway.
Here is what happened, who it affects, and exactly what you need to do.
Clear Spring Health, based in Park Ridge, Illinois, has shut down all remaining Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plans across its three active markets: Illinois, Georgia, and Colorado. The company released member-facing materials this week, and outreach calls to enrolled members began May 6.
This was not a sudden decision. Clear Spring has been contracting for years. The company exited South Carolina and Virginia at the start of 2025. CMS terminated its standalone Part D prescription drug plan contract in late 2024 after three consecutive years of below-three-star ratings. Parent company Group 1001 was also fined by CMS in May 2026 for two compliance violations: overcharging enrollees due to claims processing errors, and exceeding annual out-of-pocket maximums because of incorrect tracking systems.
The full MA exit is the end of a long decline, not a surprise pivot. But the timeline it creates for agents and their clients is still urgent.
All Clear Spring Health Medicare Advantage members in Illinois, Georgia, and Colorado lose coverage on May 31, 2026.
That includes:
Members currently enrolled in active plans.
Members who recently enrolled in a Clear Spring plan with an effective date between June 1 and August 1, 2026. Those enrollments will not go into effect.
Clear Spring has asked brokers directly to notify affected clients and begin transitioning them to new coverage with a June 1 effective date.
Members who do not act before June 1 will revert to Original Medicare. They will lose any supplemental benefits the MA plan was providing, including prescription drug coverage, dental, vision, hearing, and transportation benefits where applicable.
For members on ongoing medications or managing chronic conditions, a coverage gap is not just an inconvenience. It creates real risk.
CMS typically activates a Special Enrollment Period when a plan exits the market mid-year. That SEP gives affected members a limited window to enroll in a new plan outside of standard enrollment periods. You should confirm SEP availability with CMS directly for each state, since activation timelines can vary.
If you have Clear Spring Health clients, here is your action list:
Do not wait on Clear Spring’s member outreach to drive the conversation. Your clients need to hear from you first.
Those enrollments are dead. Get them into a new plan immediately.
The SEP should be available for affected members, but confirm the window and applicable plan types before telling clients what they can do.
Use your quoting platform to compare available MA plans in each client’s county. This is the moment to show clients you are paying attention and have options ready for them.
Log your outreach to each affected client. Given CMS’s increased scrutiny of broker conduct in 2026, documentation is not optional.
The Clear Spring situation reflects a broader pattern in Medicare Advantage right now. Several smaller and mid-size carriers have exited markets over the past two years as CMS tightened quality benchmarks, reduced reimbursement rates, and increased audits. Carriers that could not maintain star ratings or manage medical cost trends have been pulling back.
For agents, that means your carrier mix matters more than ever. A client’s plan could look fine in October and be gone by June. Choosing carriers with strong star ratings and financial stability is part of doing right by your clients, not just a sales consideration.
This exit is also a reminder of the value you provide. Clients enrolled in Clear Spring without broker support are getting a letter and a phone number. Your clients are getting a call from you with a solution already in hand. That difference is what keeps a book of business together.
The Clear Spring Health Medicare Advantage exit affects members in Illinois, Georgia, and Colorado with a hard stop on May 31. Every agent with clients on these plans needs to be in contact with them this week. A Special Enrollment Period should be available, but coverage transitions need to happen before June 1.
If you are managing a large Medicare book and need a faster way to run plan comparisons and identify alternatives for affected clients, Quotit’s platform gives you the tools to move quickly and accurately.
Disclaimer: This post is for educational purposes only and reflects information available at the time of publication.