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UCare informs customers of upcoming shutdown
UCare has started alerting customers that they will need to transition to a different plan before the end of the year, leaving thousands of members looking to find new Medicare supplement coverage.
(FOX 9) - UCare announced the permanent layoff of 102 workers on Wednesday as the health insurer plans to wind down operations in Minnesota by the end of 2026.
UCare layoffs in Minnesota
What we know:
Through a Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN), UCare announced that state contracts have been acquired by Medica, resulting in UCare’s support for Medicaid contracts to end on Oct. 1, 2026. As a result, employee layoffs are expected to begin on Oct. 2, 2026, and continue through November 2026, impacting 102 employees that work remotely from their homes.
Dig deeper:
In December 2025, UCare announced that it would lay off roughly 250 of its workers in January 2026, with the future of another 450 employees still uncertain as benefits through UCare transition to Medica, a nonprofit health insurer based in Minnetonka.
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UCare’s rise and fall in Minnesota
Just three years ago, UCare reported a $325 million surplus. But the following year, the nonprofit reported $102 million in losses. FOX 9’s Mike Manzoni has the details on its rise and fall in Minnesota.
The backstory:
UCare reported an operating loss of $102 million in 2023 and $478 million in 2024, as the insurer exited the Medicare Advantage market – a move affecting about 158,000 members in Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
But prior to that, the health insurer posted a record profit of more than $325 million in 2022, while acknowledging the surplus was likely an outlier because of unique circumstances attributed to the pandemic. At its revenue peak in 2022, UCare was certified to operate in 79 counties, with most enrollment in the Twin Cities metro.
UCare was created by the University of Minnesota in 1984 as a nonprofit that’s been one of the largest providers of health care coverage for seniors, low-income Minnesotans and those who buy their own insurance, often Medicaid Advantage, for more than four decades.
Nearly 300,000 people enrolled in Medicaid and MNsure health plans from UCare will maintain coverage throughout 2026, with the health plans being run by Medica.