Which Medicare Advantage plans do Capital Region hospitals accept?

One page per hospital

Each hospital has its own page with the hospital's list quoted with dates and every 2027 Medicare Advantage plan sold in its county placed against it: Albany Medical Center, St. Peter's Hospital, Ellis Hospital, Saratoga Hospital, Samaritan Hospital, Glens Falls Hospital. The matrix below is the three systems side by side.

The 2026 lists, side by side

Each hospital system publishes which insurers it participates with. The table condenses those lists to the Medicare Advantage carriers sold in the Capital Region; the wording under each column comes from the hospitals' pages, read on October 15, 2026. Four answers are possible, and they are not equally certain: Listed means the carrier appears on the hospital's list (the specific plan still has to be checked); Listed, not all plans means the hospital itself adds that note; Not accepted means the hospital states the exclusion, with the date; Not listed means the carrier simply doesn't appear, which is a reason to verify, not proof of exclusion.

Sources: the three hospital systems' accepted-insurance pages, linked under each system below and under Sources. The lists cover hospital facility services; hospital-based physicians bill separately (see below). "Listed" does not guarantee that every plan that carrier sells, or every physician who works at the hospital, is in network. Verify the specific plan in the plan's provider directory before enrolling. Lists change; this table is refreshed each October before the Annual Enrollment Period. I have not audited every hospital–carrier contract; the table reports what the hospitals publish.

Albany Med Health System

Hospitals: Albany Medical Center (Albany), Saratoga Hospital (Saratoga Springs), Glens Falls Hospital, Columbia Memorial (Hudson), Malta Med Emergent Care.

The system's Medicare paragraph, written for Open Enrollment, names its participating Medicare Advantage plans as Aetna, CDPHP, Emblem, Anthem, Devoted Health Inc, Empire Blue Cross, Fidelis, Hamaspik, Highmark, MVP, Nascentia, PACE at Hudson Headwaters, UHC and VNS Choice. Each hospital's list adds Devoted Health, Inc. effective October 15, 2026, and VNS Choice, and Albany Medical Center accepts all UnitedHealthcare products except Medicaid effective December 15, 2025. Saratoga Hospital's list notes that the system stopped accepting Humana Medicare for non-emergency services after June 30, 2024. Wellcare and Trinity Health Plan of New York do not appear on any of the system's lists.

Source: Accepted insurance (Albany Med Health System), read October 15, 2026.

St. Peter's Health Partners

Hospitals: St. Peter's Hospital (Albany), Samaritan Hospital (Troy), Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital (Schenectady), St. Peter's Health Partners Medical Associates.

The list includes Aetna, CDPHP, Highmark Blue Shield of Northeastern New York, MVP Health Care, Empire Blue Cross, Fidelis Care, United Healthcare (Sunnyview does not participate in Medicare plans), WellCare, Trinity Health Plan of New York (formerly MediGold, the system's own plan), Nascentia Health (as VNA Home Care Options) and VNSNY Choice (both with the note that the Trinity Health anesthesia group does not participate), and EmblemHealth for physician services on commercial and Medicare Advantage plans. MyCompass and Eddy Senior Care appear for dual-eligible and PACE members only. Humana Medicare plans: no longer participating effective January 1, 2025.

Source: Accepted insurance (St. Peter's Health Partners), read October 15, 2026.

Ellis Medicine

Hospitals: Ellis Hospital (Schenectady), Bellevue Woman's Center (Niskayuna), Medical Center of Clifton Park, Ellis Health Center.

Ellis lists Aetna (not Aetna Medicaid), Blue Shield of Northeastern NY, CDPHP, Humana (not Humana Medicaid), Empire BlueCross BlueShield, Fidelis Care of NY, GHI/Emblem (not all plans), MVP Health Plan, United Health Care and WellCare, and notes that hospital-based physician groups bill separately and may participate in different plans.

Source: Participating insurance listing (Ellis Medicine), read October 15, 2026.

Saratoga Hospital, Glens Falls Hospital and Columbia Memorial

These are Albany Med Health System hospitals, so the Albany Med column above is their answer. Two details from their own pages: Saratoga Hospital's list carries the Humana note (no Humana Medicare for non-emergency services since June 30, 2024), and the Saratoga and Glens Falls lists name United Healthcare alongside the system's carriers. Malta Med Emergent Care follows the same list. For anyone in Saratoga Springs, Clifton Park, Malta or Queensbury, "is Saratoga Hospital in my plan" is answered by the Albany Med list, then by the specific plan's directory.

What the lists don't tell you

• Carrier isn't plan. "Aetna" on a hospital list can mean some Aetna Medicare plans and not others; Albany Med and Ellis both say so. The only reliable check is the plan's own provider directory, plan by plan, or a call to the hospital's billing office with the exact plan name.
• Hospital isn't doctor. Anesthesia, radiology, pathology and emergency physicians often bill separately under their own contracts. Ellis names these groups on its participating-insurance page. Medicare has its own billing protections rather than the No Surprises Act that governs commercial plans: an Advantage plan must cover emergency and urgently needed care at in-network cost sharing wherever you get it, and a provider who treats Medicare patients can't bill you beyond Medicare's limits. What those rules don't do is turn a hospital that is outside your plan's network into an in-network one for planned care; your plan's Evidence of Coverage sets what you'd owe there.
• HMO versus PPO. An HMO generally pays nothing out of network. The exceptions are emergencies, urgently needed care when you're outside the plan's service area, and temporary out-of-area dialysis; an HMO-POS plan adds some out-of-network benefits at a higher cost. A PPO pays out of network at a higher cost. The same carrier sells several of these, and the hospital list doesn't distinguish between them.
• Contracts end mid-year. The Humana changes at Albany Med (June 2024) and St. Peter's (January 2025) happened between enrollment periods. Plans must notify you, and a mid-year termination can create a special enrollment period, but not always.

The route that works at every hospital

Original Medicare has no network. Every hospital on this page participates in it, as do nearly all doctors in the region. Paired with a Medigap policy, which in New York can be bought in any month without health questions and at the same community rate, it covers Albany Med, St. Peter's, Ellis, Saratoga Hospital and Glens Falls alike, and hospitals anywhere in the country. It costs more per month than a $0-premium Advantage plan and it needs a separate Part D plan; what it buys is never having to read this page again. One distinction matters: the year-round rule is about the Medigap application. If you're in an Advantage plan today, leaving it for Original Medicare happens only in an enrollment period (October 15 to December 7 for January 1, January 1 to March 31 if you're already in Advantage, or a special enrollment period such as a plan's contract ending), and the Medigap and Part D effective dates have to be lined up with that disenrollment so there's no gap. The trade-offs are on Medigap, Medicare Advantage and the seven-question guide; current Albany-region Medigap premiums are on the rates page.

How I check it

Before recommending any Advantage plan I check three things by name: each of your doctors in the plan's directory, the hospital you'd choose against the plan (not just the carrier), and the plan's history of network changes in this region. Each fall I re-run the check for existing clients against the hospitals' updated lists, before the Annual Notice of Change arrives. There's no fee for any of it. Send me your plan name and hospital, or book a call.

We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 10 organizations which offer 81 products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options. 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048) is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Insurers' legal names and home offices: carriers page.