Which Medicare Advantage plans does Albany Medical Center accept?

Albany Med's list, 2026

Albany Medical Center in Albany is part of Albany Med Health System, which publishes one accepted-insurance list for its hospitals (Albany Medical Center (Albany), Saratoga Hospital (Saratoga Springs), Glens Falls Hospital, Columbia Memorial (Hudson), Malta Med Emergent Care). Albany Medical Center is the system's flagship and the region's only Level I trauma center and academic medical center; specialists across the Capital Region admit there. Its page adds one hospital-specific line to the system list: all UnitedHealthcare products except Medicaid are accepted, effective December 15, 2025.

What the list says about Medicare Advantage carriers, read September 16, 2026:

• Listed: CDPHP; MVP Health Care; Highmark Blue Shield of Northeastern NY; UnitedHealthcare (Albany Medical Center accepts all UnitedHealthcare products except Medicaid, effective December 15, 2025 (the hospital's own line).); Fidelis Care; Empire BlueCross BlueShield (Anthem); Hamaspik Medicare Select; Nascentia Health Plus.
• Listed, not all plans: Aetna (listed with 'does not participate in all plans'); EmblemHealth (listed with 'does not participate in all plans'). The hospital itself adds that note, so the specific plan matters more than usual here.
• Not accepted: Humana (non-emergency services not accepted after June 30, 2024, per Saratoga Hospital's list).
• Not on the list: Wellcare, Trinity Health Plan of New York, VNS Health. Absent from the page as read, which is a reason to verify with the plan and the hospital, not proof of exclusion.

Source: Accepted insurance (Albany Med Health System), read September 16, 2026. The list covers hospital facility services; hospital-based physician groups (anesthesia, radiology, pathology, emergency) bill separately and may participate in different plans, and a physician office's own insurance list is not the hospital's.

Every 2026 Medicare Advantage plan sold in Albany County, against Albany Med's list

60 plans, from the CMS Medicare Advantage and Part D landscape file, contract year 2026, read September 21, 2026. Each plan is placed under the hospital's wording for its carrier: 24 listed, 9 listed with the "not all plans" note, 5 from a carrier the hospital states it does not accept, 22 from carriers not on the list. The last column shows which plans I can enroll you in; the rest are listed so the field is complete. Premiums, copays, extras and star ratings are left off on purpose; they are in each plan's own documents and on medicare.gov/plan-compare.

"Listed" means the plan's carrier appears on the hospital's list; it does not mean this plan's network includes Albany Medical Center. "Not accepted" is the hospital's own statement about the carrier, with its date. "Not on the list" means the carrier is absent from the page as read, which is unverified, not excluded. Plans are filed by county, so this is the Albany County list; a plan sold here may not be sold in the next county. Special-needs plans (D-SNP, C-SNP, I-SNP) are only for people who qualify.

Confirm before you rely on any of it

Two checks, both by name, before you enroll or stay in a plan because of Albany Med: look up Albany Medical Center in the plan's own provider directory (not the carrier's general one), and call the hospital's billing office with the exact plan name. Then do the same for each doctor you see, because a hospital contract and a physician contract are separate. Lists change between enrollment periods; the Humana changes in this region happened in June 2024 and January 2025, not on January 1. I re-read the hospital's page each October before the Annual Enrollment Period and update this page; the dates above say when it was last read.

The route that needs no list

Original Medicare has no network, and Albany Medical Center participates in it. Paired with a Medigap policy, which in New York can be bought in any month without health questions, it covers Albany Med, the other Capital Region hospitals and hospitals anywhere in the country; it costs more per month than a $0-premium Advantage plan and needs a separate Part D plan. If you are in an Advantage plan today, leaving it for Original Medicare happens only in an enrollment period, and the Medigap and Part D start dates have to line up with the disenrollment; the enrollment check shows which window is open. The trade-offs are in Advantage vs Medigap in New York; current Albany-region Medigap premiums are on the rates page.

Nearby

The full Albany County plan list without the hospital column, and the Albany County Medicare page. All three hospital systems side by side: which plans Capital Region hospitals accept. Town pages for people who use Albany Med: Albany, Latham & Colonie, East Greenbush, Clifton Park. Other hospitals: St. Peter's Hospital, Ellis Hospital, Saratoga Hospital, Samaritan Hospital, Glens Falls Hospital.

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We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 11 organizations which offer 63 products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options. Not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. government, the Social Security Administration or the federal Medicare program. Insurers named on this page are identified by legal name and home office on the carriers page, as New York Insurance Law §2122(b) requires.