For eleven years after I became eligible for Medicare at age 65, I was mostly happy with my Regence Medicare Advantage plan. But near the end of 2024 Regence was enmeshed in a contract dispute with Salem Health.
Since I wasn’t going to take a chance on not having in-network coverage for Salem’s dominant health care provider, I switched to Providence Medicare Advantage in 2025. Then I got a letter from Providence a few weeks ago saying they weren’t offering my plan in Marion County for 2026. No reason was given. I’m guessing that Providence wanted a higher fee schedule than Salem Health was willing to pay, but I could be wrong about this.
Regardless, when I started to look for a replacement Medicare Advantage plan I was surprised by how few options there were. As the title of a Salem Reporter column said, “2026 Medicare Advantage options shrink in Marion, Polk counties.”
The Salem area’s Medicare Advantage insurance market, which normally sees fairly minor annual changes, is being slimmed down for 2026.
Medicare beneficiaries in Polk County, who lost Aetna Medicare Advantage insurance plans this year, will also lose access to Providence plans next year. In Marion County, meanwhile, neither Aetna nor Providence plans will be available in 2026.
…For 2026, Marion and Polk county residents who want Medicare Advantage insurance plans may choose from among four companies, alphabetically: ATRIO, Kaiser Permanente, United Health Care and Wellcare.
Although Marion County also has Regence Blue Cross and Devoted Health plans, and Polk County has Regence, neither company has a contract with Salem Health hospitals, clinics and doctors. A representative of Devoted Health, a relatively new company doing business in 29 states and 12 Oregon counties, said its plans may work for Marion County residents living in the Jefferson, Silverton, Stayton and Woodburn areas.
So I had four choices. Kaiser Permanente, a HMO, didn’t interest me because I wanted to stick with my current doctors. United Health Care didn’t interest me because it is a giant corporation, and the publicity it garnered after the United Health Care CEO was killed wasn’t at all positive. I took a look at Wellcare, but it turned me off for reasons I can’t recall now.
That left ATRIO, which has an all caps name.
The monthly price was right, zero. I found the ATRIO web site clean, informative, and easy to use. Each of my doctors was covered by ATRIO. As noted in the image above, I liked that the ATRIO Choice Rx plan had a Flex Card that offered a $400 annual allowance for combined routine chiropractic, acupuncture, and naturopathy services.
I can go to any provider, which is great, since Providence initially denied coverage for acupuncture treatments I’ve been getting for my sciatica. I had to appeal the denial before payments were made for a limited number of treatments. Now I can simply pay for some treatments using the Flex Card — which also has a $450 annual gym membership fee allowance, and a $1,200 annual dental services allowance.
ATRIO has a local office on Hawthorne Avenue. That appealed to me, since neither Regence nor Providence had an office in Salem. When I called the office with a question, the call was answered promptly and I got the answer I needed.
So far, so good. I’ve gotten confirmation from ATRIO that the application I filed online has been approved. Now I’m waiting for my membership card.
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