Minnesota’s primary Medicare helpline is reporting unusually high call volumes this month as a surge in health insurance questions has pushed average wait times to around 95 minutes.
Minnesota Aging Pathways has been fielding about 1,800 calls daily — roughly triple the volume seen last year — since Medicare open enrollment started Oct. 15. It runs through Dec. 7.
The numbers reflect challenges that seniors are facing due to shrinking options and higher costs in Minnesota’s market for Medicare Advantage insurance. Those health plans, which are sold by private insurance companies, currently cover more than 600,000 beneficiaries across the state.
“The number of calls we’re receiving, and the subsequent wait times, has been like nothing we’ve ever seen,” said Kelli Jo Greiner, the Medicare program manager for the Minnesota Board on Aging.
Here are some tips for Medicare beneficiaries seeking assistance, as well as answers to common questions amid the turbulence.
Health insurers in Minnesota are eliminating certain Medicare health and drug plan options for 2026, mainly for financial reasons.
The biggest change is that UCare, the state’s second-largest Medicare Advantage plan, is leaving the market statewide as of Jan. 1 following unprecedented financial losses last year.
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