Two private insurers, Blue Cross Blue Shield and United Healthcare, are leaving Vermont’s Medicare Advantage market next year, and a third, Humana, will only offer plans in a handful of counties. That’s according to data released this week by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

For most Vermonters eligible for Medicare, that will leave them with only one option: traditional Medicare. Tens of thousands of residents will have to find new coverage before the end of year.

“Vermont's Medicare Advantage marketplace has collapsed,” Mike Fisher, Vermont’s health care advocate, said Wednesday. “There's no insurance companies offering a statewide plan.”

Medicare Advantage plans provide Medicare benefits through private insurers, who are paid a fee from the federal government for each be

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