Two new KFF issue briefs provide a snapshot of Medicare Advantage premiums and benefits available for 2025. Here is a summary of the major trends.
Both analyses are based on a set of data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), including Medicare Advantage plan landscape files, cross walk files, contract/plan/state/county level enrollment files, plan benefit package files, and dashboard files. Researchers said their plan counts may be lower than the figures CMS reports because KFF uses overall plan counts and not plan segments.
Among the findings from the first look at plan offerings and spotlight on premiums and benefits:
- The average Medicare beneficiary will have 34 Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans to choose from in 2025
- A total of 3,699 Medicare Advantage plans will be available nationwide for individual enrollment in 2025
- Two-thirds of all Medicare Advantage plans with Part D prescription drug coverage will charge no premium (other than the Part B premium) in 2025
- The number of special needs plans has more than doubled since 2018 and in 2025 there will be 1,442 of these plans offered nationwide
- Nearly one-third of Medicare Advantage plans will offer some reduction in the Medicare Part B premium in 2025
- About five percent of current members in individual Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans are in a plan that has been terminated for 2025
- Three new carriers (Healthy Mississippi, SECUR Health Plan, and UCLA Health Medicare Advantage plan) have entered the market for the first time but eight that offered plans last year have left the market
- Ninety-seven percent of all Medicare Advantage plan will offer vision, dental, and hearing
- But fewer plans in 2025 will offer other types of benefits such as:
o Over-the-counter medication (72 percent in 2025 compared to 85 percent in 2024)
o Remote access technologies (53 percent in 2025 compared to 74 percent in 2024)
o Meal benefits (65 percent in 2025 compared to 72 percent in 2024)
o Transportation for medical needs (29 percent in 2025 compared to 26 percent in 2024) -
More Special Needs Plans will offer Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (extra benefits available to chronically ill members), such as food and produce (84 percent) and general supports for living, such as housing and utilities (67 percent)