Review of CY 2021 Medicare Advantage Supplemental Healthcare Benefit Offerings

This data brief commissioned by Better Medicare Alliance and prepared by the actuarial consulting firm Milliman highlights the continued expansion of supplemental benefits in Medicare Advantage for Contract Year 2021.

The data brief showed that under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) reinterpretation of “primarily health-related” benefits, supplemental benefits like adult day care services, home-based palliative care, in-home support services, and support for caregivers of enrollees have increased again for 2021.

Overall, the number of Medicare Advantage plans offering at least one of the five recently expanded supplemental benefits jumped 64% (351 to 575) from 2020 to 2021, while the number of plans offering more than one benefit increased 82% (96 to 175).