Medicare Metrics · Benefit Change Report Plan Year 2026
Not affiliated with the U.S. government, the Medicare program, or CMS. Reports are built from public CMS filings and are informational only.

▍ What Medicare Advantage plans changed for 2026

The benefits got quietly smaller. Here’s exactly what got cut.

18.7M

Medicare Advantage members are in a plan that cut a benefit or raised out-of-pocket costs for 2026 — across 2,724 plans.

2,724
plans that got worse for members
24,823
individual benefit values changed
5,009
continuing plans with any change

The ledger

What changed, and how many members it hit

Every row compares a plan’s 2026 filing against its own 2025 filing (following consolidations through the CMS crosswalk). “Members hit” counts June 2026 enrollment in plans where the benefit moved the wrong way. The pattern is consistent: out-of-pocket ceilings up, supplemental allowances down.

Benefit What happened Members hit Avg. change
In-network out-of-pocket maxThe most you’ll pay before the plan covers 100% ceiling raised 12,793,952 +$258
Eyewear allowanceGlasses & contacts benefit allowance cut 10,426,325 −$73
Over-the-counter allowanceOTC health-item card allowance cut 7,203,154 −$19
Combined in + out-of-network maxTotal out-of-pocket ceiling ceiling raised 3,861,821 +$473
Hearing-aid allowancePer-ear / per-year hardware benefit allowance cut 2,691,672 −$296
Transportation allowanceRides to care allowance cut 2,575,344 −$10
Comprehensive dental maxAnnual cap on major dental work allowance cut 972,080 −$72

A member can appear in more than one row. Averages are across plans that changed that benefit; not every plan offers every benefit.

Who moved, and how far

Most benefit cuts filed, by carrier

  1. Humana Insurance Company524
  2. Aetna Life Insurance Company439
  3. Care Improvement Plus South Central378
  4. Sierra Health and Life349
  5. HealthSpring Life & Health228
  6. UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company184
  7. Anthem Insurance Companies150

Counts of benefit values reduced for 2026, by the legal entity on the CMS filing. Several here roll up to the same parents (Care Improvement Plus, Sierra, HealthSpring → UnitedHealth; Aetna → CVS Health).

Biggest single dental-max cuts

  1. Triple-S Advantage H4005-004−$3,500 $4.5k→$1k
  2. Coventry Health & Life H1608-017−$2,500 $4k→$1.5k
  3. BCBS South Carolina H8003-001−$2,000 $4.5k→$2.5k
  4. Trillium Community H2174-001−$2,000 $5k→$3k
  5. Aetna Life H5521-302−$2,000 $3.5k→$1.5k

Comprehensive dental annual maximum, 2026 vs 2025, for plans continuing under the same contract.

Get the full report

See every cut — for your state, your carriers, your book.

The full 2026 Benefit Change Report breaks down every reduction by county, carrier, and plan, with the enrollment behind each one. We’ll send it free and tell you the moment the 2027 filings land.

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How we built this

Source
CMS Plan Benefit Package (PBP) filings, the official benefit documents every MA plan submits.
Comparison
Plan year 2026 vs. 2025, matched plan-to-plan through the CMS contract crosswalk so consolidations aren’t double-counted.
Members hit
Enrollment as of June 2026, from CMS monthly enrollment files, joined to each changed plan.
Scope
7,574 continuing MA plan-segments; new and terminated plans are excluded from “changes.”