With less than one month remaining in Medicare’s annual open enrollment period, two new KFF analyses provide a detailed look at plan offerings, benefits and premiums in the Medicare Advantage market, as beneficiaries weigh their options and make coverage selections for 2025.
Medicare Advantage, the private plan alternative to traditional Medicare, covers nearly 33 million Medicare beneficiaries in 2024, or 54%, of the eligible Medicare population. The first analysis finds that the average Medicare beneficiary can choose among 34 Medicare Advantage plans with prescription drug coverage (MA-PD), two fewer than last year, and among plans offered by eight firms. About 5% of current Medicare Advantage enrollees in individual MA-PDs are in a plan that has been terminated for 2025.
A companion analysis provides an overview of premiums and benefits in Medicare Advantage plans for 2025 and key trends over time. It finds that two-thirds of all Medicare Advantage plans with prescription drug coverage (67%) will charge no premium (other than the Part B premium) in 2025, similar to 2024. Nearly one-third (32%) of Medicare Advantage plans will offer some reduction in the Medicare Part B premium in 2025, up from 19% in 2024. It also finds that nearly all Medicare Advantage plans (97% or more) are offering vision, dental and hearing benefits. The share of plans offering certain other benefits has declined.
The open enrollment period ends December 7.
