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This brief provides an overview of the Medicare Advantage plans that are available for 2026 and key trends over time. In 2026, the average Medicare beneficiary has a choice of 32 Medicare Advantage prescription drug (MA-PD) plans, two fewer than the 34 in 2025. Virtually all Medicare Advantage plans for 2026 provide multiple extra benefits like vision, hearing, and dental benefits, similar to last year.
As an increasing share of older adults have adopted digital health technologies over the past several years, and with most expressing interest in using them to manage their health care, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has introduced several initiatives to expand the use of digital health technologies in Medicare. This brief summarizes these initiatives and draws on data from various surveys, including KFF Tracking Polls from September 2025 and March 2026, to…
Virtually all (98.9%) of the 2.6 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan that terminated coverage at the end of 2025 have at least one MA-PD available in 2026, including more than two-thirds (68.7%) who have the option of enrolling in a plan sponsored by the same insurer.
Some insurers in the ACA’s small group market are citing tariffs, particularly those affecting prescriptions drugs, as a reason for higher-than-expected premium increases.
As economic anxiety rises, KFF's Health Tracking Poll finds that younger adult, LGBT adults, Hispanic adults, and adults with modest incomes are among groups most likely to report difficulty earning a living and affording health care. Large shares of those who are uninsured or purchase their own insurance also report challenges earning a living and paying for care.
Voluntary efforts by drug companies to lower prices on selected medications, such as this new discounted price for Eliquis and previous price reductions on certain insulin products, could expand access to lower-priced drugs for some patients, but are not likely to improve prescription drug affordability in the U.S. on a widespread basis.
Ultimately, assessing the impact of President Trump’s newest iteration of “Most Favored Nation” drug pricing depends on details that have yet to be fleshed out.
In announcing these changes, CMS states that it is “facilitating the Part D program’s return to operating under regular market conditions.” Increasingly, however, these regular conditions appear unfavorable to the ongoing stability of the stand-alone prescription drug plan market, further tilting the playing field towards Medicare Advantage.
About one in eight adults (12%) say that they are currently taking a GLP-1 drug such as Ozempic or Wegovy either to lose weight or treat a chronic condition, an increase from 18 months ago, though the high costs of the medications remain a concern, a new KFF Health Tracking Poll finds. Overall nearly one in five adults (18%) say at some point they have taken a GLP-1 drug, a class of medications used for…
President Trump has vowed to impose tariffs on a wide variety of goods from multiple countries. While consumers may expect the price of some imported goods to go up, what may be surprising is that these tariffs are already driving health insurance premiums up.
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