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Medicare Advantage Is Quietly Cutting One of Its Most Popular Perks for Seniors

Medicare Advantage plans perks are being cut, so check your coverage.

By Paige Cerulli , Edited by Andrea Basse

Updated June 3, 2026

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Medicare Advantage plans are highly popular in part because of their supplemental perks, but many of those perks that help you save money in retirement may be going away. Perks like over-the-counter (OTC) allowances, grocery cards, transportation, and meal delivery are quietly being scaled back, and you might find that your plan lacks some of the extras that gave it its value.

Here's what to know about the changes coming to some Medicare Advantage plans and how they might impact you.

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Why Medicare Advantage plans are so popular

Medicare Advantage plans are an alternative to traditional Medicare plans. These private health plans are provided by health insurers contracting with the Medicare program. Medicare Advantage plans offer all the benefits you would receive with Medicare Parts A and B, plus they often provide Part D prescription drug benefits. Many Advantage plans also offer perks that traditional Medicare plans don't, such as gym memberships, glasses, and some dental coverage.

As a result, these plans are popular. According to KFF data, 54% of eligible Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans in 2025. Unfortunately, some of the perks that likely attracted some beneficiaries to these plans are being eliminated.

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OTC allowances

Most Medicare Advantage plans include an OTC benefit that you are able to use to purchase eligible OTC items like toothpaste, vitamins, and cough syrup, and there's no extra plan cost for that benefit. The OTC benefits may help make affording health essentials easier and is a popular perk to many plans.

But in 2026, some Medicare Advantage plans started scaling back their OTC benefits. In 2025, 73% of Advantage plans offered an OTC allowance, but that declined to 66% of plans in 2026. The standalone OTC limit also dropped an average of 13% in 2026, declining to $23 per month.

Plans are also limiting beneficiaries' abilities to roll over unused OTC funds. In 2026, OTC rollover offerings dropped from 9.6% to 2.4% of plans, meaning this valuable perk is now a rarity. To take full advantage of their OTC benefits, Medicare Advantage enrollees must use all of their OTC funds.

Meal benefits

Some Medicare Advantage plans offer grocery allowances, and the benefits are often issued through prepaid debit cards or flex cards. The funds help enrollees purchase healthy foods and produce, which may be particularly valuable as food costs increase.

Those meal plan benefits are becoming less common, though. KFF data reveals that in 2025, 65% of Advantage plans offered meal benefits, while just 57% of plans offered those same benefits in 2026. Meal benefits are also being cut from Special Needs Plans; in 2025, 73% of plans offered meal benefits, which dropped to 66% of plans in 2026.

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Transportation coverage

Medicare Advantage plans may also offer transportation coverage. Some plans cover Uber or Lyft transportation to help you get to doctor's appointments, the fitness center, and more.

The number of plans offering transportation coverage declined in 2026. According to KFF data, in 2025, 30% of Medicare Advantage plans offered transportation coverage, which fell to 24% of plans in 2026.

Why benefits are decreasing

While the government announced that 2027 payments to Medicare Advantage plan insurers would average 2.48%, that rate is lower than expected. Insurers like Humana have already announced that they need to cut benefits to keep up with rising health care costs and low reimbursement rates.

Since Medicare funding hasn't kept up with the climbing health care prices, insurers are under pressure, and these extra perks, like OTC coverage and gym memberships, are the first to go to keep the plans profitable.

Plans' core benefits, like vision, dental, and hearing, remain nearly universal, but as insurers must submit their 2027 Medicare Advantage plans and benefit bids to the government, chances are those plans and perks may change.

What to do before Medicare Advantage enrollment periods

If you need to change your plan, you may do so during the Medicare Annual Enrollment from October 15 through December 7, or the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment from January 1 through March 31. If you wait for the Open Enrollment period, your current coverage might change and no longer be a good fit in 2027, so it may be best to make any changes to your coverage by December 7.

Now is the time to prepare. Compare your current plan's Evidence of Coverage against what's offered for the coming year, and don't assume that the plan you've had this year is still in place. You may use Medicare's Plan Finder tool to check benefit-by-benefit comparisons to see how different plans stack up and to determine which is best for your needs.

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Bottom line

Medicare Advantage plans often undergo changes, but if the perks that initially drew you to your plan are no longer available, that plan might not be the best fit. If you're considering exploring a new plan, make sure that your doctor and providers are within the plan's network, and that your prescription medications are covered, too.

Taking the time to start comparison shopping plans in advance may help ensure you choose the best coverage that helps maximize your senior benefits and gives you the best value.

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