Some Medicare Advantage Supplemental benefits aren't all that beneficial.

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Beginning in the late 1990s, Medicare Advantage plans were allowed to offer routine dental and vision coverage, services that Medicare did not cover.

Initially, these supplemental benefits were designed to prevent, cure or diminish a disease. However, that changed in 2019 when CMS opened the door so plans could offer services designed to improve functioning, lessen the impact of symptoms and reduce hospital or ER visits.

Since then, plans have been providing many more services, ranging from meal delivery and transportation to bathroom safety devices and in-home support services. But these services come with a cost. In 2026, according to MedPAC, Medicare will pay Medicare Advantage plans, “on average, $2,660 per beneficiary per year in rebate payments, which plans use to provide supplemental benefits.”

There was an interesting development in August 2025. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the addition of six new supplemental benefits:

• Wigs for hair loss related to chemotherapy
• Weight management programs
• Home-based palliative care
• Readmission prevention
• Post-discharge in-home medication reconciliation, and
• Adult day health services.

Scanning the list, I realized these benefits, for a variety of reasons, are different from the ones that plans have been providing and could present challenges. So, I reviewed 190 Medicare Advantage plans, a blend of HMO, PPO and SNP, in three ZIP codes, focusing on the list of supplemental benefits on a plan’s detail page in the Medicare Plan Finder. The results were more stunning than I expected.

• I found 26 plans (17 HMO/PPO and nine SNP), sponsored by two insurance providers, that will cover wigs. The Evidence of Coverage documents noted the plans will cover one wig a year with a benefit limit of $500, enough for a quality synthetic hair wig.
• There are 15 SNPs that will cover a weight management program, leaving those without special needs out in the cold. Checking documents, some plans will provide obesity screening and therapy, and members can use their OTC credit for weight management services (no additional details provided).

Then, I did not find one plan that offered any of the other four benefits and I believe there are good reasons for that.

An Important Factor in Quality Ratings

Medicare Star Ratings have a strong impact on how much the plans get paid. The higher the rating, the more revenue a plan is likely to collect. Instead of offering two of the new supplemental benefits that a plan member may or may not choose, Medicare Advantage plans focus on improving their performance across the board.

• Readmission prevention: Nearly 20% of Medicare beneficiaries who are hospitalized are readmitted within 30 days of being discharged. One quality measure, Plan All-Cause Readmissions, captures all-cause unplanned readmissions within 30 days of discharge.
• Medication reconciliation: This was a standalone quality measure for years. Now, it is part of Transitions of Care, documenting medication reconciliation on the date of discharge through 30 days after discharge.

Medicare-covered Services

Supplemental benefits are services that Medicare Part A or Part B does not cover, meant to fill coverage gaps in Medicare. However, two of these new benefits cross the line into skilled, reasonable and necessary care.

• Palliative care: This specialized care, involving physicians, nurses, therapists, social workers and others, aims to improve the quality of life for those living with a chronic or life-threatening illness, and their families. Services include expert pain control and relief of symptoms, such as nausea, fatigue and shortness of breath. Medicare covers these services so this is not truly a supplemental benefit.
• Medication reconciliation: Unlike setting up pill boxes, reconciling medications can require the skills of a professional to identify unintentional omissions, improper dosing/frequencies, therapeutic duplications, drug interactions, and unauthorized drug administration.

Other Ways to Provide the Benefit

Plans may have decided not to duplicate benefits that are already available.

• Two Medicare programs currently address weight management. Since 2012, Medicare has covered Intensive Behavioral Therapy for Obesity as a preventive service. Then, in December 2025, CMS launched the Balance Model to help beneficiaries lose weight and improve their health.
• Many plans have programs that address hospital readmission. For example, one insurer has nurses working alongside hospital staff and another has a readmission review program.
• Medicare Advantage plans often refer patients who need palliative care to partner home health agencies, which have their own payer arrangements.
• There are insurance sponsors that pay prescribing practitioners, clinical pharmacists and registered nurses, typically $20 or $25, to do post-discharge medication reconciliation.
• Other supplemental benefits address some of these concerns: fitness memberships and healthy food and meal delivery for weight management; transportation, OTC items, and personal care support with palliative care.