Data Insight: New Primarily Health-Related Benefits in 2021 Medicare Advantage Plans

ATI Advisory and LTQA have developed a new resource that presents an analysis of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) data on 2021 plan benefit packages. This data reveals that a growing number of plans are offering non-medical supplemental benefits using the expanded definition of primarily health-related benefits. The number of plans offering these supplemental benefits has increased from 499 plans in 2020 to 738 plans in 2021. Some benefits, such as Home-Based Palliative Care and In-Home Support, have doubled or tripled between 2020 and 2021. Another key finding is that these supplemental benefits are especially popular among Special Needs Plans (SNPs) that target beneficiaries with complex needs.