“State of Medicare Advantage” 2021 Report Released: 296 Plans Specifically Offering In-Home Support Services

​The Better Medicare Alliance recently unveiled their annual “State of Medicare Advantage” report for 2021 which shows  a significant increase in near-universal satisfaction, greater consumer savings, and better health outcomes in Medicare Advantage, as compared to Traditional FFS Medicare. More Medicare Advantage plans are covering home-based care services in 2021 than ever before. Within the State of Medicare Advantage report, readers can also access an additional brief called “Overview of Medicare Advantage Supplemental Healthcare Benefits and Review of Contract Year 2021 Offerings” that provides specifics on home care benefit offerings under Medicare Advantage plans. Figure 2 of this brief details a summary of expanded supplemental benefits. All of the home care benefit offerings have expanded significantly since 2019 and 2020.

---

For example, a few of these benefits include:  

Benefit                                                   # of plans offering in 2020         # of plans offering in 2021
In-Home Support Services                            148                                                 296 
Home-Based Palliative Care                           58                                                 128
Adult Day Health Services                               63                                                  88
Support for Caregivers of Enrollees                77                                                  87

As you see above, many Medicare Advantage plans offer additional benefits beyond traditional Medicare - and supplemental benefits allow members to receive care more specific to their individual needs. 

The number and type of benefits have grown rapidly in just over two years since the expanded benefits, known as Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI) went into effect. In 2021, 730 different Medicare Advantage plans are offering supplemental benefits that  include adult day health services and home-based palliative care under an expanded definition of primarily health related supplemental benefits. In addition, 920 Medicare Advantage plans offer non-primarily health related supplemental benefits such as pest control, meal home delivery, home cleaning services, and non-medical transportation for beneficiaries with chronic conditions to help them manage their disease. 

You can read the full Better Medicare Alliance State of Medicare Advantage 2021 report here. 

How HCAOA and ATI Advisory Can Help You with Medicare Advantage 
There is a wealth of Medicare Advantage data out there, and that’s why HCAOA has partnered with ATI Advisory to offer members state-specific data on the Medicare Advantage landscape to pinpoint which plans are offering home care as a benefit, and how they can get connected. This unique program includes the full state report and two free webinars with the team at ATI Advisory to develop your agency’s action plan to work with Medicare Advantage plans.  

ATI’s Medicare Advantage Supplemental Benefits State Report includes ATI’s research on Medicare Advantage plans’ benefit packages to enable providers to quickly and easily learn the county-level benefit offerings, such as in-home support services. 

To sign up for the program, HCAOA members should click here and use promotion code “HCAOA2021” for a 20% discount when purchasing state reports on ATI’s website.