Medicare Premiums and Benefits for 2026
On Friday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that premiums, benefits, and planning options for Medicare Advantage (MA) and the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program are likely to stay quite stable in 2026.
The average premium is anticipated to reinforce CMS’s goal of ensuring beneficiaries have access to affordable, high-quality healthcare while also being mindful of taxpayer funds.
CNBC reported that while critical services for both Medicare and Medicaid will remain unaffected by the agency’s budget constraints, there may be insufficient funds for oversight of some contractors, including those who manage Medicare call centers.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, CMS Administrator, mentioned that MA registration for 2026 is expected to exceed the initial projections, indicating stability in registrations.
Medicare Benefits
CMS plans to reduce the average monthly premium for all MA plans, including Special Needs Plans (SNPs) and those with prescription drug coverage, from $16.40 in 2025 to $14 in 2026.
Supplementary benefits, such as dental, vision, and hearing services, are expected to remain the same.
Even though a slight dip in MA registrations is projected—dropping from 34.9 million in 2025 to 34 million in 2026—CMS believes that the overall trend will reflect stability.
Access to MA plans is robust, with over 99% of Medicare beneficiaries having choices available to them, and about 97% can choose from ten or more plan options. The total number of MA plans will see a small decrease from 5,633 to around 5,600.
Medicare Part D
For the Standalone Part D plan, the average total premium is expected to decrease from $38.31 in 2025 to $34.50 in 2026. For MA plans providing drug coverage, the average total Part D premium after rebates is likely to fall from $13.32 to $11.50.
Open Registration Resources
This year, CMS introduced new resources such as AI-powered prescription cost estimators, improved filtering for supplemental benefits, and tools to check if plans accept existing healthcare providers.
Medicare Open Registration is set to run from October 15 to December 7, 2025.
Reuters highlighted that budget standoffs are quite common in Washington, usually getting resolved right at the end. However, this time, there’s a noticeable level of uncertainty, especially with President Donald’s refusal to allocate billions already approved by Congress, which could lead to more federal workforce cuts. So far, only a few institutions have shared their emergency plans.
The discussion revolves around securing agency operations while managing discretionary spending of about $1.7 trillion, which constitutes around a quarter of a total federal budget of $7 trillion. The rest focuses mainly on health, retirement programs, and servicing debt, which is approximately $37.5 trillion.
