More Medicare Advantage (MA) plans will offer supplemental benefits in 2023. The largest increase will be in in-home support services. That is according to a new brief commissioned by the Better Medicare Alliance and prepared by actuarial consulting firm Milliman.
The number of MA plans providing at least one of the five recently expanded supplemental benefits — in-home support services, home-based palliative care, adult day services, support for caregivers of enrollees and therapeutic massage — jumped by 35% (824 to 1,111) from 2022 to 2023. The largest increase is in in-home support services, now offered across 794 plans in 42 states.
Meanwhile, “the prevalence of support for caregivers of enrollees almost tripled from 2021 to 2023,” Milliman reported.
Growth in nonmedical supplemental benefits that include transportation and food delivery is fueling an expansion of home care and home-based services. Grocery tech firm Instacart recently launched Caring Carts, which lets caregivers and healthcare providers order groceries for patients. Papa, an on-demand senior assistance firm, has partnerships with more than 70 health plans.
Research firm ATI Advisory said in January that nearly a quarter of MA plans are offering supplemental benefits this year — a 40% increase compared to the number of plans that offered them in 2021.
