The RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis has released a new brief on Medicare Advantage Plan Growth in Rural America: Availability of Supplemental Benefits
Key Findings Include
- MA plans providing any supplemental benefit were less commonly offered in noncore
counties (87.2 percent of plans), followed by micropolitan counties (94.6 percent) and
metropolitan counties (97.6 percent) in 2022. Expanded benefits and SSBCI are less
likely to be offered than traditional health benefits across all geographies. - Between 10 to 20 percent of plans offered expanded supplemental benefits or SSBCI
across all three geographies. - Plans with traditional primarily health-related supplemental benefits most frequently
included vision (97.6 percent), hearing (95.2 percent), fitness (94.6 percent), and dental
services (93.6 percent). Significantly fewer plans offered expanded supplemental benefits
and SSBCI that address beneficiaries’ broader health and social needs. Declining
availability of all supplemental benefit types was seen as geography shifted from
metropolitan to noncore counties.
