The average premium for 2024 Medicare Advantage (MA) plans will be $18.50 a month, an increase of 64 cents.
Most seniors enrolled in MA plans and MA-Prescription Drug plans, will see little changes to their premiums and deductibles in 2024, according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
The agency released information Tuesday about 2024 premiums and deductibles so seniors can best determine their coverage needs prior to Medicare Open Enrollment, which begins October 15.
“Today’s release shows that, as expected, people with Medicare will continue to have robust options and stable benefit offerings in the MA market,” said CMS Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare Meena Seshamani, M.D., Ph.D., in the announcement. “We encourage individuals eligible for Medicare to review these options as well as Traditional Medicare and enroll in the option that best meets their health needs.”
CMS officials credit the stability in part to improvements adopted in the 2024 rate announcement and the 2024 MA and Part D Final Rule, such as increased beneficiary protections around marketing and prior authorization and increased access to behavior health. They said the agency is committed to ensuring these programs work for Medicare enrollees, benefits remain strong and stable, and that payments to plans are accurate.
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In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act will also provide people with Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage to have improved and more affordable benefits, including a $35 cost-sharing limit on a month’s supply of each covered insulin product, recommended adult vaccines at no cost, and additional savings on their Medicare Part D drug coverage costs in 2024. These savings include the expansion of the Low-Income Subsidy program, which helps eligible enrollees afford their premiums and cost-sharing, as well as a cap on out-of-pocket costs for millions of people with very high drug costs in the catastrophic phase of the Part D benefit.
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CMS said the average monthly plan premium for all MA plans, which includes MA-Prescription Drug plans, is projected to increase from $17.86 in 2023 to $18.50 in 2024. However, most seniors who choose to stay in their plans will see little or no premium increase for next year, with nearly 73 percent of beneficiaries not seeing any premium increase at all. Plan choice is also increasing, and people with Medicare continue to have the ability to switch Medicare options. MA supplemental benefit offerings will increase slightly in 2024.
CMS previously announced that the average total monthly premium for Medicare Part D coverage is projected to be approximately $55.50 in 2024. This expected amount is a decrease of 1.8 percent from $56.49 in 2023.
Enrollment in MA is projected to increase from 31.6 million in 2023 to 33.8 million in 2024. The projected MA enrollment in 2024 will represent approximately 50 percent of all people enrolled in Medicare, compared to approximately 48 percent for 2023, CMS said.
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More than 1,500 MA plans will participate in the CMS Innovation Center’s MA Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model in 2024, which will test the effect of offering person-centered innovative benefits that are critical to meeting health care needs and improving health equity to a projected 8.7 million people. The VBID Model expands access to additional supplemental benefits that can address a wide range of needs, such as food and nutrition benefits, and offers plans the flexibility to target these benefits to people with chronic conditions or low incomes.
The VBID Model’s Hospice Benefit Component, now in its fourth year, will also be offered by 78 Medicare Advantage plans in portions of 19 states and U.S. territories, providing enrollees increased access to palliative and integrated hospice care.