Medicare Advantage 2026 Plan Competition and Market Insights
October 22, 2025
Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have prepared their Medicare products in anticipation of the 2026 Annual Election Period (AEP), which is currently underway! The MA market is comprised of national health plans, Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations, prominent regional health plans, and specialized Medicare companies. MA plans provided medical coverage for nearly 35.6 million beneficiaries, as of September 2025. While MA market penetration is strong, there is still ample opportunity for growth in this segment, with approximately 52% of the 68.7 million people eligible for Medicare enrolled in MA plans. This brief presents a snapshot of the 2026 Medicare Advantage market with insights from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Landscape reports, and Mark Farrah Associates’ (MFA’s) Medicare Benefits Analyzer™.
MA plans have collectively increased enrollment by approximately 5.3 million members in the past three years. The 2026 AEP, for MA plans and prescription drug plans (PDPs), takes place between October 15th to December 7th. Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, an MFA database, helps simplify analysis of the Medicare.gov data for companies competing in this segment.
2026 Medicare Landscape at a Glance
Based on an aggregate analysis of CMS Landscape reports, a total of 5,565 distinct MA plan offerings are in the market lineup for the 2026 AEP. This includes MA plans, MA with prescription drug plans (MAPDs), and Special Needs Plans (SNPs). During the AEP, Medicare beneficiaries can choose to change MA plans or switch from Original Medicare to MA for plan benefits effective on January 1, 2026. As indicated in the charts below:
- A total of 3,795 MA and MAPD plans are being offered for 2026, a decrease from the 4,186 plans offered for 2025. Medicare/Medicaid Plans (MMP) are no longer included in the CMS Landscape file as the model demonstration is scheduled to conclude in 2025.
- Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) continue to be the dominant MA plan type with 2,139 offerings; 56% of MA plans for the coming year.
- A total of 3,361, or 89% of MA plans, include Part D benefits.
- 1,803 Special Needs Plans (SNPs) are available for 2026, up significantly from 1,505 in 2025.
- Stand-alone PDPs, nationwide, notably decreased from 474 plans in 2025 to 367 plan offerings for 2026.
Source: Mark Farrah Associates' Medicare Benefits Analyzer TM presenting data from CMS Medicare Landscape Source Files; excludes employer-sponsored plans. For this assessment, plans were counted as distinct company records by Contract-Plan-Segment ID without geographic distribution.
2026 MA Premium Spread
Per the chart below, 69% of 2026 MA plans (excluding SNPs) are available at the under $2 plan premium level, and 16% of plans will be charging monthly premiums ranging from $2 to $50. Only 59 plans (2%) are charging monthly premiums greater than $200. These benefits-rich plans typically have low copays and, as a result, estimated out-of-pocket expenses are often minimal.
Source: Mark Farrah Associates' Medicare Benefits Analyzer TM presenting data from CMS Medicare Plan Finder and Landscape Source Files; excludes employer-sponsored plans. For this assessment, plans were counted as distinct company records by Contract-Plan-Segment ID without geographic distribution.
2026 MA Plan Competition
- According to the 2026 CMS Medicare Landscape Source files, Humana prevailed amongst the top MA leaders with 653 distinct plans, an increase of 52 plans from 2025. UnitedHealth and CVS both reduced plan offerings for 2026, with 524 and 491 plans, respectively.
- Devoted Health increased its MA plan offerings to 241 for 2026, up from 193 in 2025, as it begins offering coverage in nine more states.
- Following its acquisition of Cigna’s Medicare business, Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) is offering 232 MA plans for 2026.
- Centene is offering 187 MA plans for 2026, while Elevance Health has 170 plans.
- Highmark (106) and Kaiser Permanente (102) round out the remaining leaders in the 2026 market line-up. Kaiser is the only other top MA carrier to increase the number of plans from 2025.
Source: Mark Farrah Associates' Medicare Benefits Analyzer TM presenting data from CMS Medicare.gov and Landscape Source Files; excludes employer-sponsored plans. For this assessment, plans were counted as distinct company records by Contract-Plan-Segment ID without geographic distribution.
Medicare Benefits AnalyzerTM for Comparing Medicare Benefits
Analysts often use benefits data from the Medicare.gov website to compare plan premiums, copays, and star quality rating awards, market-by-market. Identifying plan-by-plan benefits details such as annual Out-of-Pocket Limits and Deductibles; Primary Care Doctor Visit Copays; Specialist Doctor Visit Copays; Inpatient Hospital Copays; Ambulance and Emergency Room Copays; and Drug Tier Copays helps companies to assess competitive advantages across markets. This type of comparative analysis provides invaluable intelligence that prepares Medicare plans to promote and sell their products.
In order to help Medicare plans access and use Medicare.gov data more efficiently, Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) maintains this data in its Medicare Benefits AnalyzerTM product. Benefit details for 2026 are online, along with Star Quality Ratings. MBA now includes analysis tools to help facilitate your assessment of the benefits data. Subscribers may query tables presenting plan benefit comparisons by state and county or download large datasets using the file export interface. Subscribers also have access to Medicare Business Online™ for tracking month-to-month Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan enrollment changes. Visit our website at www.markfarrah.com or call 724-338-4100 for more information.
About Mark Farrah Associates (MFA)
Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) is a leading data aggregator and publisher providing health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry. Our product portfolio includes Health Coverage Portal™, County Health Coverage™, Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, 5500 Employer Health PLUS, and Health Plans USA™. For more information about these products, refer to the informational videos and brochures available under the Our Products section of the website or call 724-338-4100.
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