The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services is making significant changes for 2026 to its Medicare Plan Finder tool, which enrollees use to select plans.
The federal agency will require each Medicare Advantage plan to include its provider network list so enrollees can determine if their preferred doctors and hospitals are in-network. The Medicare Plan Finder will also include more details about Medicare Advantage supplemental benefits, such as weight management programs, enhanced security measures to safeguard Medicare accounts, and additional filtering options to match beneficiaries’ specific needs. Additionally, an AI-powered prescription cost estimator will be available to users across local pharmacies over the next several months.
Experts say these are the most significant additions to the Medicare Plan Finder since its launch in 2005. They expect some carriers to have a difficult time complying. Health insurance companies have long struggled to maintain current, accurate directories of their network agreements.
“It’s an attempt to course-correct and create a competitive environment to incentivize plans to get the data right and get the data posted,” Betsy Seals, principal and CEO at Alerion Advisors, a healthcare consulting firm, said in an interview with Modern Healthcare.
The Medicare Plan Finder was updated with 2026 Medicare health and prescription drug plan information on Oct. 1.
