Wellness benefits
The extras people forget they're paying for
Many Medicare Advantage plans bundle in benefits well beyond medical care. They’re worth real money, and they go unused constantly.
Commonly included
Fitness memberships
Many plans include access to participating gyms and fitness programs at no extra cost, sometimes with at-home options for people who’d rather not go out.
Over-the-counter allowance
A quarterly or monthly allowance for everyday health items — pain relief, first aid, vitamins, dental and incontinence supplies — through a catalog or participating retailers.
Transportation
A set number of rides per year to medical appointments and, on some plans, to the pharmacy.
Also worth asking about
Meals after a hospital stay
Some plans deliver prepared meals for a period after an inpatient stay, which makes a real difference during recovery.
Hearing aids
Coverage or allowances toward hearing aids and fittings, which Original Medicare does not cover at all.
Telehealth and nurse lines
Round-the-clock access to advice, which is more useful than it sounds at nine o’clock on a Sunday evening.
A word of caution about the extras
These benefits are genuinely valuable and they’re a legitimate reason to prefer one plan over another. But they should not be the deciding factor.
Allowances are often smaller than the headline suggests, and they may be restricted to particular retailers, catalogs or networks. A dental allowance that sounds generous can cover rather less actual dentistry than you’d expect.
Get the medical coverage right first — your doctors, your hospital, your prescriptions and your out-of-pocket maximum. Then let the extras break a tie between two plans that both work.
Ask what your plan already includes
If you’re already enrolled somewhere, there’s a good chance you’re entitled to benefits you’re not using.