Which benefits change the most from 2025 to 2026: meals, food/produce, utilities, home mods

Introduction

If you count on extra support like meal delivery, grocery help, help paying utility bills, or home safety improvements, it can feel stressful when your Medicare Advantage benefits change. Some changes are small, like different dollar limits. Others are bigger, like a benefit disappearing or becoming harder to qualify for.

This guide focuses on four everyday supports that many people ask about: meals, food and produce, utilities, and home modifications. It summarizes what changed the most from 2025 to 2026 and what you can do next.

If you want help reviewing a plan’s benefits or figuring out what you qualify for, you can also explore support options at https://understoodcare.com/.

What this guide covers

• What “meals,” “food and produce,” “utilities,” and “home modifications” usually mean in Medicare Advantage plans
• Why these benefits can change from year to year
• The biggest 2025 to 2026 changes, using national plan data
• Practical steps to confirm what your plan offers in 2026 and how to use it

Why these benefits change from year to year

Medicare Advantage plans can offer extra benefits beyond what Original Medicare covers, but those extras can shift annually. Common reasons include:

• Plan design choices: Plans may add or remove benefits based on cost, vendor contracts, and how many members use the benefit.
• CMS rules: Medicare Advantage extra benefits must follow federal requirements. Some benefits must be “primarily health related,” while others may be offered only to certain people who meet specific criteria.
• Eligibility limits: Some supports are offered as Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI). These are not available to everyone in a plan. They are typically limited to people who meet the plan’s definition of “chronically ill” and other plan-specific criteria.
• Policy changes affecting who can qualify: One important change going into 2026 is that a separate model that let some plans offer certain non-medical supports using different eligibility criteria ended after the 2025 plan year. This matters most for benefits tied to food and living supports like utilities.

Which benefits changed the most from 2025 to 2026

National plan data shows that the biggest shifts are not the same for everyone. It depends on whether you are in a Medicare Advantage plan for general enrollment or a Special Needs Plan (SNP), which is designed for people with specific needs (such as dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid or certain chronic conditions).

For Medicare Advantage plans available for general enrollment

The largest change from 2025 to 2026 among the four categories is:

• Meals: The share of plans offering a meal benefit dropped from 65% (2025) to 57% (2026).

The other three categories changed less, but still noticeably:

• Food and produce (SSBCI): 15% (2025) to 11% (2026)
• Housing and utilities type supports (SSBCI): 11% (2025) to 8% (2026)
• Bathroom safety devices (a common home safety and home modification type benefit): 24% (2025) to 21% (2026)

For Special Needs Plans (SNPs)

Among SNPs, two categories showed the largest declines:

• Meals: 73% (2025) to 66% (2026)
• Bathroom safety devices: 54% (2025) to 47% (2026)

At the same time, two SSBCI categories increased in SNPs:

• Food and produce (SSBCI): 84% (2025) to 85% (2026)
• Housing and utilities type supports (SSBCI): 67% (2025) to 72% (2026)

Important note: These numbers describe the share of plans that offer a benefit, not how generous the benefit is. Even if a benefit exists, the amount, timing, and rules can be very different across plans.

Meals: what it is and what changed

What plans often mean by “meal benefits”

A meal benefit is usually temporary support, such as:

• Home-delivered meals after a hospital stay
• Meals after certain procedures
• Meals during a defined recovery period

Some plans also offer meals as part of broader support for members with complex needs, especially in SNPs.

What changed from 2025 to 2026

The biggest year-over-year decline among the four categories is the meal benefit in general enrollment Medicare Advantage plans, dropping 8 percentage points. SNPs also saw a decline, dropping 7 percentage points.

What to do if your meal benefit changed

• Check your plan’s Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) and Summary of Benefits for 2026.
• Look for details like the number of meals, qualifying events, and whether you need prior approval.
• If the benefit is tied to a clinical trigger (such as discharge from a facility), ask your care team how to document that trigger so you do not get stuck later.

Food and produce: what it is and what changed

What plans often mean by “food and produce”

In Medicare Advantage, food support can show up in different ways, but one common pathway is SSBCI. When offered as SSBCI, it is generally designed for people with chronic conditions who meet additional plan criteria.

This benefit may be delivered as:

• A monthly allowance to buy certain foods
• Home-delivered groceries or produce boxes
• A vendor program focused on nutrition needs

What changed from 2025 to 2026

• In general enrollment plans, the share offering SSBCI food and produce dropped from 15% to 11%.
• In SNPs, the share stayed very high and slightly increased (84% to 85%).

One reason the SSBCI numbers can be confusing is that some benefits that people casually call “grocery benefits” may actually be limited to a subset of members, with strict rules about eligibility and what purchases are allowed.

Utilities: what it is and what changed

What plans often mean by “utilities support”

Utility help in Medicare Advantage is usually grouped under broader living supports, such as “general supports for living,” and commonly appears as SSBCI in plan data. Examples can include limited help with utility bills or other basic living expenses, depending on plan rules.

What changed from 2025 to 2026

• In general enrollment plans, the share offering SSBCI living supports such as housing and utilities dropped from 11% to 8%.
• In SNPs, the share increased from 67% to 72%.

This split is important. It suggests that these supports are increasingly concentrated in plans designed for higher-need groups, while becoming less common in plans marketed broadly.

Why utilities support matters for health

Research links energy insecurity to worse health outcomes, including mental health symptoms. If you have had to choose between paying for heat or cooling and paying for other essentials, you are not alone, and it can affect your wellbeing.

Home modifications: what it is and what changed

What plans often mean by “home modifications”

Plans use different labels, but a very common home modification related benefit in Medicare Advantage data is bathroom safety devices, which may include items like grab bars or other fall-prevention supports.

Some plans may also cover limited home safety assessments or specific safety-related installations, depending on plan design and vendor availability.

What changed from 2025 to 2026

• In general enrollment plans, bathroom safety devices declined from 24% to 21%.
• In SNPs, bathroom safety devices declined from 54% to 47%.

Why home safety changes matter for older adults

Falls are a major risk as you age, and evidence supports fall prevention strategies that can include home-focused interventions for certain people and circumstances. Home hazard reduction and environmental interventions are studied approaches in fall prevention, and public health resources describe home modification interventions as part of effective fall prevention.

How to check your 2026 benefits and avoid surprises

Even small plan wording changes can affect whether you can use a benefit. Here are steps that usually help:

• Start with the ANOC for 2026. It highlights what changed from 2025.
• Read the 2026 Summary of Benefits to see whether meals, food allowances, utilities help, or home safety supports are included.
• Confirm the rules in the Evidence of Coverage (EOC):
  • Who qualifies
  • Whether you need prior authorization
  • Whether a clinician must document a condition or event
  • What vendors are used and how deliveries or reimbursements work
• Ask direct questions when you call the plan:
  • “Is this benefit for everyone, or only for certain members?”
  • “What are the exact eligibility criteria?”
  • “What is the dollar limit or number of uses?”
  • “Does anything expire monthly?”

If reading plan documents is hard or time-consuming, getting help from an advocate can make the process easier, especially if you are comparing options or trying to protect a benefit you rely on.

If a benefit ended or changed: practical next steps

If your 2026 plan reduced a benefit you used in 2025, these steps can help you stay steady:

• Do not assume the benefit is gone until you confirm the fine print. Sometimes the name changes, or eligibility narrows.
• Ask whether the benefit moved into a different category, such as SSBCI, which may require additional qualification.
• Document your needs: If the plan requires proof of medical or functional need, written notes from your clinician can help.
• Consider your plan options carefully during enrollment windows if the benefit is a priority and is available elsewhere in your area.

FAQ

• What changed most in 2026 Medicare Advantage benefits for meals, groceries, utilities, and home modifications?
  Meals dropped the most in general enrollment plans from 2025 to 2026, based on national plan data.
• Are Medicare Advantage grocery benefits available to everyone in 2026?
  Not always. Many food and produce benefits are offered as SSBCI and may be limited to members who meet plan criteria.
• Do Medicare Advantage plans help pay utility bills in 2026?
  Some do, often through SSBCI “general supports for living,” but the share of general enrollment plans offering it declined from 2025 to 2026.
• What is the Medicare Advantage home modification benefit in 2026?
  Plans often describe this as bathroom safety devices or home safety supports. Coverage and installation rules vary by plan.
• Why did some Medicare Advantage flex card benefits change from 2025 to 2026?
  Benefits can change due to plan design and policy rules, including changes in how certain non-medical supports can be offered and who can qualify.

References

• https://www.kff.org/medicare/medicare-advantage-2026-spotlight-a-first-look-at-plan-premiums-and-benefits/
• https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/medicare-advantage-2025-spotlight-a-first-look-at-plan-premiums-and-benefits/
• https://www.cms.gov/priorities/innovation/innovation-models/vbid
• https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/07/2025-05800/medicare-program-contract-year-2026-policy-and-technical-changes-to-the-medicare-advantage
• https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/chapter-IV/subchapter-B/part-422/subpart-B/section-422.102
• https://www.cdc.gov/falls/interventions/falls-compendium.html
• https://www.cochrane.org/evidence/CD007146_interventions-preventing-falls-older-people-living-community
• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9998238/
• https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2840540
• https://www.kff.org/medicare/medicare-advantage/
• https://www.ncoa.org/article/evidence-based-falls-prevention-programs/
• https://www.gao.gov/assets/d22105276.pdf

This information is for general education and does not replace medical advice from your own clinicians or care team. If you are considering PACE or have questions about PACE program food benefits, talk directly with your local PACE organization or a trusted advocate.