Vlada
2026-10-14 · on LinkedIn ↗
UNH's OTC allowance is going away
UNH's over-the-counter allowance is going away. In 2023, 81% of UnitedHealthcare's PPO members had one. For 2027, 26% do.
That's the money you or your parents spend on vitamins, bandages and cold medicine, loaded onto a card every quarter.
The rest of the market is cutting too, just not as far. In every other insurer's PPOs, the share fell from 88% to 41%.
In HMOs, UNH moved with everyone else: 94% to 63%.
UNH did not move the money onto a flex card. None of these members are on one in 2026 or 2027. Where the allowance ends, it is gone.
Averaged over every UNH PPO member, the allowance is worth $47 a year for 2027. In 2023 it was $163.
Open enrollment starts Thursday. The over-the-counter allowance used to come with most Medicare Advantage plans. For 2027, it is something you have to check for.
- Source
- CMS Plan Benefit Package filings CY2022 to CY2027 (sections B13b and D); CMS monthly enrollment by plan and county; CMS 2027 plan crosswalk. Vlada benefit vector v20261007a and locked 2027 benefit tables, Edition 1.1.
- Measure
- Member-weighted share of members whose plan files an over-the-counter allowance (its own allowance or inside a card), inside one product type. 2022 to 2025 weighted by December enrollment and 2026 by September 2026 enrollment, every member that year; 2027 is the same members followed from their September 2026 plan to its 2027 successor (CMS crosswalk).