Vlada · Research · 2026-10-19 · observed
C-SNP plans for 2027: fewer meals, higher costs
What do C-SNP plans offer their members, benefit by benefit, how has that changed from 2025 to 2027, and how does it compare with regular Medicare Advantage?
| C-SNP benefits | % of members / $ |
|---|---|
| Comprehensive dentalpct | 81.2 |
| Dental yearly maximumusd | 2,205.3 |
| Over-the-counter allowancepct | 96 |
| OTC dollars a yearusd | 835.1 |
| Eyewearpct | 97.5 |
| Eyewear dollars a yearusd | 186.3 |
| Hearing aidspct | 98.1 |
| Flex card, every memberpct | 17 |
| Flex card dollars a yearusd | 752.1 |
| SSBCI, chronic-illness extraspct | 83.5 |
| Part B givebackpct | 22.1 |
| Giveback a monthusd_mo | 118.5 |
Member-weighted shares and averages from the Benefits lane's served engine atoms (medicare_semantic.vw_benefit_engine_atoms): each plan-segment in each county weighted by its September members; 2025 and 2026 are each year's members in that year's plans; 2027 is September 2026 members followed into their 2027 plans. % offered over plans whose design is known; dollar limits over plans with a dollar design (annualized); cost shares are the standard tier. · CMS Plan Benefit Package (PBP) filings for 2025, 2026 and 2027; CMS monthly enrollment by contract, plan and county (September); CMS 2027 plan crosswalk; Vlada benefit engine atoms (edition served 10/18). Vlada analysis. · 12 rows
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- The change column follows the same September 2026 C-SNP members from their 2026 plan to their 2027 plan (matched plan and county, the benefit engine's change rule); 2025, 2026 and 2027 levels are each year's own members, so the levels also move with who joined (C-SNP grew from 1.36 million to 1.82 million members).
- About 57,000 September 2026 members (3%) were in plans that end; brand-new 2027 C-SNP plans have no members yet; neither is in the 2027 column.
- SSBCI is the share of members whose plan FILED special supplemental benefits for the chronically ill (CMS PBP section B13i); only members who qualify can use them. (The engine's card reading undercounts 2025, so the filed flag is used.)
- For many C-SNP members the OTC money is one pot that also pays SSBCI items, so OTC dollars and SSBCI are not two separate amounts.
- Dollar limits average only plans that set one; plans with no dollar cap are never counted as $0. Hearing aids show % offered only: the 2027 filings move many plans from a copay per aid to an allowance, so dollars are not comparable.
- Meals are meals after a hospital stay as filed; SSBCI grocery benefits are counted under SSBCI.
- Cost-sharing is the standard (in-network, top-of-range) tier; the hospital line is the cost of a five-day stay; specialist copays average copay plans only.
- Regular MA = non-SNP Medicare Advantage plans in 2027 (individual plans), read the same way.
- Meals verified at the source: CMS PBP section B13c for the UnitedHealthcare C-SNP plans driving the drop reads 'Yes' in 2026 and 'No' in 2027 (H2001-038, -055, -060, -076, H1889-020, -028), and the same plans file SSBCI food both years. MOOP, Part D deductible and the per-stay hospital copay for H2001-038 (2027: $9,850, $610, $1,870) match a public plan listing built from the same CMS files; the carrier's own 2027 Summary of Benefits PDFs were not reachable to check.
- Plan Value is the Benefits lane's modeled value per member per month (build plan_value_v19e, same members 2026 to 2027): C-SNP HMO -5.56, C-SNP PPO +8.39, together about -2.60; regular HMO -13.97, PPO -17.79. It is a model, not a filed amount.
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