Medicare\u2019s market for Part D plans has shifted in response\u00a0to growing enrollment in private Medicare Advantage plans, and the number of stand-alone prescription drug plans available to original Medicare beneficiaries continues to decline in 2026.<\/p>\n
In 2020, 53 percent of Part D enrollees were enrolled in stand-alone Part D drug plans used by beneficiaries in original Medicare. By 2025, only 42 percent of Part D enrollees were in stand-alone drug plans, while 58 percent\u00a0received Part D\u00a0coverage through their Medicare Advantage plans.<\/p>\n
The number of plans is decreasing amid rising drug prices, a law that shifted more Part D costs<\/a> to plan sponsors and drug companies, and the emergence of Medicare Advantage<\/a> as the program\u2019s dominant \u2014 and better financed \u2014 coverage vehicle.<\/p>\n This year, the average original Medicare beneficiary can choose from 14 stand-alone drug plans, the fewest since the Part D program began in 2006. Next year, the overall number of plans available nationwide will drop by almost a quarter to 360, down from 464 in 2025 and 709 in 2024, according to KFF.<\/p>\n By contrast, the average Medicare Advantage enrollee can select from 32 plans that include drug coverage. This, too, is a slight decline from 2025.<\/p>\n Part D coverage choices remain strong<\/p>\n Despite the changes, beneficiaries will still have plenty of Part D plan options. Depending on where you live, beneficiaries in each state still can choose among eight to 12 stand-alone drug plans for 2026 coverage during Medicare open enrollment<\/a>, which runs through Dec. 7, says Juliette Cubanski, deputy director of the Program on Medicare Policy at KFF. The nonprofit health care research organization has offices in Washington.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEnrollees still have plenty of choice,\u201d she says. \u201cBy almost any measure, in any other marketplace, having eight or 10 or 12 [plans] to choose from is still a relatively robust set of offerings.\u201d<\/p>\n More than 35.3 million people, 51.2 percent\u00a0of eligible Medicare beneficiaries, receive coverage through private Medicare Advantage plans from commercial insurers and other health plans. Along with medical coverage, nearly all Medicare Advantage plans also cover prescription drugs.<\/p>\n \u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u2018Enrollees still have plenty of choice. By almost any measure, in any other marketplace, having eight or 10 or 12 [plans] to choose from is still a relatively robust set of offerings.\u2019 <\/p>\n \u2014Juliette Cubanski, KFF<\/p>\n