Medicare Advantage's Hidden Benefits: The Digital Access Gap Costing You Money

If you have a Medicare Advantage plan and you've never logged into your plan's member portal, you are in very large company — and that gap is costing you real money. Research conducted by CVS Health found that a significant share of Medicare Advantage members lack the confidence or skills to navigate digital health tools, from online pharmacy refill systems to telehealth platforms to care management apps. This isn't a minor inconvenience. In 2025, many of these digital tools are tied directly to benefits your plan is already paying for on your behalf. If you're not using them, you are leaving real value unclaimed every single month.

Digital health literacy, in plain terms, means your ability to find, understand, and use health information and services delivered through technology. That includes checking your Explanation of Benefits online, scheduling a telehealth visit with your primary care doctor, refilling a prescription through a mail-order portal, or reviewing your plan's drug formulary to see whether a cheaper generic is available. These are not luxury features reserved for younger, tech-savvy members. For Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, they are increasingly the front door to the plan's full benefit package — and plans are designing more of their services around digital access every year, whether members are ready or not.

According to CMS.gov data, Medicare Advantage enrollment reached approximately 33.8 million beneficiaries in 2024, representing more than half of all Medicare-eligible Americans. That is a massive population, and a meaningful share — particularly those 75 and older, those in rural areas, and those with lower incomes — report feeling uncertain or overwhelmed when asked to interact with health technology. The CVS Health findings are consistent with what Medicare enrollment and utilization data have shown for years: older adults adopt digital tools more slowly, and when they do, they typically need structured, patient support to use them with confidence. The stakes are higher than they might appear.

Here is a concrete example of what is at risk. Most Medicare Advantage plans in 2025 include telehealth as a standard benefit, often with a $0 copay for virtual primary care visits. If you do not know how to access your plan's telehealth platform — or if you do not realize the benefit exists — you may instead drive to an urgent care clinic and pay a $40 or $50 copay for the same level of care. For someone managing two or three chronic conditions who might reasonably use telehealth four to six times per year, that difference adds up to $200 or more in avoidable out-of-pocket spending annually. That is money that stays in your pocket simply by learning to use a tool your plan already provides and has already priced into your premium.

Prescription drug management is another area where digital literacy directly affects your wallet. Many Medicare Advantage plans with built-in Part D drug coverage — called MA-PD plans — offer 90-day mail-order prescriptions at a lower cost-sharing tier than 30-day retail fills. In 2025, the Inflation Reduction Act's $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cap on Part D costs has changed the financial math for many beneficiaries, but the mail-order benefit still offers lower copays per fill in most plans and eliminates monthly pharmacy trips. Accessing mail-order pharmacy services almost always requires setting up an online account, verifying your identity digitally, and managing refills through a web portal or app. If that process feels intimidating, many beneficiaries default to the retail pharmacy and pay more per prescription than necessary — sometimes $10 to $20 more per fill on maintenance medications.

Data Snapshot: According to CMS.gov star ratings data published for the 2025 plan year, approximately 40 percent of Medicare Advantage enrollees are in plans rated 4 stars or higher on CMS's 1-to-5 star quality scale. Plans at this rating level are required to offer robust chronic care management programs, and an increasing share of those programs are delivered through digital platforms — secure messaging portals, connected monitoring devices, and app-based health coaching. That means roughly 13 to 14 million Medicare Advantage members in 2025 have access to digitally delivered care coordination programs they may not know exist, let alone how to activate.

Care management programs are perhaps the most underutilized digital benefit in Medicare Advantage. A member managing diabetes, heart failure, or COPD may be eligible for a dedicated care coordinator who communicates through a secure messaging portal, tracks biometric data from a connected device such as a blood pressure cuff or glucose monitor, and flags concerning trends before they become emergency room visits. These programs are not add-ons you pay extra for — they are included in your plan's benefit package if your plan carries a qualifying star rating. The barrier to access is almost never cost. It is almost always awareness and digital confidence.

So what should you actually do if you feel behind on digital health tools? Start with the member services phone number printed on the back of your insurance card. Call and ask specifically: what digital tools does my plan offer, and can someone walk me through how to set them up? Most major Medicare Advantage carriers — including UnitedHealthcare, Humana, Aetna, and Cigna — have dedicated digital onboarding support lines staffed by representatives trained to help members who have never used a health portal before. CVS Health's Aetna Medicare plans have invested in member education programs specifically designed to address the digital literacy gap their own research identified. You are entitled to this support as a plan member, and it costs you nothing to ask.

Libraries and senior centers are also underappreciated resources. The AARP Foundation's Senior Planet program — formerly Older Adults Technology Services — offers free digital literacy training specifically designed for adults 60 and older, covering everything from basic smartphone use to navigating health insurance portals. Many local Area Agencies on Aging offer one-on-one technology coaching as well. You can find your nearest agency through the Eldercare Locator at eldercare.acl.gov or by calling 1-800-677-1116. If learning to log into your plan's portal saves you $300 a year in avoidable copays, that is a meaningful return on a few hours of your time — and the instruction is free.

It is worth understanding why Medicare Advantage plans are pushing digital engagement so aggressively. From the plan's perspective, members who use digital tools tend to have better medication adherence, keep more preventive care appointments, and generate fewer expensive emergency room visits. That improves the plan's CMS star ratings, which directly affect the bonus payments plans receive from the federal government — payments that fund the supplemental benefits, like dental, vision, and fitness memberships, that make Medicare Advantage attractive in the first place. In other words, plans have a direct financial incentive to help you go digital. If you call and ask for help, they are motivated to provide it. Do not be shy about asking for a full walkthrough.

For beneficiaries who are genuinely unable to use digital tools due to vision impairment, cognitive decline, or lack of internet access, it is important to know that Medicare Advantage plans are required to provide all covered benefits through non-digital channels as well. You cannot be denied a telehealth visit because you do not have a smartphone — plans must offer telephone-only audio options. You cannot be required to use an online portal to access care management services. If a plan representative tells you otherwise, contact your State Health Insurance Assistance Program counselor, who provides free, unbiased Medicare counseling. Find your local SHIP at shiphelp.org or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE.

Internet access itself remains a barrier for a meaningful share of Medicare beneficiaries, particularly in rural areas. The federal Affordable Connectivity Program, which provided discounted broadband to low-income households, ended in 2024. However, the FCC's Lifeline program still offers up to $9.25 per month in discounts on phone or internet service for qualifying low-income individuals, and some states supplement that amount further. If cost is the reason you are not online, check whether you qualify at lifelinesupport.org. Getting connected may unlock Medicare Advantage benefits worth far more than the monthly internet bill — particularly if your plan includes remote patient monitoring devices or app-based care management.

Looking ahead, CMS has signaled that digital health integration will continue to expand within Medicare Advantage. The agency has encouraged plans to offer remote patient monitoring as a supplemental benefit, and a growing number of plans are covering connected blood pressure monitors, continuous glucose monitors, and smartwatches with fall detection as part of their supplemental benefit packages. These benefits are almost entirely managed through digital platforms. As Medicare Advantage enrollment continues to grow — CMS projects it could approach 40 million by the late 2020s — the gap between digitally engaged members and those who are not will likely widen in terms of both health outcomes and out-of-pocket costs. The time to close that gap is now, while the support infrastructure to help you do it is in place and free.

The bottom line is straightforward. Your Medicare Advantage plan almost certainly offers more than you are currently using, and a meaningful portion of those unused benefits are accessible through digital tools. You do not need to become a technology expert. You need to make one phone call to your plan's member services line, ask what digital benefits are available to you, and ask for help getting started. That single step — which costs nothing and takes less than an hour — may be the most valuable health insurance action you take this year.