How to differentiate your Medicare Advantage plan in 2025

Let’s be honest, the word “differentiation” gets thrown around a lot in Medicare Advantage, and most of the time, it means very little.

Your competitors offer dental. So do you. (In fact, 97% of Medicare Advantage plans now include dental benefits, showing how standard those offerings have become.) They highlight $0 premiums. You match them. (Over 70% of plans offer $0 premium options, making it harder to compete on cost alone.) They say “whole-person care.” You say it too. The result? A marketplace that sounds the same to the very people it’s meant to serve.

And that’s the problem.

Because in 2025, being visible isn't the same as being valuable and what makes your plan truly different isn’t what’s listed in the benefit grid. It’s what members feel when they interact with you. It’s how easy it is to get help. How clearly things are explained. Whether they feel recognized or overlooked.

If you want to stand out in 2025, you can’t just add more. You have to build differently. You have to deliver differently. And you must earn your place, not just on the comparison charts, but in the lives of the people you serve.

This blog breaks down what real differentiation in Medicare Advantage looks like now- what isn’t working anymore, what leading plans are doing, and what you can still change this year to get ahead of the curve.

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‍What makes a Medicare Advantage plan stand out today?‍

In 2025, saying your plan is “different” doesn’t mean anything unless your members feel it when they actually use it. And right now, that’s where most Medicare Advantage plans fall short.

In 2025, more than 54% of Medicare beneficiaries, about 34.1 million people are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. Meanwhile, the average beneficiary sees over 40 plan options in their area, increasing the need for true differentiation through experience, not features.

Think about what it’s like for one of your new members. They get a welcome kit filled with pages of small print. Most of it doesn’t make sense. Some of it doesn’t apply. None of it tells them, in simple terms, what to do next.

So, they call. They wait on hold. They finally reach someone, but the rep isn’t sure either. The question gets passed around. If the member speaks Spanish or Cantonese, the wait is longer. By the end of it, they’re more frustrated than when they started.

Now pause and ask yourself: Is that a plan anyone would describe as “different”, let alone better?

True differentiation shows up when:

• A member gets instant support the first time they reach out
• A benefits question is answered in the member’s language
• The onboarding journey feels simple and clear
• Your plan proactively engages with your members  

It’s felt in how easy you make things at the exact moments when most members expect it to be hard.

That’s what real differentiation looks like.
And it’s where most plans still leave the door wide open.

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‍Why aren’t your current strategies resonating with members?‍

You’re not alone if you’ve invested time and budget in outreach, marketing, and materials only to hear members say they don’t understand their plan, or worse, forgot they even received your letter.

Here’s why:

• Everyone’s saying the same thing
• Supplemental benefits no longer set you apart
• Translated doesn’t mean inclusive
• Member materials are overloaded with jargon
• Outreach is often inconsistent or surface-level
• Messaging isn’t personalized or relevant to member needs
• Your internal teams aren’t aligned on the message
• There’s no follow-through after the first touchpoint

And when all of that stacks up, members feel ignored and invisible. The message may be accurate. The benefits may be generous. But if the experience is confusing, impersonal, or forgettable, your plan becomes just another option among many.

CMS‑facilitated survey data shows approximately 29% of Medicare Advantage enrollees report that they do not fully understand their plan, a nearly one‑in‑three gap in comprehension, despite ongoing outreach efforts.

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‍How can our Medicare Advantage plan actually stand out?‍

Differentiation happens when members feel like your plan was built with them in mind. Here’s how to start:

1. Prioritize language inclusion as a core member experience strategy

This is one of the most overlooked levers in the industry and one of the most powerful. Nearly 1 in 3 Medicare advantage members prefer a non-English language. Yet most health plans still treat language as a checkbox.

Real differentiation comes from giving members full access in their language, from day one.

That means:

• Onboarding materials that are written for, not just translated for, the member
• Bilingual customer support that doesn’t rely solely on third-party interpreters
• Digital tools that adapt to language preferences automatically

Plans using tools like Mia enable members to ask coverage questions in their own language and receive personalized, culturally relevant responses quickly and clearly.

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2. Deliver an onboarding experience that builds confidence

You already know this: churn often starts with confusion. If a new member doesn’t understand what their plan covers, who their doctor is, or how to get started, they’re already thinking about switching, even if they haven’t used a single benefit yet.

What works:

• A clear, friendly welcome call (not just an outbound voicemail)
• SMS reminders to help members complete early tasks like choosing a PCP
• A simple SMS or call that explains what to do now, in their language

The best onboarding experiences don’t just inform. They reassure.

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3. Align internally before you claim differentiation externally

You can’t claim differentiation externally if there’s disconnection internally. Members can feel it when the brochure says one thing, the broker says another, and the call centre can’t explain either.

That disconnect doesn’t just confuse people. It quietly erodes trust.

Make sure:

• Your frontline teams, from brokers to call centers to providers, can clearly communicate your plan’s value without any confusion.
• Your internal teams aren’t working in silos, they’re sharing insight and solving the same member pain points, together.
• What you promise during acquisition shows up in retention, with no disconnect between message and experience.

When the message is consistent, your plan feels stable, reliable and worth staying with.

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4. Use technology to reduce friction

Technology should empower your members. Most don’t care about shiny features. They care about not having to chase down answers or repeat themselves.

The most effective plans are shifting how they think about tech:

• Not “What can we build?”
• But “Where are members still struggling and how do we remove that friction?”

Great member-facing tools don’t overwhelm with options. Instead, they guide, clarify, and connect. They:

• Make it easy to ask a question and get a direct, useful answer
• Help members understand how to actually use their benefits, in their language

That’s why more health plans are turning to platforms like Mia.

Mia isn’t just a chatbot or translation tool. It allows your members to ask coverage questions in their own words, in their own language and get clear, consistent, human responses.

If your technology isn’t making things easier for your members, it’s not innovation. It’s just noise.

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‍FAQ (Frequently asked questions)

Isn’t every plan basically offering the same benefits?
Yes, and that’s exactly why how you deliver them matters more than ever. If your plan is easier to understand, more accessible in multiple languages, and more supportive throughout the year, that’s what sets you apart.

How do we know if our differentiation strategy is working?
Look at your CAHPS trends. Listen to broker and call centre feedback. Review disenrollment reasons. If members describe you the same way they describe your competitors or worse, can’t describe you at all-that’s your signal. Clear differentiation creates clarity, trust, and repeat enrolment. If you’re not seeing that, it’s not working.

Can language inclusion actually move our performance metrics?
Absolutely. It reduces complaints, improves CAHPS scores, and drives loyalty. Members are far less likely to leave a plan that consistently supports them in their own language.

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‍Final thoughts: In a market full of noise, clarity wins

‍A recent Commonwealth Fund survey found that only 65% of Medicare enrollees, including those in Medicare Advantage, feel their coverage fully meets expectations. That leaves one in three beneficiaries who are only somewhat satisfied or worse, often citing confusion over covered benefits as the core issue.

By now, you’ve seen the pattern. Plans keep adding more benefits, more materials, more messaging but members end up feeling more overwhelmed than confident.

Members should feel understood and supported. They should trust that when they reach out, your plan won’t make things harder.

Language. Trust. Access.
These are the most overlooked levers in this space and yet, the clearest path to standing out in 2025.

The plans that get it right won’t just get noticed.
They’ll be the ones members stay with.