Medicare in Massachusetts

Medicare enrollment in Massachusetts

As of January 2026, 1,500,684 people had Medicare in Massachusetts.¹

In most cases, transitioning to Medicare goes along with turning 65. But Medicare enrollment is also available to younger individuals after they have been receiving disability benefits for 24 months, or if they have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

About 10% of Medicare beneficiaries in Massachusetts are under the age of 65,¹ which is similar to the nationwide percentage.²

• Read about Medicare’s open enrollment period and other important enrollment deadlines.
• Learn about how the Massachusetts Medicaid program can provide assistance to Medicare beneficiaries with limited income and assets.

Medicare Advantage plan availability and enrollment in Massachusetts

Medicare Advantage plans are offered by private insurers, whose service areas vary from county to county. All of Massachusetts has an active Medicare Advantage market, with numerous plans available for 2026 – 103 in total.³

But plan availability varies from one area to another. The average Medicare beneficiary in Massachusetts can select from among 34 Medicare Advantage plans in 2026.⁴ As of January 2026, about 36% of Massachusetts Medicare beneficiaries had Medicare Advantage coverage.⁵ But Original Medicare continues to be more popular in Massachusetts than it is nationwide, with about 64% of Massachusetts Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Original Medicare.¹

Learn more about Medicare Advantage and the Medicare Advantage open enrollment period.

Medicare supplement (Medigap) enrollment and regulations in Massachusetts

According to an AHIP (formerly called America’s Health Insurance Plans) analysis, there were 343,996 Massachusetts Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medigap coverage as of 2023.⁶

Eight insurers offer Medigap plans in Massachusetts for 2026.⁷

In all but three states, Medigap plans are standardized under federal rules. But Massachusetts is one of the three states where a waiver allows the state to design different Medigap plans. In other states, there are ten different Medigap plan designs. But in Massachusetts, there’s just the Medicare Core Plan and the Medicare Supplements 1 and 1A.⁸

Massachusetts added Medicare Supplement 1A as of 2020; it’s the same as Supplement 1 except that it does not cover the Medicare Part B deductible, which is $283 in 2026. The addition of Supplement 1A was necessary because federal law (MACRA) does not allow people who become eligible for Medicare in 2020 or later to enroll in a Medicare supplement that covers the Part B deductible. So people who were eligible for Medicare in Massachusetts in 2019 or earlier can choose from among all three supplement options, whereas people who become eligible for Medicare in 2020 or later cannot enroll in Supplement 1. (They can choose the Core Plan or Supplement 1A instead.)

Prior to 2006, Massachusetts also had Medicare Supplement 2, which included coverage for prescription drugs. Nationwide, all Medigap plans that included prescription drugs ceased to be available for purchase after the end of 2005 – people began enrolling in Medicare Part D instead – but people who had Supplement 2 in Massachusetts were allowed to keep it if they wanted to.

In addition to having different standardization rules for Medigap coverage, Massachusetts has among the country’s strongest consumer protections for Medigap plans. It’s one of nine states where insurers are required to use community rating, which means that premiums cannot vary based on age or medical history.⁹ Community rating even extends to disabled Medicare beneficiaries under age 65 in Massachusetts.¹⁰

The state also prohibits pre-existing condition waiting periods on Medigap plans. (In most states, Medigap insurers can impose pre-existing condition waiting periods of up to six months if the enrollee didn’t have continuous coverage before enrolling.)

Medigap plans are also available for purchase year-round in Massachusetts, without medical underwriting (meaning the person’s medical history does not affect their eligibility or premium).¹⁰

Technically, Massachusetts rules (see 211 CMR 17.10 (5)) require Medigap insurers to offer an open enrollment period in February and March each year. But the statute also prohibits insurers from “at any time” denying coverage or charging higher premiums based on medical history. In effect, this creates continuous year-round open enrollment for Medigap plans in Massachusetts.¹¹

This is an unusual provision. People in most states who miss their initial six-month enrollment period or wish to pick a different plan later on do not have another guaranteed-issue opportunity to enroll, unless they qualify for one of the federal government’s limited guaranteed-issue rights for Medigap.

Medicare Part D plan availability and enrollment in Massachusetts

There are 11 stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plans for sale in Massachusetts for 2026 with premiums starting at $8.40.³

As of January 2026, 751,215 Medicare beneficiaries in Massachusetts had stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage . Another 502,490 had Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage as part of their Medicare Advantage plans.¹

Learn how Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage works, what it pays for, how and when to enroll.