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Medicare Advantage

Dual-Eligible Medicare Advantage Plans Must Issue One Integrated ID Card and a Unified Health Assessment Starting in 2027

Beginning January 2027, certain Medicare Advantage plans serving people with both Medicare and Medicaid must replace two separate membership cards with one and combine their Medicare and Medicaid health risk assessments into a single process, under rules CMS finalized in 2025.

By the Goodsurance editorial teamAugust 4, 2026

About 23 percent of Medicare Advantage enrollees are in special needs plans, and the largest segment of that group, dual eligible special needs plans or D-SNPs, serves people who carry both Medicare and Medicaid coverage. For those members, coordinating benefits has often meant managing two separate insurance cards and receiving independent health checkup contacts from their Medicare and Medicaid plans.

That changes beginning January 1, 2027. CMS rules finalized in 2025 require certain D-SNPs affiliated with a Medicaid managed care organization to take two integration steps. First, plans must issue a single member identification card that functions as the membership credential for both the Medicare and Medicaid plans in which an enrollee is enrolled. Second, rather than conducting separate health risk assessments for Medicare and Medicaid, those plans must conduct one integrated assessment satisfying both programs' requirements at once.

CMS framed the requirements as part of a broader effort toward fully integrated care for dual-eligible individuals, a population federal regulators have identified as underserved by fragmented coverage arrangements. D-SNP enrollment has grown sharply in recent years. Enrollment in all special needs plans rose 23 percent between 2025 and 2026, according to KFF, representing more than 85 percent of net new Medicare Advantage enrollment over that period.

For affected members, the practical effect arrives in late 2026 when plans begin distributing 2027 enrollment materials. Members should expect to receive one integrated card rather than two separate ones, and a single outreach contact for the combined health assessment rather than separate calls from their Medicare and Medicaid plans.

In plain words

Some Medicare Advantage plans, called D-SNPs, cover people who have both Medicare and Medicaid. Many of these people carry two different ID cards, one for each program, and get two separate health check-in calls each year. Starting January 2027, certain D-SNPs must give members just one card covering both programs and do one combined health check-in instead of two. This is meant to make the process simpler for people using both Medicare and Medicaid. If you are in a D-SNP, look for new materials in late 2026 explaining these changes.

Understand the basics first

Source: CMS
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