Executive summary

As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) prepares to implement new regulations taking effect January 1, 2026, Medicare Advantage (MA) plans face a crucial opportunity—and responsibility—to redefine the delivery and impact of Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI). These regulatory changes demand not only evidence-based justification for non-medical benefits such as food and transportation, but also more transparent communication with enrollees about supplemental benefit availability and usage.

Uber Health is uniquely positioned to support MA plans in navigating this evolving landscape. Through our tailored e-commerce infrastructure, health benefit–card integration across multiple administrators, and caregiver support capabilities, we help MA plans deliver compliant, personalized, and outcomes-driven benefits to members with complex or chronic conditions. This whitepaper explores how Uber Health helps MA plans strategically deploy supplemental benefits that enhance care, improve patient satisfaction ratings, support STAR rating performance, and prepare for CMS’s 2026 reporting requirements.

The regulatory shift: CMS CY2025 policy changes

Beginning January 1, 2026, MA organizations will be held to more rigorous standards in how they justify, manage, and communicate the use of SSBCI. Two key regulatory changes will shape this future:

• Evidence-based SSBCI design: Plans must substantiate that each health-related supplemental benefit—such as healthy food or non-medical transportation—has the potential to improve or maintain the health or functional status of chronically ill enrollees. This evidence must be grounded in high-quality clinical literature published within the past 10 years.
• Mid-year notifications for unused supplemental benefits: MA organizations will be required to send personalized communications between June 30 and July 31 each year to members who have not used one or more supplemental benefits. These notifications must detail available benefits, eligibility criteria, cost-sharing, and instructions for accessing services.
• Why it matters: These changes reinforce CMS’s focus on ensuring that supplemental benefits are meaningful, medically justified, and actively utilized. MA plans must now go beyond offering benefits—they must ensure that those benefits are both strategically designed and clearly communicated.

The strategic role of health benefit (‘flex’) cards in evidence-based SSBCI

Health benefit cards offer an easy way for members to access their benefits. Thanks to Uber Health's integrations with health benefit (‘flex’) card administrators, Medicare Advantage members can easily add eligible benefit cards to their wallet on the Uber or Uber Eats app to spend dedicated benefit dollars on the things they need. Using a health benefits card on Uber can help:

• Support personalization: Members have the freedom to use their benefits in ways that match their unique needs, while plans maintain control over eligible products and vendors.
• Enable care outcomes: Benefits are tied to specific, evidence-based categories such as over-the-counter (OTC) products or healthy food. For example, OTC benefits improve medication adherence, while food-as-medicine programs support chronic condition management like diabetes or cardiac disease.
• Generate engagement data: Card usage is trackable across members and spend categories, helping plans demonstrate impact and ROI across health and satisfaction metrics.
• Enhance member satisfaction and STAR scores: When members feel empowered, they engage more fully with their benefits. This sense of agency correlates with improved Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) scores measured through dimensions such as benefits & coverage, digital experience, care coordination & wellness, and affordability - which directly affect STAR ratings for MA plans.

Members can use their benefit card for rides, too. They simply need to make sure their health benefits card is selected as their payment method before requesting a ride through the app.

There is an option to set the app to Simple mode, featuring larger text and icons to help make it easier for members to find go-to spots and request rides in fewer steps. Uber Health’s Caregiver and family profile functionality on the consumer app also allows trusted loved ones to help facilitate benefit use, which is especially valuable for older adults and beneficiaries who need support in navigating e-commerce platforms.