Why a $0 premium doesn't mean a $0 plan
Most Medicare Advantage plans advertise a $0 premium. It's true, and it's also the most misread number in the whole system. Here's what you still pay, and how to estimate your real cost.
The premium is one line, not the bill
A plan's premium is what you pay each month just to hold the coverage. When it's $0, you pay nothing for that line — but you still pay the copayments and coinsurance when you actually use care, plus any deductible. Two $0-premium plans can cost wildly different amounts over a year depending on those.
You still pay the Part B premium
Everyone on Medicare Advantage keeps paying the Medicare Part B premium ($202.90 a month in 2026), unless a program pays it for you. Some plans give part of it back (a "Part B giveback"), but the starting point is that this cost doesn't disappear.
Your real cost = premium + what you use
The honest way to compare is to add the plan premium, the Part B premium, and a realistic estimate of your copays and coinsurance for the doctors, drugs, and services you actually expect — then check it against the MOOP, the ceiling the plan can never make you exceed for covered in-network care. A low- or no-premium plan with high specialist or hospital cost sharing can cost more than a modest-premium plan with low cost sharing.
Where $0 plans make their money back
Plans fund $0 premiums and extra benefits from the rebate Medicare pays them. That's not a trick — but it means the trade-offs show up elsewhere: in networks, in prior authorization rules, and in the cost sharing for the services you'll use most. Read those, not just the premium.
How to check it here
Open any plan on this site and look at the premium, the MOOP, the Part D deductible, and the copays it reports, side by side with other plans in your county. The number that matters is the total, not the headline.