2027 Medicare Member Onboarding and Management Study - Deft Research
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Medicare Member Onboarding and Management Study

Available: April 30, 2027

Overview

With another year of benefit reductions and market exits expected for 2027, carriers can’t afford a weak start to the plan year. A quality enrollment experience, longer tenure, and more engaged members are critical to the bottom line. This study helps industry stakeholders understand the events and touchpoints that drive enduring membership.

When members enter the new year with an incomplete picture of how their benefits changed, cost and coverage surprises follow. Those first weeks shape satisfaction, trust, and loyalty.

Our Medicare Member Onboarding and Management Study is a guidebook for carriers. It shows how to onboard new members and how to communicate plan-year changes to longstanding ones, from the AEP through the first weeks of the new year. It pinpoints where members run into friction, which practices build loyalty, and where gaps remain early enough to correct before CAHPS surveys go into the field.

Plus, this year we examine new members’ first impressions of what defines their insurer’s brand, and which onboarding practices, including personalization, do the most to build trust.

This study also pairs with the Medicare Member Experience Study. The Experience study highlights what consumers want in services and product education, while the Onboarding study shows where the industry hit the mark and where carriers need to refocus for next year.

*Local Market Add-On – Available for this study!

Our local market oversample studies show how beneficiaries in specific service areas uniquely behave compared to the national data, providing plan managers with deeper insight for nuanced product, marketing, and sales needs.

What’s New

  • Brand first impressions. Shows what new members think defines their insurer’s brand.
  • Trust-building onboarding practices. Identifies which practices, including personalization, do the most to build trust in the carrier.

Explore Last Year’s Insights

2026 Medicare Member Onboarding Study SIP

Insights from the 2026 Report

Proactive Onboarding Improves Member Experience
Nearly all new members recalled receiving some form of outreach, but phone-based benefit activation stood out as particularly effective. Members who received a call felt more valued and better informed about their coverage, reinforcing the role of proactive onboarding in building engagement and satisfaction.

Awareness of Plan Changes Is Critical to CAHPS Performance
Only about half of Medicare Advantage members who renewed coverage knew about plan changes before January 1. Members who discovered changes after the start of the year were significantly more likely to give their plan low ratings, highlighting the importance of clear and timely communication during onboarding and renewal periods