Best Medicare Advantage plan for a Part B premium giveback in Merced County, California

Why this plan

3 of the 7 plans open to everyone here give back part of your Part B premium. Alignment Health smartHMO (HMO) gives back the most: $115 a month, $1,380 over a year. The next is Imperial Dynamic Plan (HMO), at $35 a month back.

It gives back $960 a year more than Imperial Dynamic Plan (HMO), but its out-of-pocket limit is $3,703 higher. If you're likely to need much care, the extra giveback could be outweighed in a single year.

What it gives up

Nothing we can measure: its premium and out-of-pocket limit are no higher than most plans' here, and its star rating isn't below average.

Who it suits

A giveback suits you if you pay your own Part B premium and use little care: it lowers the Part B premium taken from your Social Security payment, or billed to you, by the same amount every month. If Medicaid or a Medicare Savings Program pays your Part B premium, a giveback gives you nothing. It can take a few months to start showing up after you join.

More on what a giveback is really worth, and when it isn't: Easy Point After or Hail Mary? What Medicare Advantage's Part B Giveback Really Gets You.

The next best for a Part B premium giveback

Before you choose

• Check your doctors and hospitals. Most Medicare Advantage plans pay only, or mostly, for care in their own network. Ask the plan, or your doctor's office, before you join.
• Price your prescriptions. What your drugs cost can differ by hundreds of dollars a year between plans and outweigh any premium difference. Add them in our plan list to see your own costs.
• Read the plan's own documents. We take every figure from what the plan filed with Medicare, but its Evidence of Coverage is the final word on what it pays.
• Get free advice if you want it. Your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) gives free, unbiased help choosing a plan.

How we picked

The plan that gives back the most of your Part B premium each month. Where several tie, we look next at the lowest out-of-pocket limit for in-network care, then the lowest premium, then the lowest copay to see a primary care doctor. Plans that still tie are listed by name.

We compare the 7 Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage that anyone with Medicare in Merced County can join. Special needs plans and PACE, which are only for people who qualify, aren't included; you'll find them on the Merced County page. No plan pays to be picked.