Medicare Works to Fix Tech Glitches in New Plan Finder Tool

For the first time, enrollees can view plans for Part D and Medicare Advantage in one place

Tony Pugh,

AARP

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Published October 17, 2025

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Key takeaways

Provider information on Medicare Plan Finder may be wrong.
Feature is new for 2026 Medicare Advantage plan shopping.
Government calls it a technology problem and temporary.
Double-check with plan’s website or your provider.

With Medicare open enrollment under way, health officials are working to fix data glitches and inaccuracies in the new provider listings for Medicare Advantage plans featured on the Medicare Plan Finder.

Located on Medicare.gov, the plan finder is the federal government’s main consumer tool to compare and shop for private Medicare Advantage plans, which are offered by insurers, and stand-alone Part D plans, which are used by beneficiaries in original Medicare.

Idea is to offer one-stop Medicare Advantage shopping

The plan finder’s Medicare Advantage provider listings, available for the first time for 2026 enrollment, aim to make it easier for consumers to see if their hospitals, doctors and other health providers are in-network for an Medicare Advantage plan. Previously, consumers had to visit the plan’s website, contact the company directly or work with an insurance broker to get that information.

Having all the information in one place “is a step toward addressing a long-standing shortcoming for the plan finder,” says Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, associate director for the program on Medicare policy at the health policy nonprofit KFF.

But the new provider directory, compiled in recent weeks and posted on Medicare’s website earlier this month, “frequently produces erroneous and conflicting information” about what providers or provider locations are in-network, prompting a “scramble inside the federal government to fix it,” The Washington Post reported. If left unaddressed, “the problems could confuse older adults as they sift through dozens of options, or force them to foot the bill for regular medical appointments” with providers they mistakenly thought were in-network.

Tech glitches are a temporary problem, HHS says

In a statement provided to AARP, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) attributes the problems to technology glitches.

“As with any new data integration and IT launch,” the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) “has identified and is addressing some user interface and data alignment issues to ensure the best possible experience,” the HHS statement says. The directory uses “commercially available provider network data that has the same or greater accuracy than the data typically supplied individually by health plans.”

Medicare open enrollment for 2026 runs Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, and millions of older adults are expected to visit the plan finder to compare plans and switch their coverage or enroll in Medicare for the first time.

If someone enrolls in a Medicare Advantage plan using the plan finder and later discovers — within three months — that their preferred provider isn’t actually in the plan’s network, CMS will offer a onetime special enrollment period in 2026, enabling them to switch coverage, according to a Sept. 12 memo from CMS to MA plan sponsors. This gives people an opportunity to stay with their preferred provider.

CMS has given participating plans until Jan. 1 to upload their network information to the directory, almost a month after the end of open enrollment.

Workaround? Confirm elsewhere your provider is in-network

Provider network information is inherently challenging because of the nuances of the data, Biniek says.

“It is totally possible for a provider to be in-network at one location and out-of-network at a different location under the same plan,” she says. To be sure, beneficiaries should confirm a provider’s plan participation by going to the plan website.

“But if you’re in an area and you’ve got 32 plans to choose from,” and providers are very important to you, the new plan finder directory “could be a useful tool to help cull” the list of plans, she says.

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Tony Pugh is an award-winning writer and editor covering Medicare for AARP. He has also covered Medicare for Bloomberg Law and as a national correspondent for Knight Ridder/McClatchy Newspapers.