Summary. New data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey show that Medicare's private comprehensive health plans (now called Medicare Advantage plans) were a vital source of coverage for low-income beneficiaries in 2002. Here are some highlights from the survey results: Of Medicare beneficiaries with annual incomes between $10,000 and $20,000, 27 percent chose Medicare Advantage for comprehensive benefits; 23 percent had employer-based coverage; and 20 percent had Medigap supplemental coverage. Almost 18 percent of Medicare beneficiaries in this income category had no supplemental or outside coverage. Fifty percent of Medicare Advantage enrollees in 2002 had incomes less than $20,000. Of minority (non-white) beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage, 71 percent had incomes below $20,000. Of Medicare beneficiaries not enrolled in Medicaid or emploer-based coverage with incomes between $10,000 and $20,000, 39 percent chose a Medicare Advantage plan. (In this report, we use the label "active choosers" to refer to beneficiaries without Medicaid or employer-based coverage, who live in areas with at least one Medicare Advantage plan available.) Of non-white, low-income active choosers, 43 percent chose a Medicare Advantage plan. In some parts of the country, over half of low-income Medicare beneficiaries not enrolled in Medicaid or employer-based coverage chose a Medicare Advantage plan. Lower costs (31 percent) and better benefits and coverage (22 percent) than Medicare alone were the main reasons beneficiaries chose Medicare Advantage plans in 2002. In general, the statistics in this report are calculated from records on non-institutionalized Medicare Inbeneficiaries (aged and disabled) living in areas where at least one Medicare Advantage plan was offered.