What Stores Accept the Aetna Healthy Foods Card? A 2026 Guide for Members and Caregivers

The Aetna Healthy Foods Card, officially called the Aetna MedicareA federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older, certain younger people with disab... Extra Benefits Card, can be used at participating retailers, including eligible standalone CVS locations. Depending on the member’s plan and card wallet, other participating retailers may include Walmart and regional grocery or pharmacy chains, plus hundreds of regional grocers that accept the S3 and OTC benefit networks. It is a prepaid Mastercard loaded with a monthly or quarterly allowance for approved healthy foods, over-the-counter (OTC) items, and personal care products. As of February 2026, more than 8 million people are enrolled in the Medicare Special Needs Plans where this card is most common, according to CMS enrollment data reported by U.S. News. 

Below you willA legal document that states how a person's property should be managed and distributed after death. find the full list of accepted stores, what you can and cannot buy, who qualifies in 2026, and how to keep your card from being declined at the register. If you are not sure which benefits your plan includes, start with your Aetna Extra Benefits Card details and your plan's Summary of Benefits.

Key Takeaways

• Where it works: The Aetna Healthy Foods Card is accepted at CVS, Walmart, Walgreens, Kroger, Albertsons, Sam's Club, and hundreds of regional grocery stores nationwide.
• What it buys: Approved funds cover fresh produce, meat, dairy, and pantry staples, but never soda, candy, alcohol, tobacco, hot prepared foods, or pet food.
• Who qualifies: The card comes only with select Aetna D-SNP and C-SNP plans, plus some general Medicare Advantage plans tied to federal Extra Help eligibility.
• 2026 rule change: A federal model called VBID ended in December 2025, so some seniors who had a grocery allowance in 2025 no longer qualify in 2026.
• Use it or lose it: In almost all Aetna plans, unused allowance does not roll over and expires at the end of each monthly or quarterly benefit period.
• Avoid declines: Swipe the card first and select credit at checkout, with no PIN, then pay for any ineligible items using a second form of payment.
• Online options: You can shop at CVS.com/Aetna and add the card to your Walmart wallet.

What Is the Aetna Healthy Foods Card, Exactly?

The Aetna Healthy Foods Card is the grocery and OTC portion of the Aetna Medicare Extra Benefits Card, a prepaid Benefits Mastercard issued to members on select Aetna Medicare Advantage plans. It carries a fixed monthly or quarterly allowance you spend on approved items at participating stores. It is not cash you can withdraw, and the funds only apply to items your plan has marked as eligible.

Aetna organizes the card into separate wallets. The Extra Supports Wallet covers approved healthy foods, personal care products, OTC items, and, on some plans, utilities and transportation. A CVS OTC Wallet or OTC Wallet can be used only for approved over-the-counter products. Your plan decides which wallets you receive, and the healthy-food spending usually sits inside the Extra Supports Wallet, as Aetna explains in its official guide to what the card covers.

Payments run through various participating merchant networks, depending on the specific Aetna plan and benefit program. That is why the card is accepted at thousands of locations rather than a short list of partner stores.

A few terms appear throughout any Aetna card discussion. Here is what they mean in plain language:

• D-SNP (Dual Eligible Special Needs Plan): A Medicare Advantage planA type of Medicare health plan offered by a private company that contracts with Medicare to provide ... for people who have both Medicare and MedicaidA state and federal program that provides health coverage to eligible low-income adults, children, p....
• C-SNP (Chronic Condition Special Needs Plan): A Medicare Advantage plan for people with a qualifying chronic condition such as diabetesA chronic condition that affects the way the body processes blood sugar (glucose), requiring ongoing... or heart failure.
• OTC (over-the-counter): Health products you can buy without a prescription, such as pain relievers, bandages, and vitamins.
• Extra Help (Low-Income Subsidy): A federal program that lowers prescription drug costs for people with limited income, and can unlock the card on some general plans.
• Allowance: The set dollar amount loaded onto the card at the start of each benefit period, which varies by plan and location.

What Stores Accept the Aetna Healthy Foods Card?

The card is accepted at six major national retailers for in-store purchases, and several also support online and mobile-app checkout. CVS is Aetna's primary partner, while Walmart, Walgreens, Kroger, Albertsons, and Sam's Club complete the national network. The table below shows how each retailer accepts the card.

One detail trips up more members than any other: a CVS pharmacy located inside a Target or other store is excluded, even though a standalone CVS is fine. You can confirm online options and the full participating list at CVS.com/Aetna.

Note: acceptance varies by plan, benefit wallet, location, and transaction type, members should confirm a store through their Aetna benefit account or by calling the number on the card.

Which Regional Grocery Chains Take the Card?

Beyond national chains, the Aetna Healthy Foods Card works at hundreds of regional supermarkets that participate in the S3 and OTC networks. Confirmed regional chains include the following stores:

• Food Lion: Widely accepted across the Southeastern United States, especially in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
• Safeway: Part of the Albertsons Companies network, accepting S3 benefit cards for in-store healthy food and OTC purchases.
• Wakefern banners (ShopRite, Price Rite): Many accept supplemental health benefit cards through InComm Healthcare and the S3 Network.
• Super 1 Foods: Accepted at participating locations for cards running on the S3 network.
• Other regional grocers: Giant Eagle, Publix, and Stop & Shop appear in benefit-card networks in many markets, though participation depends on your plan.

Smaller chains such as Dollar General, Family Dollar, and Rite Aid often appear in the OTC network too, but acceptance of the healthy-food allowance specifically depends on your plan and wallet. Because participating stores change and vary by state and ZIP code, the only reliable way to confirm a specific location is the Store Finder tool inside your Aetna member portal or the Healthy Benefits+ app. Check the store before you shop rather than assuming a chain is covered everywhere.

What Can You Buy, and What Is Off Limits?

You can buy fresh, frozen, and canned fruits and vegetables, fresh meat and seafood, dairy, eggs, and pantry staples. You cannot buy soda, candy, alcohol, tobacco, hot prepared foods, pet food, or general household merchandise with the healthy-food allowance. The table below compares common eligible and ineligible purchases.

At checkout, the register reads each item's barcode and applies your allowance only to eligible products. Anything ineligible needs a second payment method. To check before you pay, scan an item's barcode in the CVS OTC Health Solutions app or the Walmart app and look for the “Benefit program eligible” badge.

Who Qualifies for the Aetna Healthy Foods Card in 2026?

Not every Aetna member gets the card. The Aetna Healthy Foods Card comes only with select Medicare Advantage plans, mainly Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) and Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans (C-SNPs), plus some general plans for members who qualify for federal Extra Help. Original Medicare and MedigapPrivate health insurance that supplements Medicare by covering co-pays, deductibles, and other expen... plans never include it.

There is an important catch on D-SNPs. A D-SNP member without a qualifying chronic condition can usually use the allowance only for OTC products. The healthy foods, utilities, and transportation portion, known as the Extra Supports Wallet, is a Special Supplemental Benefit for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI), so it requires a qualifying condition such as diabetes, chronic heart failure, or chronic high blood pressure. Always confirm which wallets your plan loaded before assuming you can buy groceries with the card.

The 2026 Change That Caught Some Seniors Off Guard

Through the end of 2025, a federal model called Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) let many plans offer broad grocery allowances. The VBID model was terminated at the end of 2025, and the program had reached more than 7 million beneficiaries in 2025. The grocery allowance is now governed by the narrower SSBCI rules. The result is that some seniors who received a grocery allowance in 2025 are no longer eligible in 2026, and only a small percentage of individual Medicare Advantage plans offered food-and-produce SSBCI benefits for general enrollment in 2026. If your grocery benefit disappeared this year, this policy shift is the likely reason, and it is worth calling your plan to confirm what you still have.

One piece of good news for members who also receive food assistance: the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that Medicare Advantage supplemental benefits are excluded from income for SNAP. Using your Aetna Healthy Foods Card will not reduce your SNAP food-stamp benefits.

How to Activate and Use Your Aetna Healthy Foods Card

Activate the card by phone, online, or in the app; check your balance before each trip; then swipe and select credit at checkout. The whole process takes a few minutes, and these six steps cover it from start to finish.

1. Activate the card. Call the number on the activation sticker or 1-844-428-8147 (TTY 711), or activate at CVS.com/Aetna or in the CVS OTC Health Solutions app.
2. Check your balance. Log in at CVS.com/Aetna, open the CVS OTC Health Solutions or Healthy Benefits+ app, or call the number on the back of the card. The allowance loads on the first day of each benefit period.
3. Confirm item eligibility. In the store, scan item barcodes in the app or look for “Benefit program eligible” shelf labels before you reach the register.
4. Swipe first at checkout. Swipe the Aetna card before any other payment and select credit when prompted. No PIN is needed.
5. Pay the remainder. Cover any ineligible items with cash, debit, credit, or SNAP/EBT.
6. Shop online or by phone if you prefer. Use CVS.com/Aetna, add the card to your Walmart wallet, or place an eligible order by calling 1-844-428-8147. Other online shopping options may be available for certain plans, but members should use only the website or app identified in their plan documents.

A Caregiver's Field Notes: How to Avoid a Declined Card

In our work helping families manage a parent's D-SNP benefits, the same handful of issues cause most declined transactions, and every one of them is avoidable. A senior standing at the register with a full cart and a declined card is a frustrating moment that a little preparation prevents.

These are the most common reasons an Aetna Healthy Foods Card is declined:

• The card has not been activated yet.
• The items in the cart do not qualify under the plan's specific guidelines.
• The allowance for the current monthly or quarterly period is already spent.
• The location is not in the network, or it is an excluded spot such as a CVS counter inside a Target store.
• The plan loaded an OTC-only wallet, so groceries are not covered even at a participating grocer.

Two habits solve almost all of these. First, keep a second payment method in the wallet for any ineligible items. Second, if you are an adult child helping a parent from a distance, save the member-portal login and the customer-service number from the back of the card so the two of you can check the balance together by phone before a shopping trip. The senior keeps control of the card, and the caregiverAn individual who provides care to someone who needs help with daily tasks and activities due to chr... has the information needed to head off a problem.

Final Thoughts: Make Sure the Store and Purchases Match Your Aetna Plan

The Aetna Healthy Foods Card stretches a fixed grocery budget at stores you already use, from CVS and Walmart to your regional supermarket, as long as you know what qualifies and confirm your store and balance first. As of 2026, the benefit is narrower than it was a year ago, so the single most important step is confirming your own eligibility and which wallets your plan loaded.

Your next step: log in to your Aetna member portal or read Aetna's official Extra Benefits Card page to see exactly which wallets your plan includes, then use the Store Finder to confirm a participating store before your next trip. A few minutes of checking turns the card from a source of confusion into real money off your grocery bill.

For a broader explanation of the card’s different wallets, eligible expenses, and spending rules, read Senior Strong’s guide to the Aetna Medicare Extra Benefits Card and how it works in 2026. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use my Aetna Healthy Foods Card and SNAP/EBT together?

Yes. At retailers like Kroger, Walmart, and Albertsons, you can split the payment at checkout. Swipe the Aetna card first to cover eligible healthy foods, then use your SNAP/EBT card or another method for the rest. The card allowance does not count as income for SNAP, so it will not reduce your food-stamp benefits.

Why was my Aetna Healthy Foods Card declined?

The most common reasons are that the card was not activated, the items do not qualify under your plan, the allowance is already used up for the period, or you are at a non-participating or excluded location such as a CVS pharmacy inside a Target store. Checking your balance and item eligibility before checkout prevents most declines.

Does the Aetna Healthy Foods Card work at Walmart?

Yes. Walmart accepts the card in stores nationwide and online. Add the card to your Walmart wallet in the app, then select it as your payment method at checkout. Eligible items carry a “Benefit program eligible” badge so you know what your allowance will cover.

Do unused funds roll over to the next month?

In almost all Aetna plans, no. The allowance resets at the start of each monthly or quarterly period, and any unused funds expire. Check your plan's Summary of Benefits to confirm whether your card loads monthly or quarterly, and plan your shopping so you spend the full amount.

How do I find a store near me that accepts the card?

Use the Store Finder in your Aetna member portal or the Healthy Benefits+ app. Because participating stores vary by ZIP code and change over time, the finder is far more reliable than any printed list. Enter your address and the tool shows participating locations nearby.

Is the Aetna Healthy Foods Card the same as a flex card?

Not exactly. Flex card is a marketing term several insurers use for prepaid benefit cards. The Aetna version is the Extra Benefits Card, a Benefits Mastercard with separate wallets for healthy foods, OTC products, and, on some plans, utilities and transportation. The healthy-food spending is one part of that broader card.