Continued Year-over-year Medicare Advantage Increases

February 17, 2022

Results for the Annual Election Period (AEP) for Medicare Advantage (MA) and prescription drug plans (PDPs), which runs each year from October 15^th through December 7^th, are now available. Health companies compete by offering new pricing and product options to beneficiaries during the AEP. Plans then begin to analyze final enrollment results in February, and then again in April and May, after the Open Enrollment Period (OEP), to evaluate their standing and assess which competitors gained and lost members during the last AEP and OEP. Many companies conduct their post-enrollment period competitive assessments by using tools such as Mark Farrah Associates’ (MFA) Medicare Business Online™ and Health Coverage Portal™. This brief illustrates MA and PDP performance from February 2018 to February 2022.

While overall Medicare Eligibles increased from 61.5 million in February of 2020 to 63.8 million as of February 2022, the year-over-year trend has dropped from 2.6% in 2020 to 1.7% in 2022. MA and PDP plans had mixed outcomes. As of February 1, 2022, total MA membership stood at 29,423,683, with a net gain of over 4.7 million members from February 1, 2020, a 19.3% gain since before the pandemic. Medicare stand-alone PDPs covered 23,426,151 members, as of February 1, 2022, a loss of 1.8 million from February 1, 2020, and down -7.2% over the two-year period.

About this Data

This brief is based on an analysis of enrollment data for Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans (PDPs) released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).  Mark Farrah Associates’ Medicare Business Online™ simplifies the tracking of monthly Medicare Advantage and PDP enrollment by competitor. Enrollment data is updated monthly as soon as CMS releases new data. Additionally, using MFA’s Medicare Benefits Analyzer (MBA), health companies are comparing and analyzing 2022 benefit packages and developing strategies to offer 2023 products that will attract and benefit seniors while ensuring the company is not adversely selected.

About Mark Farrah Associates (MFA)

Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) is a leading data aggregator and publisher providing health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry. Our product portfolio includes Health Coverage Portal™, County Health Coverage™, Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, 5500 Employer Health^PLUS, and Health Plans USA™. For more information about these products, refer to the informational videos and brochures, available under the Our Products section of the website (www.markfarrah.com) or call 724-338-4100.

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