Employer-Group Medicare Advantage Year-to-Date Enrollment Updates

November 20, 2023

Nearly 32.2 million people were enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans as of November 1, 2023, representing a growing share of the 66.2 million Americans eligible for Medicare. Individual MA policies, acquired through direct purchase, covered approximately 26.7 million members, as of November 1, 2023. While individual policies dominate the MA market, MA employer-group retiree programs, also known as Medicare Advantage Employer Group Waiver Plans (MA-EGWP, EGHP, or Group MA), continue to experience steady enrollment increases. Group MA currently encompasses 16.8% of the total MA market.

Employer-group MA enrollment has grown to over 5.4 million members, an increase of over 283,000 or 5.5%, since December of 2022. Furthermore, group market enrollment has grown by approximately 728,000 members since December of 2020. In this brief, Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) analyzes previous yearend employer Group MA enrollment reports with recent enrollment reports from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Group MA Enrollment Trends by Carrier and State

As employers, unions, and government agencies continue to move retirees from self-insured Medicare Supplement (Medicare Wrap or Medigap) plans to fully insured MA plans, competition within the Group MA market segment remains strong. Four of the five leading Group MA health insurers gained membership over the past four years. Overall, the top five companies gained nearly 630,000 beneficiaries, equating to a 15.8% enrollment increase, when November 2023 data is compared to December 2020.

• UnitedHealth has maintained its position as the Group MA segment leader with over 1.8 million members, as of November 2023, adding over 163,000 new enrollees since yearend 2022, a 9.7% growth rate.
   
• CVS gained over 98,000 new enrollees since 2022, an increase of 8.7%. CVS gained only 15,900 new enrollees between 2021 and 2022.
   
• Kaiser experienced a slight year-to-date (YTD) growth of 0.3%, or approximately 1,800 members. The company has continued to see modest gains since 2020.
   
• Humana was the only insurer among the top 5 to see declining employer-group MA enrollment, decreasing enrollment by -56,600, or -10.2%. This may be due to the company’s decision to exit the employer-group commercial marketplace.
   
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Group (BCBS of MI GRP) MA enrollment was over 456,000, as of November 2023, a 0.5% YTD growth. Since adding the State of Michigan’s retiree healthcare plan, effective January 1, 2020, BCBS of MI’s Group MA enrollment has grown less than15,000 from December 2020 to November 2023.
   

As per the chart above, between December 2020 and November 2023, the U.S and its territories experienced a 15.5% overall growth rate in Group MA market enrollment. All the leading ten states, by enrollment, experienced membership increases, with California (CA) continuing to top the list at over 718,000 members. Between December 2020 and November 2023, Texas (TX) had the largest percentage increase in Group MA enrollment, 28.5%, representing over 95,000 enrollees.

About this Data

This brief is based on an analysis of employer-group enrollment data for Medicare Advantage plans 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.

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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