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Medicare Advantage Grows to 30M Enrollees

Analysis  |  By Jay Asser  
   January 19, 2023

More people than ever have enrolled in the program, which makes up nearly half of all Medicare beneficiaries.

Medicare Advantage (MA) plans now have a record-high 30 million enrollees, according to new data released by CMS.

The numbers, as of the January 1 payment which reflect enrollments accepted through December 2, 2022, illustrate MA's continued growth in reaching the milestone and beyond.

In 2022, MA had more than 28 million enrollees, which accounted for 48% of the eligible Medicare population, according to analysis by Kaiser Family Foundation.

"With more than 30 million seniors and people with disabilities now enrolled in Medicare Advantage - nearly half of all who are eligible for Medicare – it is a huge endorsement of the value of this program," Matt Eyles, president and CEO of AHIP, said in a statement.

"This milestone shows that people are choosing MA for better affordability and health outcomes. The continued growth of the program is a testament to the tremendous value MA offers to all enrollees, and especially those with chronic illnesses who require care coordination and management, as well as those with low incomes who rely on MA's access to additional benefits at little or no cost."

Much of the new MA enrollment growth can be traced to members switching over from traditional Medicare, research published in JAMA Health Forum found.

A higher rate of members switched from traditional Medicare to MA than in the opposite direction from 2017 to 2020. The switching rates contributed to new MA enrollment growth, rising from 49% in 2016 to 67% in 2020.

A report by the Commonwealth Fund revealed that more benefits and a limit on out-of-pocket costs are the main drivers of older adults choosing MA plans.

About one in four (24%) respondents surveyed cited additional benefits as their reason for choosing MA, followed by out-of-pocket cost limits (20%).

Jay Asser is the contributing editor for strategy at HealthLeaders. 


KEY TAKEAWAYS

CMS data, as of the January 1 payment which reflect enrollments accepted through December 2, 2022, show Medicare Advantage has passed the 30-million-member threshold.

The growth represents an increase of two million since 2022, when Medicare Advantage accounted for 48% of the eligible Medicare population.


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