America's Benefit Specialist January-February 2023

MEDICARE MATTERS

EMPLOYER GROUP MEDICARE ADVANTAGE MEMBERSHIP TRENDS

Kaiser experienced a slight YTD growth of 0.5%, or approximately 2,700 members. The company has continued to see moderate gains since 2019. Much like Kaiser, Humana grew very little from year-end 2021, increasing en rollment by only 3,600, or 0.7%. Howev er, from December of 2019 through Oc tober of 2022, the insurer has increased MA group enrollment by over 41,000 enrollees (8.1%). Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Group MA enrollment was over 454,000 as of October 2022, a 2.1% YTD growth. Primarily due to the State of Michigan’s retiree healthcare plan switching many of its Medicare-eligible retirees to a MA plan, effective January 1, 2020, BCBS of Michigan’s Group MA enrollment increased nearly 17% between 2019 and 2020. Between December 2019 and Oc tober 2022, the U.S and its territories experienced a 14.6% overall growth rate in Group MA market enrollment. All the leading 10 states, by enrollment, expe rienced membership increases, with California continuing to top the list at nearly 685,000 members. Between De cember 2019 and October 2022, Texas had the largest percentage increase in Group MA enrollment, 19%, represent ing approximately 62,000 enrollees. This brief is based on an analysis of employer-group enrollment data for Medicare Advantage plans released by CMS. Mark Farrah Associates’ Medicare Business Online simplifies the tracking of monthly Medicare Advantage and PDP enrollment by competitor. Enroll ment data is updated monthly as soon as CMS releases new data. To read the full text of “Employ er-Group Medicare Advantage Year to-Date Enrollment Updates”, visit the MFA Briefs on www.markfarrah.com.

In a recent analysis brief, Mark Farrah Associates provided insights about the current employer-group Medicare Advantage market and assessed mem bership trends by carrier and state. As of October 1, 2022, nearly 156,000 more beneficiaries were enrolled in employ er-group MA plans than in December of 2021, a three-percent increase, accord ing to the CMS Medicare Advantage enrollment reports aggregated by Mark Farrah Associates in Medicare Business Online. The American Association for Medi care Supplement Insurance recent ly released the lowest 2023 prices for Medicare Supplement insurance (Plan G) for women turning age 65 in each state. Medigap Plan G is the most pop ular Medigap plan choice among men and women turning 65. (Fif ty-one percent chose Plan G, and 38% chose Plan N.) The lowest monthly rate was found in Iowa, $78.65, while the lowest monthly rate in Manhattan is $278.25. While the lowest available Plan G was $78.65 in Iowa (ZIP Code 50061), the highest for same ZIP Code is $192.09. For NYC, the high est available Plan G is $476.04. Visit https://medicaresupp.org/informa tion/medigap/best-medigap-2023 prices/ to see the full report. THE LOWEST MED SUPP PLANS IN EACH STATE

Nearly 29.8 million people were en rolled in MA plans as of October 1, rep resenting a growing share of the 64.7 million Americans eligible for Medi care. Individual MA policies, acquired through direct purchase, covered approximately 24.7 million members, as of October 1. While individual policies dominate the MA market, MA employ er-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 17.2% of the total MA market. Employer-group MA enrollment has grown to over 5.1 million members, an increase of nearly 156,000, or three percent, since December 2021. Further more, group market enrollment has grown by approximately 652,000 mem bers since December of 2019. As employers, unions and govern ment agencies continue to move retir ees from self-insured Medicare Sup plement (Medicare Wrap or Medigap) plans to fully insured MA plans, com petition within the Group MA market segment remains strong. All five lead ing Group MA health insurers achieved significant growth in membership over the past four years. Overall, the top five companies gained over 639,000 bene ficiaries, equating to a 17.1% enrollment increase, when 2022 data is compared to 2019. UnitedHealth has maintained its position as the Group MA segment leader with over 1.6 million members as of October 2022, adding over 153,000 new enrollees since yearend 2021, a 10% growth rate. CVS showed little growth since 2021, only gaining 1.3%, or about 15,000 new enrollees year to date (YTD) in 2022. CVS added just over 71,000 new enrollees between 2020 and 2021.

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