October 16, 2019
Medicare Advantage plans
continue to command a sizable proportion of the healthcare industry, providing
medical coverage to over 23.1 million beneficiaries. In the last three
years, these plans have collectively increased enrollment by approximately 4.5
million members and currently cover 35% of the nearly 67 million people
eligible for Medicare benefits. The 2020 Annual Election Period (AEP) for
Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and prescription drug plans (PDPs) is underway as
of October 15th. As Medicare companies finalize sales and
marketing strategies, they analyze data from Medicare Plan Finder (MPF), an
online tool that makes it easy for seniors to review options and shop for new
Medicare plans. Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, a Mark Farrah
Associates’ database, helps simplify analysis of the Medicare Plan Finder data
for companies competing in this segment. This brief presents a snapshot of the
2020 Medicare Advantage market with insights from the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Landscape reports.
Overview of the Medicare
Landscape
Based on an aggregate
analysis of CMS Landscape reports, a total of 4,407 distinct Medicare Advantage
(MA) plan offerings are in the market lineup for the 2020 AEP, from October 15th through
December 7th. This includes MA plans, Medicare Advantage with
prescription drug plans (MAPDs), Medicare/Medicaid plans (MMPs), and Special
Needs Plans (SNPs). During the AEP, Medicare beneficiaries can choose to
change MA plans or switch from Original Medicare to MA, and plan benefits will
become effective on January 1, 2020.
A total of 3,534 MA and
MMP plans are being offered for 2020, a sizeable increase from 3,084 in
2019. Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) continue to be the dominant
MA plan type with 2,252 offerings, or 64% of all MA plans for the coming
year. Additionally, 873 Special Needs Plans (SNPs) are available in 2020,
up from 773 in 2019. Stand-alone PDPs nationwide increased from 912
plans in 2019 to 959 plan offerings for 2020.
|
Medicare
Advantage Plan Counts (MA & MAPD)
|
||||||||
|
Year
|
Cost
|
Local HMO
|
Local PPO
|
MMP
|
MSA
|
PFFS
|
Regional
PPO
|
Total
|
|
2019
|
72
|
1,949
|
905
|
50
|
6
|
52
|
50
|
3,084
|
|
2020
|
80
|
2,252
|
1,055
|
44
|
6
|
45
|
52
|
3,534
|
|
Special
Needs Plan Counts (SNPs)
|
||||
|
Year
|
Local HMO
|
Local PPO
|
Regional PPO
|
Total
|
|
2019
|
659
|
61
|
13
|
733
|
|
2020
|
784
|
77
|
12
|
873
|
|
Stand-alone
Prescription Drug Plan Counts (PDPs)
|
|
|
Year
|
PDP
|
|
2019
|
912
|
|
2020
|
959
|
Source: Mark Farrah
Associates' Medicare Benefits Analyzer TM presenting data
from CMS Medicare Plan Finder and Landscape Source Files; excludes
employer-sponsored plans. For this assessment, plans were counted as distinct
company records by Contract-Plan-Segment ID without geographic distribution.
|
2020 Medicare
Advantage Part D Coverage
|
||
|
|
Count
|
Percent
|
|
Total
Number of Plans
|
3,534
|
100%
|
|
Plans
without Part D
|
339
|
10%
|
|
Plans
with Part D
|
3,195
|
90%
|
Source: Mark Farrah
Associates' Medicare Benefits Analyzer TM presenting data
from CMS Medicare Plan Finder and Landscape Source Files; excludes
employer-sponsored plans. For this assessment, plans were counted as distinct
company records by Contract-Plan-Segment ID without geographic distribution.
A total of 3,195, or 90%
of MA plans, include Part D benefits, and total monthly premiums range from $0
to $350. Forty-nine percent of 2020 MA plans (excluding SNPs), are
available at the $0 plan premium level. In addition, 26% of all plans
will be charging monthly premiums ranging from $2 to $50 while 15% of plan
premiums are in the $51 to $100 range. Only 2% or 59 plans are charging
monthly premiums greater than $200. These benefits-rich plans typically
have low copays and as a result estimated out-of-pocket expenses are often
minimal.
|
2020
Medicare Advantage Premium Spread
|
||
|
|
Count
|
Percent
|
|
Total
Number of Plans
|
3,534
|
100%
|
|
$0
Premium
|
1,724
|
49%
|
|
$2
- $50 Premium
|
910
|
26%
|
|
$51
- $100 Premium
|
520
|
15%
|
|
$101
- $200 Premium
|
315
|
9%
|
|
Greater
than $200 Premium
|
59
|
2%
|
|
Null
Premium Value
|
6
|
0%
|
Source: Mark Farrah
Associates' Medicare Benefits Analyzer TM presenting data
from CMS Medicare Plan Finder and Landscape Source Files; excludes
employer-sponsored plans. For this assessment, plans were counted as distinct
company records by Contract-Plan-Segment ID without geographic distribution.
Plan Competition for 2020
Many MA plans and
stand-alone PDPs have expanded their current supplemental offerings or their
coverage area for 2020. Anthem, Centene, and Humana have announced larger
coverage areas for this year and Cigna recently increased its product
offerings in Nashville. UnitedHealth not only gained coverage in new counties,
but also recently acquired a Virginia MA plan.
According to the 2020 CMS
Landscape reports, Humana will market 567 distinct plans, more MA plans than
any other company nationwide. UnitedHealth continued to increase its MA
plan offerings for the 2020 calendar year with 478 distinct plans identified
and CVS is offering 417 plans for 2020. BCBS, Wellcare, Anthem, and Cigna
also continue to have a notable plan offerings presence, respectively.
Source: Mark Farrah
Associates' Medicare Benefits Analyzer TM presenting data
from CMS Plan Finder and Landscape Source Files; excludes employer-sponsored
plans. For this assessment, plans were counted as distinct company records by
Contract-Plan-Segment ID without geographic distribution.
Medicare Benefits
AnalyzerTM for Comparing Medicare Benefits
Analysts often use Plan
Finder benefits data from the Medicare.gov website to compare plan
premiums, copays and star rating awards, market by market. Identifying
plan-by-plan benefits details such as annual Out-of-Pocket Limits and
Deductibles; Primary Care Doctor Visit Copays; Specialist Doctor Visit Copays;
Inpatient Hospital Copays; Ambulance and Emergency Room Copays; and Drug Tier
Copays helps companies to assess competitive advantages across markets.
This type of comparative analysis provides invaluable intelligence that
prepares Medicare plans to promote and sell their products.
In order to help Medicare
plans access and use Medicare Plan Finder (MPF) data more efficiently, Mark
Farrah Associates (MFA) maintains this data in its Medicare Benefits AnalyzerTM product.
2020 Plan Finder data is online now along with Star Quality Ratings to
complement the benefits detail. Subscribers may query tables presenting
plan benefit comparisons by state and county or download large datasets using the
file export interface. Subscribers also have access to Medicare
Business Online™ for tracking month-to-month Medicare Advantage
and Prescription Drug Plan enrollment changes. Visit our website at www.markfarrah.com or
call 724-338-4100 for more information.
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™, 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 or
call 724-338-4100.
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