by Robert King | Oct 25, 2019 12:11pm
The average number of
Medicare Advantage plans per beneficiary will increase in 2020 to the highest
level since 2010, according to a new analysis.
The analysis released Thursday from the Kaiser
Family Foundation found there will be 3,148 MA plans in 2020, an increase of
414 plans compared to 2019. Medicare Advantage has become a lucrative option
for insurers, with 13 new insurers entering the market next year compared to
one insurer exiting the market.
The average Medicare
beneficiary will have access to 28 MA plans next year, an increase from 24 in
2019.
The number of plans
per beneficiary is the highest since 2010 when Medicare customers could choose
from 33 plans, according to Kaiser’s analysis.
However, there is a
variation on the number of plans offered based on where the beneficiary is in
the country.
For instance,
beneficiaries in metropolitan counties can choose from an average of 31
plans compared to 16 plans in non-metropolitan counties, Kaiser said.
In an interesting
twist, six counties in Ohio and Pennsylvania will offer more than 60 plans per
beneficiary on average. However, no plans will be offered in 77 counties,
“accounting for less than 1% of beneficiaries,” Kaiser said.
The agency estimates
24.4 million Medicare beneficiaries out of about 60 million will get an MA plan
in 2020. Currently, there are 22.2 million in MA.
Kaiser also found that
the number of special needs plans will increase from 717 in 2019 to 855 next
year.
The analysis of plan
data from CMS found that 97% of all beneficiaries have access to dental,
fitness, vision and hearing benefits not covered by traditional Medicare. But a
high percentage of plans offered some transportation assistance (92%) and meal
benefits (96%).
Other benefits that
were less available were bathroom safety improvements (49%), in-home support at
54% and telemonitoring services at 29%.
MA insurers have been
imploring CMS to fund supplemental benefits that
affect social determinants of health. Without that funding, plans are hesitant
to take on social determinants of health that experts say are needed to lower
healthcare costs.
Premiums for MA plans
are expected to decline next year by 14% compared to 2019, according to data
from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The Trump
administration has sought to boost MA in recent years and point to growth
in the program as a counter to Democratic proposals to expand Medicare to every
American.
“Proposals for more
government in our healthcare—such as Medicare-for-All—would eviscerate the
progress we’ve made to strengthen the program by empowering patients to make
informed choices in choosing high-quality plans that best fit their needs,” CMS
Administrator Seema Verma said in a release announcing the 2020 star ratings
for Part D and MA plans.
Medicare open
enrollment started on Oct. 15 and will run through Dec. 7.
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