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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