3 Medicare Advantage Giants Keep Growing: Mark Farrah

The biggest Medicare Advantage plan issuers are reporting bigger enrollment gains this year than other issuers. Mark Farrah Associates has shown how the biggest issuers performed in a new analysis of Medicare Advantage enrollment data. Total enrollment increased 7.6%, to 21 million. UnitedHealth Group Inc. continued to dominate the market, with a 25% share of all enrollees. (Related: CMS Tries to Flush 'Sick Creep' Out of Medicare Advantage Rates) Combined enrollment at the three biggest Medicare Advantage market players increased 12% between 2017 and 2018, to 10.5 million. All other Medicare Advantage plan issuers covered about the same number of people as the top three players. For the players outside of the top three, combined enrollment increased just 3.5%. At the state level, enrollment growth was strong in Florida and Texas. In Virginia, enrollment fell. Mark Farrah Associates based the new report on data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that runs Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act public exchange program. A copy of the full report is available here. — Read Medicare Annual Election Period Sails to an End on ThinkAdvisor. — Connect with ThinkAdvisor Life/Health on Facebook and Twitter.