Medicare Advantage Enrollment Trends: Employer-Group Market

November 26, 2024

Nearly 34.6 million people were enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans as of November 1, 2024, representing a growing share of the 67.6 million Americans eligible for Medicare. Individual MA policies, acquired through direct purchase, covered approximately 28.3 million members, as of November 1, 2024. While individual policies dominate the MA market, MA employer-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 16.7% of the total MA market.

Employer-group MA enrollment has grown to nearly 5.7 million members, an increase of almost 280,000 or 5.2%, since December of 2023. Furthermore, group market enrollment has grown by approximately 725,000 members since December of 2021. In this brief, Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) analyzes previous year end employer Group MA enrollment reports with recent enrollment reports from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Group MA Enrollment Trends by Carrier and State

Competition within the Group MA market segment has remained firm as employers, unions, and government agencies continue to move retirees from self-insured Medicare Supplement (Medicare Wrap or Medigap) plans to fully insured MA plans. All five leading Group MA health insurers gained membership over the past four years. Overall, the top five companies gained over 641,000 beneficiaries, equating to a 15.3% enrollment increase, over the 4-year period between December 2021 and November 2024 data.

• UnitedHealth has maintained its position as the Group MA segment leader with nearly 1.97 million members, as of November 2024, adding over 115,000 new enrollees since yearend 2023, a 6.2% growth rate.
   
• CVS, the second leading Group MA payer, gained nearly 71,000 new enrollees since December 2023, an increase of 5.8%.
   
• Kaiser experienced a slight year-to-date (YTD) growth of 0.2%, or 1,156 members. The company has continued to see modest gains since 2021.
   
• Humana continues to show steady growth in employer-group MA enrollment with a 7.2% increase, or 35,742 additional members between December 2023 and November 2024.
   
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Group (BCBS of MI GRP) MA enrollment was over 470,500, as of November 2024, a 3.2% YTD growth. Since adding the State of Michigan’s retiree healthcare plan, effective January 1, 2020, BCBS of MI’s Group MA enrollment has grown just over 25,000 from December 2021 to November 2024.
   

As per the chart above, between December 2021 and November 2024, the U.S and its territories experienced a 14.6% overall growth rate in Group MA market enrollment. All the leading ten states, by enrollment, experienced membership increases, with California (CA) continuing to top the list at over 743,700 members. Between December 2021 and November 2024, Texas (TX) had the largest percentage increase in Group MA enrollment, 22.1%, representing over 83,000 enrollees. Mark Farrah Associates will continue to analyze and report on important health insurance segment performance and related topics. Stay tuned for future analysis briefs with valuable insights about the health care industry.

About this Data

This brief is based on an analysis of employer-group enrollment data for Medicare Advantage plans released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Mark Farrah Associates’ Medicare Business Online™ simplifies the tracking of monthly Medicare Advantage and PDP enrollment by competitor. Enrollment data is updated monthly as soon as CMS releases new data.

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™, 5500 Employer Health ^PLUS, 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 (www.markfarrah.com) or call 724-338-4100.

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