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More than half (55%) of eligible Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage in 2026. To better understand trends in the growth of the Medicare Advantage program, this brief provides current information about enrollment, including by plan type and firm
This brief analyzes out-of-pocket limits in Medicare Advantage plans in 2026, variation by plan type, the distribution of enrollees facing different out-of-pocket limits, and trends over time.
CMS recently finalized policies as part of the 2027 Medicare Advantage final rule that both enhance consumer protections and roll back changes to the Medicare Advantage program that were intended to protect consumers. These changes have gotten less attention than payment issues and changes to the star ratings system, which also affect plan payments, but could have implications for Medicare beneficiaries.
The Trump administration this week backed off a key element of its Medicare Advantage rate proposal, resulting in billions of dollars in additional payments to private insurers.
Certain insurers must now publicly report specific prior authorization metrics, but the new data offer limited insight, providing no information on what types of services are being approved and denied or why as well as no data on prescription drugs.
In his latest column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman asks if prior authorization review could be eliminated entirely, discussing how it might be done and the tradeoffs.
Virtually all (98.9%) of the 2.6 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan that terminated coverage at the end of 2025 have at least one MA-PD available in 2026, including more than two-thirds (68.7%) who have the option of enrolling in a plan sponsored by the same insurer.
The Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit is provided by private plans, either Medicare Advantage plans that offer drug coverage (MA-PDs) or, for those in traditional Medicare, stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs). New data from CMS shows that 56 million people are enrolled in Part D plans as of February 2026, with more in MA-PDs than PDPs, reflecting higher overall enrollment in Medicare Advantage than in traditional Medicare. Enrollment in group MA-PD plans decreased while…
Just over 35 million people are enrolled in Medicare Advantage in February 2026, an increase of 1.1 million since a year ago. The increase was largely driven by increased enrollment in special needs plans.
This analysis of trends in health insurers’ financial data shows that insurers’ gross margins per enrollee dipped slightly in 2024 across four markets, remaining highest in the Medicare Advantage market, followed by the individual (non-group) market, the fully insured group (employer) market, and Medicaid managed care. The analysis also examines insurers’ medical-loss ratios across the four markets.
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