Medicare Advantage - Research and Data from KFF

Medicare Advantage Insurers Will Collect at Least $12.8 Billion in Federal Bonus Payments in 2023—a Nearly 30% Increase from 2022

Aug 9, 2023

News Release

Federal spending on bonus payments to insurance companies that offer Medicare Advantage plans will reach at least $12.8 billion in 2023, according to a new KFF analysis. That is a nearly 30% increase from 2022, and more than quadruple the spending in 2015. These data come from one of three analyses released today by KFF that examine various facets of the Medicare Advantage program, which provides health insurance coverage to nearly 31 million Americans. KFF…

Medicare Advantage Enrollment, Plan Availability and Premiums in Rural Areas

Sep 7, 2023

Issue Brief

Medicare Advantage enrollment is lower, but has grown more rapidly in recent years in rural areas than in metropolitan areas. In 2023, nearly 40% of eligible Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas are in Medicare Advantage. Rural Medicare beneficiaries can choose from 27 Medicare Advantage plans on average and most are enrolled in a plan that charges no additional premium.

With Medicare Open Enrollment Underway, Beneficiaries Typically Will Have a Choice of 43 Medicare Advantage Plans for 2024, Consistent with 2023 But More than Double The Number From 2018

Nov 8, 2023

News Release

With open enrollment underway, Medicare beneficiaries have until December 7th to review and select their coverage for 2024. They also have a lot of options to choose from, as two new KFF analyses show. For many beneficiaries, the first decision is whether to enroll in traditional Medicare (often with supplemental coverage and a stand-alone prescription drug plan) or Medicare Advantage, the private plans sponsored by insurance companies that now cover more than half of all…

KFF Research Shows that Medicare Open Enrollment TV Ads Are Dominated by Medicare Advantage Plans Featuring Celebrities, Active and Fit Seniors, and Promises of Savings and Extra Benefits Without Fundamental Plan Information

Sep 20, 2023

News Release

The annual blitz of ads for Medicare Advantage plans has become a rite of fall, as health insurers, brokers and other third parties seek to court enrollees for these private plans, which are offered to the 65 million people with Medicare during the program’s open enrollment season. In advance of the open enrollment period starting on October 15, KFF reviewed more than 1,200 unique television ads that aired more than 643,000 times last year to…

Medicare Advantage in 2021: Star Ratings and Bonuses

Jun 21, 2021

Issue Brief

In 2021, 81 percent of all Medicare Advantage enrollees are in plans that receive a bonus payment from Medicare based on star quality ratings (or because they are new), substantially higher than the share in 2015 (55 percent). Annual bonus payments from the federal government to Medicare Advantage insurers have increased correspondingly, quadrupling from $3 billion in 2015 to $11.6 billion in 2021.

Key Facts About Medicare Part D Enrollment and Costs in 2022

Aug 17, 2022

Issue Brief

This analysis provides the latest data about Medicare Part D enrollment, premiums, and cost sharing in 2022 and trends over time, including information about stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) and Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans.

Beneficiary Experience, Affordability, Utilization, and Quality in Medicare Advantage and Traditional Medicare: A Review of the Literature

Sep 16, 2022

Report

This literature review examines 62 studies published since 2016 that compare Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare based on measures of beneficiary experience, affordability, service utilization, and quality.

Medicare Spent an Average of 27% More on People Who Switched from Medicare Advantage to Traditional Medicare Compared to Those Who Were Only in Traditional Medicare

Dec 6, 2024

News Release

A new KFF analysis finds higher Medicare spending among people who switched from Medicare Advantage to traditional Medicare than for similar beneficiaries who were in traditional Medicare all along. Medicare spent an average of 27% more on such beneficiaries, according to the analysis, which examined health costs in traditional Medicare for both groups in the year following the switch, after adjusting for differences in health status and other characteristics. This amounts to a difference of…

Will the Trump Administration Fast Track the Privatization of Medicare?

Mar 13, 2025

Policy Watch

The privatization of Medicare has been taking place without much public debate – a trend that has implications for the 68 million people covered by Medicare, health care providers, Medicare spending, and taxpayers. It's not yet clear whether the administration will promote policies to accelerate the privatization of Medicare or focus more on achieving efficiencies and savings within Medicare Advantage, or pursue policies that aim to achieve both. How this plays out will have implications…

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