Each year, we like to look at the health insurance payers and individual plans that saw the biggest changes in Medicare enrollment during the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP). Doing so can offer insights on the products and distribution tactics that resonated with consumers and the broader trends that swept the market during open enrollment.
It’s important to note that gains and losses are not always a reflection of product, distribution and marketing strategy. Sometimes big changes are a result of mergers, acquisitions and adjusting of licenses or contracts with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
In the 2024 AEP enrollment numbers, we noticed something interesting: Some of the biggest winners didn’t gain across product types, but their gains were consolidated in just one or two types of plans. Looking at the greatest gains overall doesn’t quite paint the whole picture.
Considering only enrollment in general Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, UnitedHealthcare actually lost membership during the AEP. However, the payer had big enrollment gains for its DSNP products. Aetna was by far the big winner of the AEP when looking at general MA plan enrollment, and Amerigroup lost the most enrollees.
When looking at D-SNP enrollment alone, United was the big winner of AEP. There are a few companies who sit in the top 10 of both general MA enrollment and D-SNP enrollment, including Humana, Aetna, Devoted, Anthem and Healthfirst.
The biggest loser? Medicare y Mucho Mas.
Humana and UnitedHealthcare were big winners of the Chronic Condition Special Needs Plan (C-SNP) enrollment. Otherwise, much of the rest of the top is made up of specialty MA plans. Brand New Day came in last, with the greatest net loss of C-SNP enrollees.
When it came to Group MA plans, Aetna Life Insurance Company and Sierra Health and Life Insurance Company, Inc. led enrollment gains. The top 10 also includes plans that focus on states with large union populations, including BCBS of Michigan Mutual Insurance Company in seventh and California Physicians’ Service in eighth.
The top five losers included UHC of California, Excellus Health Plan, Inc., Aetna Health, Inc. of Pennsylvania and Triple S Advantage, Inc.
Breaking down enrollment growth and decline by plan shows how payers shifted during AEP and over the course of the year. It can also give healthcare marketers a sense of the trends of older adults, which we keep an eye on throughout the year with consumer surveys of the Medicare- and Medicaid-eligible population.
We’ll be reporting new findings in an upcoming report on the AEP consumer experience, coming soon. Don’t miss it!
To learn more about the 2024 AEP, check out our creative review of co-brand marketing. For more data insights, read our blog about when D-SNP eligibles enroll in plans compared to direct mail marketing deployments.
Any questions? Reach out to Media Logic today.