MFA: Fewer Medicare Advantage plans to be offered for 2010

A new report from Mark Farrah Associates (MFA), found 18% fewer Medicare Advantage (MA) plans will be offered for 2010 as the number of unique plans offered nationwide declined from 3,700 to 3,025. The number of stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) declined by 7% from 1,720 in 2009 to 1,605 for 2010. Plan reductions were expected given the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) urged MA and PDP organizations in the 2010 Call Letter to eliminate plan offerings for 2010 that have little or no enrollment.

The drop in the number of plans still leaves plenty of competition during the Medicare open enrollment period, which starts on November 15, 2009. At that time beneficiaries may enroll in or disenroll from a Medicare Advantage or PDP plan. The stakes are high with MA enrollment at 11.3 million members and PDP enrollment of 17.6 million, as of October 1, 2009.

To make it easier for seniors to compare Medicare plans within select counties and states, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides updated online resources. MFA in partnership with Strenuus organized the 2009 and 2010 plan information in its new Medicare Benefits Analyzer ^TM (MBA) product. The MBA database is designed to make it easier for companies to compare their products with the competition.

As Medicare open enrollment approaches, plans are busy analyzing their competitive position in local markets to identify opportunities. Insurers will compete for new members based on a varied landscape, including how premiums, benefits, networks and prescription drug coverage stack up against the competition. Mark Farrah Associates’ latest report presents high-level observations about the 2010 Medicare landscape based on aggregate analysis of MA and PDP plans using the new Medicare Benefits Analyzer tool.