Thanks to broader benefits and usually lower costs than Original Medicare coverage, Medicare Advantage (MA) Plans have much to offer budget-minded Medicare eligible individuals. Despite utilizing managed care protocols to control costs, MA plans have been attracting growing numbers of Medicare eligible seniors away from traditional Medicare coverage. In bit more than four years, from October 2016 through January 2021, the market share of MA plans across the U.S. has grown from under 31% of Medicare eligible Americans to slightly more than 41%.
The growing popularity of Medicare Advantage plans nationally is reflected in the four-state Southwest region of the U.S., where MA plan enrollment has grown from a 31.1% share of the Medicare eligible market in October 2016 to 42.4% as of January 2021. Here is a state-by-state look at how Medicare Advantage market share in the Southwest has expanded from October 2016 to January 2021:
 | |
Medicare Advantage Market Share in the Southwest |
| Medicare Eligible (1) | MA Enrollment (1) | % MA Market Share | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Jan-21 | Oct-16 | Jan-21 | Oct-16 | Jan-21 | Oct-16 | ||
| AZ | 1,377.3 | 1,186.6 | 615.3 | 450.6 | 44.7% | 38.0% | ||
| NM | 435.7 | 386.3 | 175.1 | 124.8 | 40.2% | 32.3% | ||
| OK | 756.1 | 698.8 | 220.5 | 119.0 | 29.2% | 17.0% | ||
| TX | 4,316.2 | 3,778.6 | 1,906.9 | 1,185.4 | 44.2% | 31.4% | ||
| Region | 6,885.3 | 6,050.2 | 2,917.8 | 1,879.8 | 42.4% | 31.1% | ||
| Total (2) | 62,741.5 | 56,888.7 | 25,936.7 | 17,489.5 | 41.3% | 30.7% | ||
