Medicare Advantage Market Share in New England

Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, with extra benefits and typically lower costs, offer a great value compared to traditional Medicare. Despite employing sometimes unpopular managed care protocols to control costs, the better value of MA plans continues to draw more and more Medicare eligible seniors away from traditional Medicare coverage.  In a span of just over four years, from October 2016 through January 2021, the penetration of Medicare Advantage plans across the U.S. has grown from under 31% of Medicare eligible Americans to over 41%.

The growing popularity of MA plans nationally is also seen in the six-state New England region, where Medicare Advantage plan enrollment has grown from an under 22% share of the Medicare eligible market in October 2016 to more than 33% as of January 2021.  Here is a state-by-state look at how Medicare Advantage market share in New England has grown from October 2016 to January 2021:

Medicare Advantage Market Share in New England

	Medicare Eligible (1)			MA Enrollment (1)			% MA Market Share
State	Jan-21	Oct-16		Jan-21	Oct-16		Jan-21	Oct-16
CT	695.3	643.9		326.2	172.2		46.9%	26.7%
MA	1,361.6	1,250.9		351.0	249.7		25.8%	20.0%
ME	350.0	315.3		157.7	80.3		45.1%	25.5%
NH	310.4	273.9		75.5	22.6		24.3%	8.2%
RI	226.1	208.5		100.2	73.6		44.3%	35.3%
VT	152.6	135.9		27.6	10.4		18.1%	7.6%
Region	3,095.9	2,828.4		1,038.2	608.8		33.5%	21.5%
Total (2)	62,741.5	56,888.7		25,936.7	17,489.5		41.3%	30.7%

(1) in thousands; region totals may not equal sum of individual states due to rounding adjustments

(2) includes U.S. territories

Source:  Medicare Monthly Enrollment Reports