Medicare Advantage enrollment has grown steadily since 2004, reaching its highest point this year, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.
Here are six findings from the analysis.
1. The analysis found one in three people with Medicare (33 percent or 19 million beneficiaries) is signed up for a Medicare Advantage plan in 2017. That compares to 13 percent or 5.3 million beneficiaries in 2004. Overall, Medicare Advantage enrollment has grown more than 70 percent since the ACA passed seven years ago.
2. In 2017, Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealthcare and Louisville, Ky.-based Humana together account for 41 percent of Medicare Advantage enrollment, according to the analysis.
3. More than half of Medicare Advantage enrollees are in plans offered by UnitedHealthcare, Humana and Chicago-based Blue Cross Blue Shield (excluding Anthem BCBS plans).
4. KFF said in nearly 40 states and the District of Columbia, at least 75 percent of enrollees are in plans offered by one of three firms, and in nearly 20 states, one company has more than 50 percent of all Medicare Advantage enrollment.
5. At least 40 percent of people with Medicare are enrolled in private plans in six states: California, Florida, Hawaii, Minnesota, Oregon and Pennsylvania, the analysis found. However, fewer than 20 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans in 13 states, plus the District of Columbia.
6. Average premiums for Medicare Advantage plans that offer prescription drug benefits have been relatively stable for the past several years ($36 per month in 2017), down about $1 per month from last year.
Read the full analysis here.