This year, many health plans are taking an especially critical lens to the consumer experience and how well consumers believe their coverage and services are addressing their healthcare needs. Health plans enter 2025 against the backdrop of vocal consumer scrutiny,…

Star ratings are critical to Medicare Advantage plans, given the financial and strategic implications. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today publicly released the 2025 star ratings data for all contracts. While health plans have been able to…

Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) face an inherent tension to grow despite financial constraints on margin. This pressure makes it difficult to invest in competitive benefit design elements that are known to drive growth, including supplemental benefits. Significant financial headwinds including…

CMS recently released its proposed rule for Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) and Part D sponsors for contract year 2025. While the proposed rule outlines meaningful policy and technical changes to the Medicare program (e.g., behavioral health, health equity, agent/broker compensation, D-SNP…

Introduction The recent publication of 2024 Medicare Advantage (MA) Star ratings confirmed that the regulatory and operating environment for this program will challenge health plans (especially compared to past years) as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) shifts…

This brief builds upon last year’s analysis of Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) and highlights results from the most recent enrollment data available1 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that accounts for 2023 AEP. Where helpful, we’ll compare…

In late February 2022, HealthScape published an initial review of Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) results, noting material changes to Medicare Advantage (MA) membership from December 2021 to January 2022 (when AEP enrollments went into effect) across nearly 300 carriers, including…

This brief details HealthScape Advisors’ first look at Medicare Advantage (MA) 2022 Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) results. As additional enrollment data becomes available from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), we will update this brief with any significant…