March 16, 2026 Newswires

Insights Into 4th Largest Medicare Advantage Market Using Mark Farrah Associates’ New Comparison Tools

Business Wire

PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Mark Farrah Associates (MFA), https://www.markfarrah.com/, recently released a brief presenting a comparative analysis of the top Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for Maricopa County in Arizona (AZ) using new comparison tools found only in MFA’s Medicare Benefits Analyzer™(MBA) product, a subscription-based dataset providing customers easy access to monthly enrollment information, as well as competitive Medicare.gov benefits data and Star Quality Ratings.

As of February 1, 2026, insurance companies provided Medicare Advantage (MA or Part C) coverage for over 796,500 people in AZ. More than half of the people with MA coverage in AZ live in Maricopa County, the fourth largest county in the U.S. and one of the most competitive MA markets in the country. Highlights include:

Using MBA’s new Enrollment Analysis tool, MFA found that the four leading plans for Maricopa County included those offered by UnitedHealthcare, Humana, Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) via its Cigna HealthSpring Alliance subsidiary, and Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of AZ.
Year-to-date, from December 1, 2025, to February 1, 2026, the overall MA market for Maricopa County increased by less than 200 people; while the top four plans added over 13,000 net new members, with nearly 8,000 of them choosing BCBS of AZ’s Blue Medicare Advantage Classic (HMO).
Each of these Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) offer zero-dollar plan, health, and drug premiums; include prescription drug coverage; have no copayments for Primary Care Physician visits; no health deductibles; and received above-average, Overall Star Ratings of 3.5 or higher.
BCBS of AZ’s Blue Medicare Advantage Classic (HMO) increased its Star Ratings from 3.5 in 2025 to 4.5 in 2026, undeniably contributing to its significant enrollment increase.
Using MBA’s distinctive new Benefits Comparison tool, which allows users to easily compare disparate benefits, such as 20% coinsurance against $20 copayments, by using customizable, nationwide average costs for specified benefits, MFA found multiple surprising differences between the four plans, such as the plan with the lowest Out-of-Pocket Maximum (OOP Max), at $2,300, had the lowest enrollment growth when compared to the other plans with OOP Max’s of $2,800 to $2,900.

Full results of the 2026 election period may not be available until May 15, 2026. However, MFA’s customers can gain valuable insights into their local markets now, using MFA’s MBA product with the new Enrollment Analysis and Benefit Comparison tools. To read the full FREE text of “Comparing and Contrasting Arizona’s Most Popular 2026 Medicare Advantage Plans", visit the MFA Briefs on Mark Farrah Associates' website.

About Medicare Benefits Analyzer (MBA)

In order to help Medicare plans access and use Medicare.gov data more efficiently, Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) maintains this data in its Medicare Benefits Analyzer™ product. Benefit details for 2026 are online, along with Star Quality Ratings and monthly enrollment data. MBA now includes new Enrollment Analysis and Benefit Comparison tools to help facilitate your assessment of the benefits data. Visit our website at www.markfarrah.com or call 724-338-4100 for more information.

About Mark Farrah Associates (MFA)

MFA is a leading data aggregator and publisher providing health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry. Committed to simplifying analysis of health insurance business, our products include: Health Coverage Portal™, Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, County Health Coverage™, Health Plans USA™ and 5500 Employer Health Plus. Follow us on LinkedIn!