Mark Farrah Associates Assessed Year-over-year Health Insurance Segment Enrollment Trends

Business Wire

MCMURRAY, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In the latest Healthcare Business Strategy report, Mark Farrah Associates (MFA), www.markfarrah.com, compared membership by segment between 1^st quarter 2016 and 1^st quarter 2017 to provide insights about enrollment trends. Health insurance enrollment trends continue to reflect noticeable shifts amidst the changing health care landscape. The latest trends indicate membership gains in Government programs, Medicare Advantage and Managed Medicaid, but year-over-year declines in the Individual/Non-Group, Employer Group Risk and Employer Group ASO (administrative services only) business segments.

Based on membership data filed with statutory financial reports from the NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners), the CA DMHC (California Department of Managed Health Care), as well as data from MFA’s ASO estimates, insurance companies provided medical coverage for nearly 266 million people, as of March 31, 2017. The Employer Group ASO and the Group Risk segments dominated in terms of total membership, covering 45% and 22% of the market, respectively. However, growth was most significant in the Managed Medicaid segment as membership increased by 2.8 million beneficiaries between 1Q16 and 1Q17. The following are key findings from Mark Farrah Associates' assessment of year-over-year first quarter enrollment trends:

Approximately 18.1 million people are currently enrolled in Individual, Non-Group medical plans, representing an 11% decrease between 1Q16 and 1Q17.
Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) now provide coverage for approximately 50.2 million beneficiaries, representing 6% growth, year-over-year. According to CMS reports, over 74.5 million people rely on Medicaid as their source of health insurance coverage as of April 2017.
First quarter membership in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans increased to over 19 million as of March 31, 2017, from 17.98 million in the prior year.
Employer Group Risk membership declined by 540,000 members, year-over-year.
According to MFA’s recent estimates, Employer Group ASO membership was approximately 118.8 million a decrease of nearly 158,000 members from March of 2016 to March of 2017.

Market analysts throughout the industry rely on enrollment data and segment performance metrics to gain better insights into health plan market share and competitive positioning. Mark Farrah Associates maintains financial data as well as enrollment and market share for the health insurance industry in its subscription-based Health Coverage Portal™. MFA will continue to monitor enrollment changes and competitive shifts across all healthcare segments.

To read the full text of "Health Insurance Enrollment Shifts and Market Segment Trends", visit the Analysis Briefs library on Mark Farrah Associates' website.

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 Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, Health Coverage Portal™, County Health Coverage™, and Health Plans USA™.