Medicare Advantage Enrollment Update 2017.

Purpose: The RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis reports annually on rural beneficiary enrollment in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, noting any trends or new developments evident in the data. These reports are based on data through March of each year, capturing results of open enrollment periods.

Key findings: (1) Nationally, 1 in 3 Medicare beneficiaries is enrolled in an MA plan. In non-metropolitan areas, nearly 1 in 4 (23.5 percent) beneficiaries is enrolled in an MA plan. (2) Enrollment in MA plans, measured either as an overall count or as a proportion of eligible Medicare beneficiaries, has increased in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan populations since 2004. (3) Between 2015 and 2017, the proportion of non-metropolitan Medicare-eligible beneficiaries enrolled in local preferred provider organization (PPO), regional PPO, and "other" plans (including cost, health care pre-payment [HCPP], medical savings account [MSA] and demonstration plans) remained relatively steady. During the same period, the proportion of Medicare-eligible beneficiaries enrolled in health maintenance organization (HMO) plans increased slightly (from 28.5 percent in 2015 to 29.8 percent in 2017) while the proportion enrolled in private fee-for-service (PFFS) plans decreased slightly (from 5.6 percent in 2015 to 3.8 percent in 2017).