eHealth's Medicare Snapshot Report Highlights Plan Costs & Selection Trends from the First Half of Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period

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Nov 16, 2023, 09:00 ET

Demand for zero-premium Medicare Advantage plans has hit a plateau; the average premium for Part D plans remains historically high

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- American seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries are midway through Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period (AEP), but which plans are they selecting for 2024, and how does that compare with prior years? To answer these questions, eHealth, Inc. (Nasdaq: EHTH) (eHealth.com), a leading online private health insurance marketplace, released its latest original research examining costs and plan selection trends.

eHealth's Medicare Snapshot: AEP Costs & Trends report is unique. While other organizations produce landscape analyses of the Medicare market as a whole, eHealth's report focuses on what Medicare beneficiaries are actually selecting for themselves during the first half of AEP (October 15 through November 8, 2023). This year's report covers six years of insightful trendline data.

Highlights from the report:

Demand for zero-premium Medicare Advantage plans is stable: 66% of all Medicare Advantage plans come with no monthly premium*, but they're popular with enrollees. eHealth found that 83% of beneficiaries choosing Medicare Advantage plans selected zero-premium plans. Nevertheless, demand for zero-premium plans is lower than in prior years: 84% of beneficiaries chose zero-premium plans for the 2023 coverage year; for 2022, that figure was 88%.
The average premium for Medicare Advantage plans is higher for the second year in a row: $9 is the average monthly premium among Medicare Advantage plans selected by beneficiaries shopping for 2024 coverage at eHealth, compared to $7 in the same period last AEP and $4 the year before.
Average premiums for Medicare Part D prescription drug plans remains high: $29 is the average monthly premium for Part D plans selected by Medicare beneficiaries at eHealth, down slightly from $31 in the same period last AEP, but still significantly higher than eHealth tracked for the 2019 through 2022 coverage years.

Read the full report.

No information relevant to eHealth's financial performance should be drawn from this report. Like other insurance brokers, eHealth is compensated on a fixed per-member basis for Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, as regulated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and on a percentage of premium basis for most Medicare Supplement plans.

For additional methodology information, please refer to the report.

Notes
* Source: KFF's Medicare Advantage 2024 Spotlight

About eHealth (NASDAQ: EHTH)
We're Matchmakers. For over 25 years, eHealth has helped millions of Americans find the healthcare coverage that fits their needs at a price they can afford. Consumers can visit our health insurance marketplace at eHealth.com or call us to speak with a licensed insurance agent at 1-833-964-1202, TTY 711. As a leading independent licensed insurance agency and advisor, eHealth offers access to over 180 health insurers, including national and regional companies.

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Media inquiries, please contact: pr@ehealth.com

SOURCE eHealth, Inc.