Study: 113 Fewer Counties Have Zero Premium Medicare Advantage Plans in 2015

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 25, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- While most Medicare beneficiaries in 2015 have access to Medicare Advantage plans with $0 premiums, the availability of these plans has been in decline since 2011. HealthPocket's examination of government data found that the total number of Medicare Advantage plans with a $0 premium in the United States dropped from 813 in 2014 to 726 in 2015, with 113 fewer counties having access to these popular $0 premium Medicare Advantage plans.

The counties that lost $0 premium Medicare Advantage plans were in 15 states: California, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming. Nebraska had the most counties in 2015 that lost zero premium Medicare Advantage plans (36), followed by Montana (25), Idaho (23), California (12), and Vermont (8). The only states that did not have any $0 Medicare Advantage plans in both 2014 and 2015 were Delaware and Alaska.

HealthPocket also found that there were 16 counties with no zero premium Medicare Advantage plans in 2014 but gained access to these plans in 2015. These counties were in the states of California, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington. Since 16 counties gained access to zero premium Medicare Advantage plans and 129 counties lost access to zero premium Medicare Advantage plans, there were 113 fewer counties with access to zero premium Medicare Advantage plans in 2015.

HealthPocket also compared 2015 quality ratings associated with $0 premium Medicare Advantage plans. The average star rating for Medicare Advantage plans that had $0 premiums in 2014 but not 2015 was 3.61 stars. Star ratings were higher (3.83 stars) for Medicare Advantage plans that had $0 premiums in 2015 but not 2014. Similarly the average rating for Medicare Advantage plans that had $0 premiums in both 2015 and 2014 was 3.84 stars.

The analysis examined approved contracts/plans available in 2014 and 2015 in the United States, including the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The full report is available at "113 Fewer Counties Have Zero Premium Medicare Advantage Plans in 2015".

HealthPocket.com is a free website that compares and ranks all health insurance plans, helping individuals, families, and small businesses to make their best health plan decisions. HealthPocket publishes health insurance market analyses and other consumer advocacy research. HealthPocket's research is nonpartisan and uses only objective data from government, non-profit, and private sources that carry no conditions that might restrict the site from serving as an unbiased resource. HealthPocket, Inc. is independently managed and based in Mountain View, California. Learn more at www.HealthPocket.com.

For more information, please contact Ryan Hughes, Shirley & Banister Public Affairs at [email protected] or 703-739-5920/800-536-5920

SOURCE HealthPocket