The hottest new club in the U.S. is Medicare Advantage (MA). As of January 1, 2022, 28.5 million seniors and persons with disabilities were enrolled in an MA plan — an increase of 8.8 percent from the year prior. Current federal projections of that number growing to reach 29.5 million people in 2022 are likely to be surpassed. This growth is driven by the fact that at least one MA plan is now available to 99 percent of those eligible for Medicare.

The MA program is expected to exceed 50 percent of the eligible Medicare population within the next year. At its current rate of growth, MA is on track to reach 69 percent of the Medicare population by the end of 2030. Growth in MA enrollment is "Hot!" 

HealthTap is now just beginning to serve this large cohort of patients with our new partnership with Clover Health. One of the great benefits of serving this patient population is that we, as providers, can plan to deliver ongoing care for many years to these seniors who have stable coverage. MA plans have an incentive to invest in preventive health measures that may pay off over many years. This is in contrast to the incentives for commercial health insurance plans that have a shorter expected length of coverage for each beneficiary. We are delighted to offer ongoing virtual primary care as a key driver in improving health and reducing total cost of care for MA members. 

Naturally, HealthTap is not alone in paying attention to this market. Some of the biggest health insurance companies are big players in Medicare Advantage, including Humana, Cigna, CVS Health’s Aetna unit, Elevance Health and UnitedHealth Group. All are launching plans in several new states and hundreds of new counties for 2023.

We are delighted to see this growth in access to the Medicare Advantage options for seniors, and we look forward to contributing to improved health and well-being of people who choose to receive ongoing care from a virtual primary care physician on HealthTap.