Medicare Advantage is an alternative to traditional Medicare that allows beneficiaries to receive healthcare benefits from private insurance plans that contract with the federal government. These plans cover all services included under traditional Medicare, typically include additional benefits, and always have an out-of-pocket spending maximum for services covered under Medicare Parts A and B. However, they also may have smaller provider networks, more prior authorization requirements, and more complex cost-sharing rules.
Medicare Advantage plans are sold by a variety of private insurers who compete for market share by offering plans with different supplemental benefits, premiums, cost-sharing requirements, and provider networks. The market share of insurers offering Medicare Advantage plans in Arkansas has changed over time and varies widely from county to county.
This interactive dashboard displays county-level Medicare Advantage enrollment in Arkansas, by insurer, for 2017-2026. The map shows the share of Medicare Advantage enrollees in plans offered by the selected insurer, by county, for the selected year. When a county is selected, data are displayed for both the selected year and the preceding year to show the year-over-year change in enrollment.
Dashboard Views and Definitions
- The insurer selection shows parent insurance companies by default, but it can be toggled to show the specific Medicare Advantage organizations (the legal entities that hold Medicare Advantage contracts) operating under each parent insurance company.
- The line graph displays total enrollment in plans offered by the selected insurer, for the selected county, from 2017 to 2026.
- The stacked bar chart shows each insurer’s share of the selected county’s total Medicare Advantage enrollment in the selected year.
- When no county on the map is selected, statewide numbers for the selected insurer are displayed in the line graph and bar chart.
For more on Medicare Advantage, see ACHI’s explainer on plan options and enrollment trends in Arkansas, and our dashboard on county-level enrollment in Medicare Advantage versus traditional Medicare.
About the Data
The data presented here are sourced from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Medicare Advantage/Part D Contract and Enrollment Data section:
- Medicare Advantage organization names, contract numbers, and contract-level enrollment counts were obtained from “Monthly MA Enrollment by State/County/Contract.”
- Total Medicare Advantage enrollment counts per county were obtained from the “Monthly MA Enrollment by State/County/Plan Type.”
- Medicare Advantage organization names, Medicare Advantage organization marketing names, and parent company names were obtained from the “Monthly Enrollment by Contact/Plan/State/County.”
Enrollment in certain Medicare plan types is excluded, including Medicare Medical Savings Account plans, cost contracts, Medicare-Medicaid plans, the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, and standalone Part D prescription drug plans. Enrollment in every type of special needs plan is included.
All enrollment data represent a one-day snapshot of enrollment counts in May of the selected year. Retroactive enrollments and disenrollments are not captured in these data, which results in a slight undercount.
Counties with fewer than 11 enrollees are suppressed in the source data. Enrollment in suppressed counties is excluded from the organization, county, and state totals. The percentage change in a selected county is omitted when the preceding year’s count is suppressed.