Home Health & Hospice Week

If you're wondering how to tackle the rise of Medicare managed care penetration, you can draw some useful conclusions from a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Mathematica Policy Research.

The report examines Medicare Advantage enrollment nationwide. "Medicare Advantage penetration varies substantially by state," says the report. Ten states have less than 10 percent of the population in MA plans, while Minnesota has 44 percent of residents in such plans. Another 13 states have 30 percent or more of their Medicare benes in plans.

"A small number of firms account for a large share of Medicare Advantage enrollment at the state level," the report continues. In 33 states and D.C., three MA companies account for 75 percent or more of enrollees.

What that means: Focus your MA marketing and contracting efforts on the top three plans, suggests consultant Tom Boyd with Rohnert Park, Calif.-based Boyd & Nicholas. The 13-page report is available at www.kff.org/medicare/8228.cfm.