On average, in 2022, Medicare Advantage enrollees had plans that covered only 48% of the physicians that traditional Medicare beneficiaries could access, according to an Oct. 27 KFF report.
The study reviewed 4,200 individual HMO/PPO MA plans that covered 20.3 million MA enrollees.
Here are five other notes from the report:
1. There were significant disparities between MA plans with broader and narrower networks: Two-thirds of physicians that traditional Medicare included were out of network for the one-fifth of MA enrollees in the most restrictive plans.
2. Counties with greater concentrations of people of color had a smaller share of physicians available to MA enrollees. The average share of physicians included in MA networks was 37% for areas with the highest proportion of people of color.
3. Differences in coverage were less pronounced with outpatient medical and surgical specialists, whereas primary care offerings lacked in comparison to traditional Medicare.
4. MA star ratings did not correlate to the size of physician networks.
5. More than half the physicians were available to MA enrollees in rural counties, more than the national average. Plans offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates, UnitedHealthcare and Centene also included at least half, on average. Counties with more insurers offering MA plans tended to have smaller physician networks.
