Medicare Advantage Enrollment Projected to Decline Next Year

Enrollment in private Medicare health plans is set to drop next year by almost a million members, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Friday, a reversal for the market that has driven much of the recent growth for the US health insurance industry.

Medicare Advantage plans are projecting enrollment of 34 million next year, down from 34.9 million this year, CMS said in a news release Friday. The agency said actual enrollment often outpaces plans’ projections and the CMS expects enrollment will be stable.

Some of the largest sellers of private Medicare plans including UnitedHealth Group Inc., ...