The Kaiser Family Foundation has updated their Medicare Tracker, announced Feb. 27, 2007. This accessible and easy to use information includes all states, but Maine is easy to find and it shows all plans available plus much more. Please note that the fact sheet link is a PDF file, the Tracker itself is not PDF. (AM Editor)

Foundation Updates Online Medicare Health Plan Tracker With National, State and Local Enrollment Data and 2007 Medicare Plan Options

The Kaiser Family Foundation has updated its interactive online resource, the Medicare Health and Prescription Drug Plan Tracker, with new 2007 data about Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans as well as enrollment data from December 2006.

The tracker provides local, regional and national information about Medicare Advantage plans, including HMOs, regional and local PPOs, private fee-for-service plans, and special needs plans, which can be used to examine historical trends and compare key statistics by state, region, county and across the top 100 MSAs. Users can see how enrollment and the number of Medicare Advantage plans in their county have increased or decreased since 1999. They can also learn how their area compares to others in terms of the share of beneficiaries with access to Medicare Advantage plans, the types of plans available, premium levels, and payment rates. Much of the information can be plotted over time or mapped for all 50 states.

The updated online tool also includes current information about stand-alone Medicare Prescription Drug Plans. It can be used to track whether the number of plans has increased or decreased since 2006, and to compare access to plans across states and regions. It also breaks out 2006 stand-alone plan enrollment by state and region.

• How has the share of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans in Florida’s Miami-Dade County changed over the past seven years?
• Do beneficiaries in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin have access to more Medicare Advantage plans than beneficiaries in Dane County, Wisconsin? How has the number of available plans in these counties changed over time?
• How many stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plans are being offered this year in Pennsylvania, and how does that number compare to other states?
• How many beneficiaries in Texas were enrolled in stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plans last year? How many were enrolled in Private Fee-for-Service and other Medicare Advantage plans?

The Medicare Health and Prescription Drug Plan Tracker is available online at
http://www.kff.org/medicare/healthplantracker/

In addition, the Foundation has updated its Medicare Advantage fact sheet, which provides updated information about the Medicare Advantage (formerly Medicare+Choice) program, including the types of plans available, enrollment trends, premium and benefit information and how Medicare pays plans. The fact sheet also examines key issues likely to affect Medicare Advantage plans and their enrollees in coming years. The updated fact sheet is available online at
http://www.kff.org/medicare/upload/2052-09.pdf .