Over 4.4 million people are enrolled in a non-renewing Medicare Advantage plan (MA and MAPD) or non-renewing stand-alone Medicare Prescription drug plan and will be automatically moved ("crosswalked") from their current 2021 Medicare plan to a different 2022 Medicare plan.
Your 2021 Medicare plan may be discontinued (non-renewing) due to several different reasons: plan consolidation, service area reduction, or plan termination. When this happens, the Medicare plan may be discontinued across the country or in a specific service area (state or ZIP code).
In these situations, members of the Medicare plan will be notified in their Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) letter about the plan termination or consolidation or merger - and be given the option to join another plan during the annual Open Enrollment Period (AEP).
How many 2021 plan members will be affected by non-renewing or merged 2022 Medicare plans?
- Over 4.4 million people are being crosswalked to a new Medicare plan.
More specifically, approximately 3,229,000 members in non-renewing 2021 stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plans (PDPs) and an additional 1,195,000 members in non-renewing Medicare Advantage plans (MA and MAPDs) will be automatically "crosswalked" to new 2021 Medicare plans. (This is not considering the almost 190,000 people losing 2022 Medicare plan coverage without being crosswalked.)
| Crosswalked stand-alone Medicare Part D plans (PDPs) (with the number of plan members impacted) |
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| Plan Name | States | Members Affected |
| WellCare Medicare Rx Saver (PDP) members crosswalked to Wellcare Classic (PDP) | in all states | 589,917 |
| WellCare Wellness Rx (PDP) members crosswalked to Wellcare Value Script (PDP) | in all states | 850,860 |
| Express Scripts Medicare - Value (PDP) members crosswalked to Cigna Secure Rx (PDP) | in all states | 349,028 |
For more information, you can review 2022 Medicare prescription drug only plan changes using: PDP-Compare.com/2022. Examples of some of the 2022 Medicare Advantage plan "crosswalks".
| Examples of Medicare Advantage plan Reassignments | |||
| 2021 Medicare Advantage Plan | New 2022 Medicare Advantage Plan | State(s) | Members Affected |
| Aetna Medicare Prime (HMO-POS) | Aetna Medicare Gold Advantage Prime (HMO) | 5 Counties in MO | 1,455 |
| Anthem MediBlue Essential (HMO) | Anthem MediBlue Preferred (HMO) | 65 Counties in OH | 69,124 |
| WellCare Value (HMO-POS) | Wellcare No Premium (HMO-POS) | 35 Counties in TX and 53 Counties in MS | 21,082 |
| Health Net Sapphire Premier II (HMO) | Wellcare Plus Sapphire II (HMO) | 9 Counties in CA | 6,861 |
| WellCare Choice (HMO) | Wellcare No Premium (HMO) | 6 Counties in NY | 5,580 |
In particular, note the HMO-POS plan in the chart above whose members will be losing their POS feature.
Bottom Line: Many counties across the country will see significant changes in their Medicare Advantage plan landscape. You can review 2022 Medicare Advantage plan changes using our MA-Compare tool found here: MA-Compare.com/2022.
Need a faster way to see if your Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plan is changing in 2022?
Our PDP-Compare and MA-Compare tools allow you to compare annual 2021/2022 changes in all stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plans (PDPs) or Medicare Advantage plans (MAs or MAPDs) across the country showing changes in monthly premiums and plan design changes, as well as changes in co-payments or co-insurance rates for different drug tiers along with the most recent Medicare quality star ratings.
Both the PDP-Compare and MA-Compare also show the Medicare Part D plans or Medicare Advantage plans that will be merged, discontinued, or added in 2022.
Not sure where to begin with all this information?
Medicare beneficiaries can telephone Medicare at 1-800-633-4227, speak with a Medicare representative, and learn more about their 2022 Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage plan options.