Key takeaways
- Medicare enrollment in Alaska stands at about 110,000 residents – only about 15% of the population, as opposed to 19% nationwide.
- Most parts of Alaska now have two MSA Medicare Advantage plans available (in prior years, there were no individual Medicare Advantage plans available in Alaska).
- 13 private insurers offer Medigap plans in Alaska, and the state’s high-risk pool offers Medigap coverage to those who aren’t eligible for private plans (along with one of the private Medigap insurers).
- There are 20 stand-alone Part D prescription plans available in Alaska in 2022; more than 70,000 beneficiaries are enrolled in them.
Medicare enrollment in Alaska
Medicare enrollment in Alaska stood at 110,360 people as of May 2022. Alaska has the country’s third-lowest population, but the smallest population enrolled in Medicare. Alaska’s Medicare beneficiaries only make up about 15% of the state’s total population, whereas Medicare beneficiaries account for about 19% of the total US population.
This makes sense, given that the percentage of Alaska’s residents who are age 65 or older is among the lowest in the country. But the Alaska Commission on Aging reported that 2017 was the seventh year in the row that Alaska had the fastest-growing population of residents age 65+ in the nation. That rapid growth in the 65+ population continued in 2018, so Alaska may eventually catch up with the rest of the country, in terms of the percentage of the state’s population with Medicare coverage.
Most people become eligible for Medicare in Alaska when they turn 65, but Medicare eligibility is also triggered when a person has been receiving disability benefits for two years, or are diagnosed with ALS or kidney failure. Nationwide, more than 87% of Medicare beneficiaries are eligible due to being at least 65 years old, while more than 12% are eligible due to disability. In Alaska, about 10.5% of Medicare beneficiaries are eligible as a result of a disability, while the rest are eligible due to being at least 65 years old.
Medicare Advantage in Alaska
The vast majority of beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare in Alaska have coverage under Original Medicare. Until very recently, there were no individual Medicare Advantage plans for sale in Alaska. But as of 2022, most parts of Alaska have two Medicare Advantage plans available. Both are MSAs, offered by Lasso Healthcare.
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As of May 2022, just over 2% of Alaska’s Medicare beneficiaries had Medicare Advantage plans or other private coverage (not counting supplemental private Medigap and Part D plans). That amounted to about 2,500 people, out of more than 110,000 beneficiaries in the state.
Some of these people are likely enrolled in the MSA plans that are available in 2022. But employers also have the option of offering employer-sponsored retiree Medicare Advantage plans (known as Medicare Advantage Employer Group Waiver Plans, or MA-EGWPs). The Alaska Division of Insurance confirmed that MA-EGWPs were likely the explanation for why there were already nearly 1,700 people in Alaska with private Medicare coverage as of 2020, despite the fact that Medicare Advantage plans were not for sale to individuals in the state at that time (Medicare Cost plans are also not available in Alaska). Nationwide, about 20% of all Medicare Advantage enrollees were covered under MA-EGWPs as of 2020. But Alaska was one of four states where more than 40% of all Medicare Advantage enrollees were in MA-EGWPs.
This brief from Aetna provides more background information about MA-EGWPs.
Medigap in Alaska
Medigap plans are used to supplement Original Medicare, covering some or all of the out-of-pocket costs (for coinsurance and deductibles) that people would otherwise incur if they only had Original Medicare on its own.
Medigap plans are standardized under federal rules, so the benefits they provide are governed at the federal level and do not vary from one insurer to another or from one state to another (with the exception of three states that have waivers allowing them to standardize the plans differently). Under federal rules, Medicare beneficiaries have a six-month guaranteed-issue enrollment window for Medigap plans that starts when they turn 65 and enroll in Medicare Part B. But federal rules don’t guarantee access to Medigap plans if a person is under 65 years old and enrolled in Medigap as a result of a disability.
The majority of the states have adopted rules to ensure at least some access to Medigap plans for enrollees under the age of 65, but Alaska is not one of them. As of 2020, only one Medigap insurer in Alaska — United American Insurance Company — voluntarily offers a limited selection of Medigap plans to enrollees under the age of 65, with prices that are significantly higher than the prices for a person who is 65. However, Alaska has kept its high-risk pool (the Alaska Comprehensive Health Insurance Association, also known as ACHIA) operational, and the pool serves as a backstop for people who are under 65 and in need of coverage to supplement Medicare.
Prior to the ACA, many states relied on high-risk pools for people who needed to purchase their own health insurance and couldn’t qualify for coverage due to medical underwriting. Some states, including Alaska, still have an operational high-risk pool — and Medigap access is part of the reason ACHIA and similar programs in other states are still offering coverage (other states that have maintained their high-risk pools and use them to offer supplemental coverage to Medicare beneficiaries include Iowa, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Carolina, Washington, and Wyoming).
Although the ACA eliminated medical underwriting in the individual health insurance market, it did not change anything about the rules relating to Medigap coverage. Medigap applications are medically underwritten if people apply for Medigap before they’re 65 (and their state doesn’t have a guaranteed-issue rule for that population) or if they apply after their initial enrollment window ends and they don’t have one of the qualifying events that trigger a guaranteed-issue window for eligibility.
As of 2022, there were 13 private insurers offering Medigap plans in Alaska, as well ACHIA. ACHIA offers Medigap plans for people 65+ (who want to switch plans or buy a plan for the first time after their open enrollment window has closed, and aren’t eligible due to medical history) and offers a Medicare “carve-out” plan with a $1,000 deductible for Medicare beneficiaries who are under 65. The state’s Medigap buyer’s guide notes that “most companies selling Medicare supplement policies in Alaska do not sell such policies to Medicare beneficiaries who are younger than 65 and on Medicare due to disability,” and the rate guide indicates that the only one doing so as of 2022 is United American Insurance Company.
Alaska Medicare Part D
Original Medicare does not cover outpatient prescription drugs. But beneficiaries of Medicare in Alaska can get coverage for prescription drugs via an employer-sponsored plan (offered by a current or former employer) or stand-alone Medicare Part D plans. In most areas of the country, Medicare Advantage plans are another option, since most Medicare Advantage plans include integrated Part D prescription coverage. Most parts of Alaska do now have two MSA Medicare Avantage plans available for individuals, but they do not include Part D coverage. So Medicare beneficiaries still need stand-alone Part D or employer-sponsored coverage for prescription drugs.
For 2022 coverage, insurers are offering 20 stand-alone Part D plans to people who reside in Alaska, with premiums ranging from about $7 to $97 per month. The Medicare Part D enrollment window runs from October 15 to December 7 each year, with coverage changes taking effect January 1. Medicare beneficiaries are encouraged to use Medicare’s plan finder tool (available at Medicare.gov) to compare the available options for the coming year and see how each plan would cover their own personal prescription needs.
As of May 2022, there were 70,433 Alaska Medicare beneficiaries covered by stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. Another 1,361 beneficiaries had Part D coverage for prescription drugs integrated with their Medicare Advantage coverage (these are likely to be employer-sponsored Medicare Advantage plans, although some of them may have been PPOs that were purchased in another state and the enrollee was allowed to keep the coverage after moving to Alaska. The individual Medicare Advantage plans available for purchase in Alaska in 2022 are MSAs, so they do not include integrated Part D coverage).
How does Medicaid provide financial assistance to Medicare beneficiaries in Alaska?
Many Medicare beneficiaries receive financial assistance through Medicaid with the cost of Medicare premiums, prescription drug expenses, and services not covered by Medicare – such as long-term care.
Our guide to financial assistance for Medicare enrollees in Alaska includes overviews of these benefits, including Medicare Savings Programs, long-term care coverage, and eligibility guidelines for assistance.
Medicare in Alaska: Resources for beneficiaries and their caregivers
If you have questions about Medicare enrollment in Alaska or Medicare eligibility in Alaska, you can contact the Alaska State Health Insurance Assistance Program with questions related to Medicare coverage in Alaska.
The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, Senior and Disability Services can also provide a variety of helpful information and assistance for Medicare beneficiaries in Alaska. Here is the Medicare Information Office page on their website.
The Alaska Division of Insurance oversees and regulates insurance companies that offer plans in the state (including Medigap insurers) as well as the agents and brokers who sell the policies. Their office can provide assistance and information to consumers and address complaints and inquiries about the entities they regulate.
Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written dozens of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org. Her state health exchange updates are regularly cited by media who cover health reform and by other health insurance experts.