Medicare in California

California has the highest population the US. It only makes sense that it has the most amount of Medicare beneficiaries. It also has the highest amount of Dual Eligible, (people on both Medicare and Medicaid.)

By the numbers for 2017*:

• Total number of Medicare beneficiaries in the US: 55,504,005
• Total number of Medicare beneficiaries in California: 5,644,384

Medicare Advantage (Part C) statistics:

• Total number of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage in the US: 18,478,199
• Total number of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage in California: 2,335,835
• Total Number of Medicare Advantage Plans in US: 2317 total
• Total Number of Medicare Advantage Plans in California: 186 total

Part D (stand-alone prescription drug plan) statistics:

• Total number of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in a stand-alone PDP in the US: 25,078,872
• Total number of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in a stand-alone PDP in California: 2,208,088
• Total Number of stand-alone PDP Plans in California: 25 plans
• Average Premium for stand-alone PDP in US: $53.14/per month
• Average Premium for stand-alone PDP in California: $63.74/per month

Dual Eligibles – people with both Medicare and Medicaid benefits

• Total number of Medicare beneficiaries of Dual Eligible in the US: 9,972,300
• Total number of Medicare beneficiaries of Dual Eligible in California: 1,294,400

Medicare Advantage plans and stand-alone PDP's are contracted with CMS and are not available in every county in every state. Each year MA and PDP plans renew their contacts with CMS, therefore availability of MA and PDP plans can change.

Resources for Medicare Beneficiaries in California

Since California has the most amount of Medicare beneficiaries, there are great free resources.

Here are just a few:

California Department of Aging, works with local Areas on Aging to help seniors access several local programs by county. https://www.aging.ca.gov/

HICAP – Health Insurance Council and Advocacy Program, https://www.aging.ca.gov/HICAP/, which provides free insurance counseling program for seniors.

Benefits Checkup – funded by the National Council on Aging - https://www.benefitscheckup.org/, is a great resource to apply for federal and state assistance programs.

Source Kaiser Family Foundation

https://www.kff.org/state-category/medicare/