Is each market a conversion play or a switcher fight, and how much runway is left?

Data through Plan year 2026 (Feb 2026 enrollment) · Updated July 17, 2026 modeled

Of 52 jurisdictions, 8 are conversion markets (penetration under 50%, sell against Original Medicare) and 44 are switcher markets (sell against incumbents). Texas tops the runway score at 100, with 2523K people still in Original Medicare. The score is a MedicareInsights index (gap × velocity × market size), never citable as CMS data.

8
Conversion-market states (under 50% penetration)
Plan year 2026 (Feb 2026 enrollment)
44
Switcher-market states (50% and above)
Plan year 2026 (Feb 2026 enrollment)
100
Top runway score (TX); index, not CMS data
MedicareInsights index
Cook, IL
Top county runway in the tracked set
Plan year 2026, with 2023–2026 penetration history

Runway score by state: top 12

Texas100· switcher · 54.9% penCalifornia100· switcher · 59.4% penNew York100· switcher · 55.1% penFlorida100· switcher · 64.7% penPennsylvania77.3· switcher · 57.8% penIllinois68.4· switcher · 55% penOhio66.3· switcher · 58.6% penMichigan56.2· switcher · 57.4% penNorth Carolina54.5· switcher · 57.9% penWashington44.6· switcher · 56.1% penNew Jersey42· switcher · 57.4% penMassachusetts40.8· switcher · 55.4% pen

Score = penetration gap × velocity × Original Medicare base, normalized to the 95th-percentile market (not the single top one, so one outlier can't set the scale); the top few markets clamp to 100 and rank order holds below. Velocity for states is the enrollment-weighted average of their tracked counties; states with no tracked county inherit the tracked-set median (+0.9 pts) as a proxy, flagged in the table.

Full state table: class, score, and inputs
RankStateClassScorePenetrationGap (pts)Velocity (pts YoY)OM base (K)
1Texas Switcher 10054.9% 27.2 +0.9 2,523
2California Switcher 10059.4% 22.7 +0.8 2,817
3New York Switcher 10055.1% 27 +0.9 1,776
4Florida Switcher 10064.7% 17.4 +1.2 1,855
5Pennsylvania Switcher 77.357.8% 24.3 +0.9 1,369
6Illinois Switcher 68.455% 27.1 +0.9 1,087
7Ohio Switcher 66.358.6% 23.5 +0.9 1,215
8Michigan Switcher 56.257.4% 24.7 +0.9 979
9North Carolina Switcher 54.557.9% 24.2 +0.9 970
10Washington Switcher 44.656.1% 26 +0.9* 738
11New Jersey Switcher 4257.4% 24.7 +0.9* 732
12Massachusetts Switcher 40.855.4% 26.7 +0.9* 657
13Georgia Switcher 40.259.5% 22.6 +0.9 766
14Virginia Switcher 39.858.3% 23.8 +0.9* 719
15Wisconsin Switcher 3954.3% 27.8 +0.9* 603
16Minnesota Switcher 36.654.5% 27.6 +0.9* 570
17Oregon Switcher 33.654.4% 27.7 +0.9* 522
18Missouri Switcher 33.357.9% 24.2 +0.9* 592
19Tennessee Switcher 32.160.5% 21.6 +0.9* 640
20Arizona Switcher 28.363.4% 18.7 +0.9 651
21Indiana Switcher 27.760.3% 21.8 +0.9* 546
22Oklahoma Switcher 27.151.8% 30.3 +0.9* 385
23South Carolina Switcher 26.959.6% 22.5 +0.9* 514
24Colorado Switcher 26.157.8% 24.3 +0.9* 462
25Iowa Switcher 25.550.3% 31.8 +0.9* 345
26Maryland Switcher 23.560.4% 21.7 +0.9* 466
27Alabama Switcher 22.558.5% 23.6 +0.9* 411
28Kansas Switcher 20.751.3% 30.8 +0.9* 289
29Louisiana Switcher 20.259.6% 22.5 +0.9* 387
30Kentucky Switcher 19.461.4% 20.7 +0.9* 404
31Hawaii Conversion 19.341.8% 40.3 +0.9* 206
32Utah Switcher 19.253% 29.1 +0.9* 284
33Maine Conversion 18.144.7% 37.4 +0.9* 208
34Connecticut Switcher 18.156.6% 25.5 +0.9* 305
35Arkansas Switcher 17.656.8% 25.3 +0.9* 300
36Mississippi Switcher 16.558% 24.1 +0.9* 295
37Nebraska Switcher 15.151.2% 30.9 +0.9* 211
38Idaho Conversion 14.849.7% 32.4 +0.9* 196
39Nevada Switcher 13.961% 21.1 +0.9* 283
40New Hampshire Switcher 12.550.3% 31.8 +0.9* 169
41Vermont Conversion 11.736.8% 45.3 +0.9* 111
42West Virginia Switcher 11.756.2% 25.9 +0.9* 194
43Montana Conversion 11.548.5% 33.6 +0.9* 147
44New Mexico Switcher 9.660.6% 21.5 +0.9* 192
45Wyoming Conversion 9.143.2% 38.9 +0.9* 101
46Alaska Conversion 8.231% 51.1 +0.9* 69
47South Dakota Switcher 8.150.9% 31.2 +0.9* 112
48Rhode Island Switcher 754.7% 27.4 +0.9* 110
49North Dakota Switcher 5.854.5% 27.6 +0.9* 90
50District of Columbia Conversion 4.749% 33.1 +0.9* 61
51Delaware Switcher 4.460% 22.1 +0.9* 86
52Puerto Rico Switcher 082.1% 0 +0.9* 159

* velocity is the tracked-set median proxy, not measured for this state. Penetration uses the CMS monthly-file basis (MA + other over all beneficiaries). The highlighted input in each row is that state's dominant score driver — the factor sitting at the highest percentile within the field — since the index is multiplicative and no single factor is additive. It answers "why is this score high?" at a glance.

Tracked counties, runway-ranked

County velocity is measured, not proxied, so county scores are the firmer read. Coverage is the 76-county tracked set until the full CPSC pipeline lands.

County runway table (top 20)
RankCountyClassScorePenetrationVelocityOM base (K)Carriers
1Cook, IL Switcher 10051.4% +0.87 5626
2Los Angeles, CA Switcher 10064.9% +0.93 8467
3Maricopa, AZ Switcher 10059.4% +0.87 4826
4Harris, TX Switcher 10057.8% +0.87 4306
5Dallas, TX Switcher 10055.4% +0.87 3485
6Travis, TX Conversion 83.648.4% +0.87 2124
7Franklin, OH Switcher 80.754.8% +0.87 2725
8DuPage, IL Conversion 75.148.6% +0.87 1924
9Wake, NC Switcher 7250.4% +0.87 1984
10Tarrant, TX Switcher 71.953.2% +0.87 2245
11Cuyahoga, OH Switcher 70.757.2% +0.87 2725
12Suffolk, NY Switcher 69.555.4% +0.87 2424
13Kings, NY Switcher 69.358.4% +0.87 2876
14Wayne, MI Switcher 66.357.4% +0.87 2585
15Mecklenburg, NC Switcher 66.152.8% +0.87 2025
16Allegheny, PA Switcher 65.758.4% +0.87 2726
17Fulton, GA Switcher 64.854.2% +0.87 2125
18Oakland, MI Switcher 64.253.4% +0.87 2024
19Gwinnett, GA Conversion 63.249.6% +0.87 1683
20San Diego, CA Switcher 61.861.2% +0.8 3385
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So what / Now what

The same quota needs a different sales motion depending on the market class. Conversion markets still have a large Original Medicare base ageing in: the pitch is MA versus FFS (a MOOP cap, extra benefits, one card) and the competition is inertia. Switcher markets are saturated: growth only comes from incumbent members, so the pitch is comparative (benefits, network, premium shock) and the battlecards page is the weapon. The runway score ranks where winnable members remain once both class and momentum are priced in.

Provenance — Growth runway index by state and county
Source file
MedicareInsights index computed from CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment and CPSC county extracts
Vintage
Plan year 2026 (Feb 2026 enrollment)
Last updated
July 17, 2026
Refresh cadence
Recomputed on every enrollment ingest
Method
Runway score = penetration gap x velocity x market size, normalized so the top geography scores 100. Penetration gap is the distance to the highest penetration observed in the tracked set (revealed attainable ceiling). Velocity is the YoY penetration point change: actual for tracked counties, enrollment-weighted tracked-county average for their states, and the tracked-set median as a proxy for states with no tracked county. Market size is the Original Medicare base in millions. Geographies under 50% penetration are classed as conversion markets (sell against FFS); 50% and above are switcher markets (sell against incumbents), matching the state-page framing.
Known limitations
This is a MedicareInsights index, not CMS data, and is never citable as CMS data. Velocity for states without tracked counties inherits the tracked-set median, a rough proxy. Use for territory prioritization, not filings.