This guide shows how many people use Medicare in Arizona and where they live. It can help an agency plan its marketing. It does not help people pick a plan.
The short answer: CMS counted 1,554,905 people with Medicare in Arizona in April 2026. Medicare Advantage and other health plans covered 51.5% of them. The national share was 51.2%.
Maricopa County had 52.3% of all Arizona Medicare members. Maricopa and Pima had 69.2% when added together. Each county has a different mix, so an agency should plan by county.
What the state numbers show
CMS published all counts in this guide. We pulled the April 2026 data on August 12, 2026. We found each share from the counts shown below.
| Measure | Arizona | National |
|---|---|---|
| Total people with Medicare | 1,554,905 | 70,330,194 |
| Original Medicare | 754,128 (48.5%) | 34,314,772 (48.8%) |
| Medicare Advantage and other health plans | 800,777 (51.5%) | 36,015,422 (51.2%) |
| Aged (65+) eligibility | 1,437,959 (92.5%) | Not shown |
| Disabled eligibility | 116,946 (7.5%) | Not shown |
| Dual-eligible (Medicare and Medicaid) | 251,428 (16.2%) | 12,019,520 (17.1%) |
Three facts stand out:
- Arizona is close to a 50-50 split. About half had Original Medicare. About half had Medicare Advantage or another health plan.
- Age made most people able to join. People age 65 and up made up 92.5% of Arizona’s total.
- Some people also had Medicaid. This group made up 16.2% in Arizona and 17.1% in the nation.
County numbers
Arizona has 15 counties. The table shows the 10 counties with the most Medicare members. “MA + other share” means the share in Medicare Advantage or another health plan.
| County | Total beneficiaries | MA + other | MA + other share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maricopa (Phoenix metro) | 812,942 | 416,326 | 51.2% |
| Pima (Tucson metro) | 262,707 | 151,172 | 57.5% |
| Pinal | 107,359 | 61,360 | 57.2% |
| Yavapai | 96,008 | 40,323 | 42.0% |
| Mohave | 78,014 | 41,397 | 53.1% |
| Yuma | 46,259 | 24,258 | 52.4% |
| Cochise | 38,064 | 18,479 | 48.5% |
| Navajo | 28,379 | 11,094 | 39.1% |
| Coconino | 24,587 | 8,219 | 33.4% |
| Gila | 18,279 | 7,716 | 42.2% |
The five smaller counties were Apache (15,470), Santa Cruz (12,291), La Paz (6,773), Graham (6,446), and Greenlee (1,327). The MA share was 29.9% in Apache and 66.9% in Santa Cruz.
The county counts show four points:
- Maricopa is the largest market. It had more than half of the state’s Medicare members.
- Pima and Pinal had a higher MA share than the state. Their shares were 57.5% and 57.2%.
- Some rural counties had a lower MA share. Coconino, Apache, and Navajo had more people in Original Medicare than in MA or other plans.
- Santa Cruz had the highest MA share. Its share was 66.9%, but the county had far fewer members than Maricopa or Pima.
Three groups to plan for
Medicare Advantage, Medigap, and people turning 65 need different messages. Treating them as one lead group can waste money.
Medicare Advantage
People may look at Medicare Advantage when they first join Medicare or during a time when they can switch plans. Arizona had 800,777 people in MA and other health plans in April 2026.
Plan claims face strict rules. Check each ad or page that compares plans.
Medigap
Medigap is private insurance for some costs that Original Medicare does not pay. It may help with copays, coinsurance, and deductibles. A person must have Medicare Part A and Part B to buy it.
Arizona had 754,128 people with Original Medicare in April 2026. That number does not show how many can buy a Medigap plan. Other coverage and rules lower the number.
CMS also counted 509,299 people with a stand-alone drug plan. It counted 751,825 people with drug coverage in a Medicare Advantage plan.
People turning 65
The first Medicare sign-up period lasts seven months. It starts three months before the month a person turns 65. It ends three months after that month.
Birthdays happen all year. Helpful pages about turning 65 can bring search visits each month. Read our four-step marketing guide for more on this plan.
Search topics to study
Phoenix and Tucson hold most of the state’s Medicare members. Smaller towns and counties may have different plan mixes and local needs. Local pages should use true county facts and answer real questions.
We have not finished research on search volume, keyword difficulty, local rankings, or plan counts by county. We do not list those numbers yet.
Rules to check
Arizona Medicare marketing can face federal and state rules.
- Federal rules: CMS and 42 CFR parts 422 and 423 cover Medicare Advantage and Part D marketing. They also cover many outside marketing firms.
- State rules: The Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions, called DIFI, handles state insurance rules and producer licenses.
Check current sources before you start a campaign. Confirm licenses and any filing needs with DIFI. Ask a trained lawyer or rule expert to review the work.
Good ways to grow
The data points to four useful ideas:
- Write pages for each county. Use true local facts. Do not copy one page and swap the county name.
- Help people who turn 65. Their sign-up needs happen all year.
- Prepare for fall before fall. Build tracking and consent records before October 15.
- Stay in touch with members. A clear contact plan can help your team serve people after sign-up.
Risks to watch
- Too much focus on one place. Maricopa is large, but one lead source should not control all Phoenix results.
- Plan claims. Claims that compare MA plans need close rule review.
- Rural costs. A lead may cost more in a county with fewer people.
- Old data. These counts are from April 2026. Pull fresh data before you set a new plan.
- No public link. Senior Growth Labs is not part of Medicare, CMS, DIFI, or an insurance carrier.
How we got the numbers
CMS published the Medicare Monthly Enrollment data used here. We pulled April 2026 rows for Arizona, each county, and the nation on August 12, 2026.
We found each share from the counts. For example, 800,777 divided by 1,554,905 equals 51.5%. We round shares to one decimal place. We left out the CMS row for an unknown county because it hid some counts.
We have not added search volume, local rank, or county plan counts. We do not use guesses in place of source data.
The Senior Growth Labs team wrote this guide. A named rule reviewer has not checked it yet. Use the source links below and get your own rule review.
More guides
- Four Steps for Better Medicare Marketing
- Sample Medicare Marketing Plan
- We plan to add guides for Texas, Florida, and North Carolina.
Ask about Arizona marketing
We can review your Arizona website, ads, lead sources, consent records, and reports. Ask our team for a marketing review.
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