Report: Enrollment up, premiums down for Medicare Advantage

Enrollment is up and premiums are down for private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, which cover about one-fourth of Medicare's beneficiaries, according to a new report.

The 2010 healthcare law contained cuts to Medicare Advantage that were strongly opposed by Republicans and insurance companies. The program offers care to seniors through private insurers that contract with the Medicare agency.

The Kaiser Family Foundation found that this year, enrollment in the program grew by 10 percent — jumps were seen in all but two states — and that the average premium paid by enrollees dropped by $4.

The program now covers more than 13 million beneficiaries, or 27 percent of the Medicare population, the report stated. 

In 2010, after the healthcare reform law passed, the Obama administration predicted that Medicare Advantage premiums would fall for enrollees as a result of officials' negotiations with insurers.

This ran contrary to the opinions of lawmakers and some policy experts, according to The New York Times.

The law's cuts to the program are expected to save $136 billion over 10 years. A related project, aimed at moderating pain from the cuts with quality bonuses to MA insurers, has received criticism from federal investigators as being wasteful.