Medicare Advantage enrollment doubled since 2010, despite warnings ACA would kill it

While the healthcare industry expected passage of the ACA to curb participation in Medicare Advantage programs, the opposite took place, according to Kaiser Health News.

Here are three findings from the report:

1. The ACA curbed billions of dollars in federal payments to private insurers offering Medicare Advantage plans to pay for coverage expansions among uninsured Americans. At the time, government budget analysts projected enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans would plummet as insurers reduced their benefits, pulled their products from states or exited the business.

2. However, their estimates were off. Since the law was signed in 2010, Medicare Advantage enrollment has doubled to more than 20 million beneficiaries, according to KHN. Medicare Advantage enrollment now accounts for more than a third of Medicare beneficiaries, up from just a quarter. One way Medicare Advantage plans overcame the cuts was by qualifying for the government's star program, which awards plans that score four stars or better with bonus payments.

3. "The Affordable Care Act did not kill Medicare Advantage, and the program looks poised to continue to grow quite rapidly," Bill Frack, managing director with healthcare consulting firm L.E.K., told the publication.

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