According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the part of the Medicare program that provides recipients with the ability to select their own private insurance have seen a drop in their premiums by an average of 7 percent, and there has been an increase in enrollment by 10 percent.
According to Kathleen Sebelius, a Health and Human Services secretary, this has been an ongoing trend for Medicare Advantage system, which helps to work against the negative forecasts that have been made by those in opposition to the health care reform from 2010, which had claimed that there would be an increase in premiums and a drop in enrollment.
Sebelius released a statement that explained that on average, premiums have fallen and there has been a rise in enrollment and that as a result of the healthcare overhaul, “we have unprecedented new tools to ensure that seniors and people with disabilities are getting the best value out of their coverage.”
In fact, the premiums fell even more than what was expected by analysts at the Department of Health and Human Services when they made their predictions in September. At the time, they thought there would be a decrease of 4 percent. However, when compared to the records from 2010, there has actually been a drop of 16 percent in premiums, while enrollment has jumped by 17 percent.
The deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Jonathan Blum, said that the program is seeing significant competition as the various plans try to compete as well as they can to obtain enrollment.