Obamacare Strengthened Medicare Advantage To Provide More Low-Income Americans With Affordable Cover
Source: Think Progress
Obamacare Strengthened Medicare Advantage To Provide More Low-Income Americans With Affordable Coverage
By Sy Mukherjee on Sep 19, 2012 at 5:52 pm
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a news release today announcing that President Obama’s health reform law has successfully increased enrollment and decreased premiums in Medicare Advantage over the last two years. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius noted that the program has seen a nearly 30 percent increase in enrollment and a 10 percent decrease in premiums since Obamacare’s passage, and projected that the positive trends will continue over the next year:
“Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, the Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug programs have been strengthened and continue to improve for beneficiaries,” said Secretary Sebelius. “Since the law was enacted in 2010, average premiums have gone down, enrollment has gone up, and new benefits and lower drug costs continue to help millions of seniors and people with disabilities.”
For the third year in a row, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) used authority provided by the Affordable Care Act to protect beneficiaries from significant increases in costs or cuts in benefits. Access to supplemental benefits remains steady and beneficiaries’ average out-of-pocket spending remains constant.
Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/09/19/874621/obamacare-has-strengthened-medicare-advantage/
