12 October 2016 -  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is preparing for the annual Medicare Open Enrollment, which begins on 15 October and ends on 7 December. 

For the 2017 plan year, Medicare Advantage and the Medicare Prescription Drug Plans continue to provide high-quality options for people with Medicare.

The Affordable Care Act has strengthened Medicare health and drug plans. In 2017, enrollment in Medicare Advantage is expected to reach an all-time high of about 18.5 million, a 60% increase from 2010, the year the Affordable Care Act was passed. About one-third of all Medicare enrollees will be in a Medicare Advantage plan in 2017.

And enrollees in Medicare health and drug plans are receiving better care as a result of the Affordable Care Act, which provides bonuses to higher quality plans (i.e., those with four or five stars on a five-star scale). In 2009, only about 17 percent of Medicare Advantage enrollees were in four and five star plans; for 2017, 68 percent of enrollees are in four and five star plans.

Medicare Prescription Drug Program enrollees are also benefiting from quality improvement among plans, with about 41 percent of prescription drug plan enrollees in plans with four or more stars for 2017, compared to 27 percent of enrollees in such plans in 2009.

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