Lawmakers who voted against the ACA had initially predicted that lowering the subsidy to private insurers would force companies to stop offering coverage, causing 10 million seniors to lose their Medicare benefits.

Republicans introduced numerous amendments instructing Congress to remove the cuts to the Medicare Advantage program and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) even urged seniors to rip up their AARP cards in protest of the organization’s support for the reductions.

Those predictions did not come to pass. Enrollment in Medicare Advantage has grown every year since the ACA was enacted in 2010, premiums have decreased, and 99.1 percent of beneficiaries maintained access to their desired plans.

The government’s overpayments to private insurers also decreased over this period from 14 percent on average when the law passed to 6 percent on average today.
Medicare Advantage plans earned an average profit of 4.5 percent in 2011.