CBO: Medicare Advantage enrollment will surge, helping Humana

May 16, 2013, 8:44am EDT UPDATED: May 16, 2013, 9:15am EDT

StaffBusiness First

Budget analysts now say that enrollment in U.S.-funded Medicare plans run by private insurers such as Louisville-based Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) will surge, not drop, which would be a boon to the insurers.

Bloomberg News reports on the Congressional Budget Office’s annual review of the federal budget, and the agency’s assessment that enrollments may rise 50 percent over the next decade.

CBO now projects that Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly and disabled will grow to 21 million participants by fiscal 2023 from 14 million this year.

The agency had previously said enrollment would fall to 11 million. It did not explain the revision, Bloomberg adds, and a spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.