An effort under the Affordable Care Act to encourage the health insurance industry to provide higher quality benefits to seniors is rewarding Medicare beneficiaries and the bottom lines of health plans that are achieving high government-backed ratings. More than half of seniors enrolled in so-called Medicare Advantage plans are now enrolled in plans with ratings of four stars or more on a five-star scale, a ranking system created under the health law to guide seniors to cost-effective and higher quality benefits. Plans are rated on such measures like cutting call waiting times as well as how well they encourage preventive care such as getting regular blood tests for diabetes.

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