Consumers who buy individual health care plans through the ehealth.com site faced increases in Medicare Advantage plan premiums for the first time in four years. It may be that premiums are no longer the concern to plan purchasers that they once were; a review of its customer choices by eHealth also found that fewer selected zero premium Medicare Advantage plans this year than last.

eHealth based its report on the Medicare health insurance plans selected by Medicare beneficiaries at eHealth during the first half of Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period for 2023 coverage (Oct. 15-Nov. 8). In an earlier survey, eHealth found that more than 9 in 10 respondents who had some type of Medicare coverage were concerned about being able to predict their health care costs due to inflation. That concern may be driving more individuals to select plans with higher premiums in an attempt to reduce their overall cost of care.