NEW YORK: The US government on Monday said that payments to health insurers for 2016 Medicare Advantage health plans for the elderly and disabled will increase by 1.25 percent, a reflection of an expected growth in health spending.

The announcement, by a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services, comes after the US government proposed a 0.95 percent cut in payments to insurers in February.

More than 16 million people are enrolled in these plans, in which healthcare benefits are managed by private insurers, including UnitedHealth Group Inc, Humana Inc and Aetna Inc.

Copyright Reuters, 2015