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Rules rein in Medicare Advantage marketing
Aug 30, 12:36 AM (ET)
By TOM MURPHY
Regulators clamped down last fall on shady sales practices for privately run Medicare health insurance for the elderly.
New regulations for the plans, known as Medicare Advantage, banned unsolicited phone calls and door-to-door sales. They stopped agents from churning up commissions by switching customers to new policies. Meals tied to marketing activities also are now forbidden.
But customers and advocate groups say the plans' confusing nature still leaves room for pitches bordering on the deceptive, and abuses still crop up.
Seniors report being pressured with unsolicited phone calls or home visits that are clearly prohibited. Some have signed up for plans that didn't include their longtime doctors or hit them with unexpected costs, things they learn weeks later.
"I think the real issue is that people are not getting what they thought they would be getting," said Vicki Gottlich, senior policy attorney for the Connecticut-based Center for Medicare Advocacy.
Medicare Advantage plans are privately run versions of the government's Medicare program, which provides health coverage for the elderly and disabled. The government subsidizes these plans, and the industry has developed what can be a mind-numbing array of them.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090830/D9AD03C81.html
Aug 30, 12:36 AM (ET)
By TOM MURPHY
Regulators clamped down last fall on shady sales practices for privately run Medicare health insurance for the elderly.
New regulations for the plans, known as Medicare Advantage, banned unsolicited phone calls and door-to-door sales. They stopped agents from churning up commissions by switching customers to new policies. Meals tied to marketing activities also are now forbidden.
But customers and advocate groups say the plans' confusing nature still leaves room for pitches bordering on the deceptive, and abuses still crop up.
Seniors report being pressured with unsolicited phone calls or home visits that are clearly prohibited. Some have signed up for plans that didn't include their longtime doctors or hit them with unexpected costs, things they learn weeks later.
"I think the real issue is that people are not getting what they thought they would be getting," said Vicki Gottlich, senior policy attorney for the Connecticut-based Center for Medicare Advocacy.
Medicare Advantage plans are privately run versions of the government's Medicare program, which provides health coverage for the elderly and disabled. The government subsidizes these plans, and the industry has developed what can be a mind-numbing array of them.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090830/D9AD03C81.html
