Jonalyn Cueto reports for InsuranceBusinessMag that state insurance commissioners are speaking out against Medicare Advantage insurers because they are gaming the system and harming people with Medicare. To maximize profits, these corporate insurers are reducing the amount they pay insurance agents if they enroll people in Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare Part D prescription drug plans, and Medicare supplemental insurance (“Medigap”) plans, which the insurers do not want people enrolling in.
The insurance regulators in New Hampshire and North Dakota are issuing warnings to the insurers. They follow on the heels of cease and desist orders the Idaho department of insurance issued to UnitedHealthcare and two other Medicare Advantage insurers. These insurers should not be preventing people from signing up for Medicare Advantage plans and the insurers have made available. This behavior violates state law.
Changing the amount insurers pay agents midyear is an unfair trade practice that is not allowed, according to the New Hampshire insurance department. These practices are allegedly happening across the country.
People with Medicare should not be subject to this sort of bait and switch. Insurers cannot both offer them particular Medicare Advantage and Medigap options and refuse or make it hard for them to enroll in these options. Insurers are not allowed to steer older adults and people with disabilities away from certain products they are offering by reducing insurance agents’ financial incentives to enroll them in these options. These practices “undermine competition and trust.”
As it is, people cannot make informed choices about their Medicare options. Insurance agents and advertisements mislead them at every turn. Moreover, good comparative information is not available. Provider directories are filled with incorrect information regarding who is in the Medicare Advantage network. And, no one can know, when choosing a Medicare Advantage plan, the extent to which insurers use prior authorization inappropriately to deny and delay needed care. They are forced to gamble with their health and their lives.
Of course, insurers have a right to take Medicare Advantage plans off the market, if they do so through proper channels. But, they should not make it harder for people to enroll in some plans than others.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Medicare Open Enrollment: Don’t trust insurance agents
- John Oliver explains Medicare and the dangers of Medicare Advantage
- 2026: Five things to think about when choosing between Traditional Medicare and a Medicare Advantage plan
- Medicare Advantage delivers unreliable coverage
- Medicare Advantage needs an overhaul
