Medicare Drug Plan Marketing Abuse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has another difficulty to overcome in helping seniors navigate the already confusing sign-up process for the new Medicare prescription drug plan—the hard-sell tactics of some private Medicare plan providers. Although Congress provided ample funding for private insurance companies to offer Medicare prescription plans, money was not set aside for state agencies to monitor the additional volume of policy sales. Jorge Gomez, head of the senior issues task force for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, said the most blatant abuse has been “cross-selling, where salesmen were selling long-term care, annuities, and life insurance products” to customers seeking only to purchase a drug plan. There have even been reports of independent sales agents passing themselves off as employees of the Social Security Administration asking for personal data such as checking account numbers. Mr. Gomez, also Wisconsin’s Insurance Commissioner, warns, “Unless cross-selling is prohibited by Medicare, there will be a spike in fraud, stolen identities, and unsuitable sales.” Medicare has a 24-hour hotline (1-800-633-4227) to help explain the process for enrolling in Medicare prescription drug plans. Marketing complaints should be directed to a state insurance regulator.

Comments

[Christian]

I have heard about several real outrageous claims from some marketers. Remember, in some states there are over 40 different plans.

The confusion for oncology practices will be when patients arrive at the door with the understanding that "something is covered," when in fact the plan does not. Sad that this is happening on a good effort by CMS to get this coverage to Medicare beneficaries.