Helaine I. Fingold, Member of the Firm in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Baltimore office, was quoted in Modern Healthcare, in “In a Twist, Medicare Advantage Insurers Try to Avoid Selling Plans,” by Nona Tepper. (Read the full version – subscription required.)
Following is an excerpt:
Aetna, Cigna and Elevance Health sell Medicare Advantage plans. But that doesn't necessarily mean they want people to buy them.
Partway through the Medicare annual enrollment period for 2025, which started Oct. 15 and ends Dec. 7, those three insurers stopped offering commissions to brokers and other third-party marketers who steer new customers toward some of their Medicare Advantage products. …
Market exits are driving more new members to sign up than the insurers hoped, spurring them to act, said Helaine Fingold, an attorney who focuses on managed care at the law firm Epstein Becker & Green. 'Once one stepped forward to cut commissions, the others felt empowered to do the same,' she said.
Insurers that cut commissions aim to reign in membership growth while renewing their existing enrollees, Fingold said. Insurers often say that the longer they can retain customers and learn about their needs and costs, the more profitable they are.
