Helaine I. Fingold, Member of the Firm in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Baltimore office, was quoted in AIS Health Radar on Medicare Advantage, in “MedPAC Members Will Hear Out Agents, Brokers After Slamming `Flawed System,’” by Lauren Flynn Kelly. (Read the full version – subscription required.)
Following is an excerpt:
During a recent public meeting of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), a preliminary discussion about solutions to address misaligned Medicare marketing incentives took an abrupt turn when commissioners suggested eliminating agents and brokers altogether. This caused a stir in the agent and broker community, with the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals (NABIP) promptly seeking to set the record straight on MedPAC's "flawed assertions." AIS Health, a division of MMIT, has learned that six members of MedPAC have since agreed to meet with members of the Medicare Advisory group at NABIP. …
While SHIP and 1-800-Medicare are government entities that support enrollment decisions, "there's no data on the issues that arise from people" using them for enrollment, points out Helaine Fingold, member of the law firm Epstein Becker Green. "If you're going to hold those up as the gold standard, you need to be able to show that by definition, they're doing a better job."
While the focus of the discussion was on agents and brokers, it raises broader questions about marketing rules and "the plans that are driving or seeking to drive behavior," adds Fingold. "I think there is a lot of room for education here."
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