October 18,2023
As Prepared for Delivery
This morning the Finance Committee gathers to discuss an emerging trend in Medicare Advantage – marketing middlemen.
There is a long history of rip off artists in the private sector trying to take advantage of seniors who depend on their flagship health program, Medicare. Since I served as the director of the Oregon Grey Panthers, something like a year or two ago, these unethical salespeople would often sell seniors 10 to 15 separate, unnecessary Medigap policies that weren’t worth the paper they were written on. Senators Daschle, Heinz, Dole and I came in and drained that swamp.
The same thing happened at the start of Medicare Advantage. In this Committee, Chairman Baucus held a hearing on Medicare marketing because scammers were going door-to-door while wearing white coats and stethoscopes around their necks to enroll seniors into these new plans. We got some protections then, but it still hasn’t been enough.
Last fall, I released a report that detailed some of the most egregious marketing practices that I’ve seen in Medicare Advantage – like vans parked outside senior centers with “MEDICARE” splashed across the side and mailers designed to look like IRS documents. Many members of this committee joined Senator Casey and I in calling on CMS to make changes…
