News Briefs: House Members Urge CMS to Reform Broker Compensation in MA

Nov 02
Nov 02, 2023

One week after the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on misleading marketing and broker compensation practices in Medicare Advantage, Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) and Richard Neal (D-Mass.) wrote CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure urging the agency to increase oversight and transparency of broker participation and compensation. Specifically, they asked Brooks-LaSure to address this in the upcoming Contract Year 2025 Part C and D Policy and Technical Changes proposed rule, which was submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget on Aug. 24 and cleared OMB on Oct. 27, with publication still pending as of AIS Health press time. “We appreciate the previous actions taken by [CMS] to prioritize the health and well-being of our nation’s seniors by ensuring that beneficiaries have access to accurate and unbiased information about Medicare coverage. These policies protect the integrity of the Medicare program and ensure that seniors are able to access affordable health coverage,” wrote Pallone, who is ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Neal, ranking member of Ways and Means. But they encouraged CMS to build on those policies and reform total broker payments by setting standardized limits on compensation. Ensuring such payments are set at “reasonable amounts” would eliminate “incentives that encourage enrollment in plans with the highest broker payment that may not be best suited for seniors’ health needs,” they wrote. Read more
© 2024 MMIT

Lauren Flynn Kelly

Lauren has been covering health business issues since the early 2000s and specializes in in-depth reporting on Medicare Advantage, managed Medicaid and Medicare Part D. She also possesses a deep understanding of the complex world of pharmacy benefit management, having written AIS Health’s Radar on Drug Benefits from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2011 to 2016. In addition to her role as managing editor of Radar on Medicare Advantage, she oversees AIS Health’s publications and manages the health editorial staff. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English.