News Briefs: CMS Issues Warning to MAOs About 'Secret Shopping,' Misleading TV Ads During AEP

  • Oct 20, 2022

    As the Medicare Annual Election Period gets underway, CMS is warning Medicare Advantage organizations and Prescription Drug Plan sponsors that it will be closely monitoring marketing activities during and beyond the AEP, including through “secret shopping” activities. Given increasing concerns about the marketing practices of all entities, including third-party marketing organizations, CMS has engaged in secret shopping by calling numbers associated with television advertisements, mailings, newspaper ads and internet searches, according to an Oct. 19 memo. CMS said it discovered that some agents are not complying with current rules and are “unduly pressuring beneficiaries, as well as failing to provide accurate or enough information to assist a beneficiary in making an informed enrollment decision.  Read more
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  • 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.

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