Medicare program managers want the agents and brokers who help sell Medicare Advantage plans to make sure consumers know how limited their ability to sign up for Medicare supplement insurance policies might be.
Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have included a Medicare supplement insurance awareness section in a proposed list of matters CMS wants producers to discuss with consumers during enrollment sessions.
CMS officials put the consumer enrollment conversation guide in a new set of proposed requirements for the plans and marketing strategies that health insurers will be using to participate in the Medicare Advantage plan program and Medicare Part D prescription drug plan program in 2026.
Sellers of Medicare Advantage plans and sellers of Medicare supplement insurance policies, which are also called Medigap policies, have traditionally competed like cats and dogs.
CMS is requiring Medicare Advantage plan agents to tell consumers about the competition because the counselors at state Medicare helplines are seeing consumer confusion about how the Medigap enrollment process works, CMS officials say in the introduction to the new proposed regulations.
The proposal also includes a list of questions that CMS wants agents and brokers to address during Medicare Advantage plan enrollment sessions.
Agents should talk about whether the Medicare Advantage plans will cover consumers' current health care providers and the drugs they are taking, and about special programs that could cut the consumers' costs, according to the proposed regulations.
"Conclude by pausing to ask if the beneficiary has any questions about the topics discussed," officials say.
Medigap basics: The original Medicare program makes the insureds responsible for paying many deductibles, copayments and coinsurance amounts. Consumers who have no supplemental coverage or access to special government support programs for low-income people could end up facing tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills that are not covered by Medicare.
