I Missed the Boat with UnitedHealthcare

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Now a blockbuster lawsuit filed May 1 by the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges that insurers Aetna, Elevance Health (formerly Anthem), and Humana paid "hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks" to large insurance brokerages -- eHealth, GoHealth, and SelectQuote. The payments, made from 2016 to at least 2021, were incentives to steer patients into the insurers' Medicare Advantage plans, the lawsuit alleges, while also discouraging enrollment of potentially more costly disabled beneficiaries.

Policy experts say the lawsuit will add fuel to long-running concernsopens in a new tab or window about whether Medicare enrollees are being encouraged to select the coverage that is best for them -- or the one that makes the most money for the broker

alleges insurers labeled payments as "marketing" or "sponsorship" fees to get around rules that set caps on broker commissions. These payments from insurers, according to the lawsuit, added incentives-- often more than $200 per enrollee -- for brokers to direct Medicare beneficiaries toward their coverage "regardless of the quality or suitability of the insurers' plans."

 
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