Baldwin, Shaheen, Warner Call Out Trump Administration for Giving Third Party Websites Free Rein to Push Consumers into Junk Health Insurance Plans
Letter Highlights Need for Oversight of Third-Party Health Care Brokers Which Steer Individuals Towards Junk Plans For High Commission Payments
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Mark Warner (D-VA) sent a letter urging Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma to address the lack of federal oversight of third-party web brokers who are steering individuals towards junk health insurance plans in exchange for significantly higher commissions.
On the HealthCare.gov website, CMS includes a link that directs customers towards third-party web broker sites for health care enrollment. The junk plans offered by these brokers are not Affordable Care Act (ACA)-compliant and do not have to offer the protections that the ACA requires, including protections for people with pre-existing conditions, such as cancer, diabetes and asthma, or coverage for essential health benefits, including maternity care, substance use disorder treatment and prescription medications. Web brokers have a significant financial incentive to enroll individuals in these deficient plans, and are often able to earn commissions up to four times higher than they would earn enrolling customers in ACA-compliant plans.
The Senators concluded,“An effective and well-functioning health insurance market is only possible if consumers are provided transparent information regarding the scope and cost of coverage available, the tax credits available to consumers to offset premiums for comprehensive health plans and the incentives that brokers have for selling various products. Availability of this transparent information is particularly critical in light of your agency’s decision to reduce funding for Health Insurance Marketplace advertising, outreach and education efforts by approximately 90 percent compared to 2016 levels. Your regulatory oversight in this area is vitally important to achieving this effective insurance market. We urge you to take this oversight responsibility seriously.”
The letter is available here.
An online version of this release is available here.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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