Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Misleading Ads Driving People To Sign Up For Medicare Advantage Plans
AP: Medicare Enrollees Warned About Deceptive Marketing Schemes
Mailers designed to look like official government forms. Buses sporting scam pitches for Medicare websites. TV commercials featuring celebrities who encourage people to sign up for Medicare plans that do not always include their current doctors. With Medicare’s open enrollment underway through Dec. 7, health experts are warning older adults about an uptick in misleading marketing tactics that might lead some to sign up for Medicare Advantage plans that do not cover their regular doctors or prescriptions and drive up out-of-pocket costs. (Seitz, 11/5)
The New York Times: Medicare Advantage Or Just Medicare?
The sales pitches show up in your mailbox and inbox, in robocalls and texts. Ads target you on radio and television and social media. Touting Medicare Advantage plans, these campaigns promise low premiums and all kinds of extra benefits. And they work. The proportion of eligible Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, funded with federal dollars but offered through private insurance companies, has hit 48 percent. By next year, a majority of beneficiaries will probably be Advantage plan enrollees. (Span, 11/5)
In other Medicare and Medicaid news —
Axios: New Medicare Dental Benefits Give Democrats A Small Reason To Smile
Democrats won a consolation prize this week when Medicare administrators added limited dental benefits to next year's coverage, nodding to a priority that got axed in negotiations over the Inflation Reduction Act. (Owens, 11/4)
Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Plans Scrap, Revise Tools With Racial Biases, Survey Shows
A majority of Medicaid managed care organizations have modified or abandoned algorithms, policies or models they determined to be racially biased, according to survey results the Institute for Medicaid Innovation released Friday. (Hartnett, 11/4)
Missouri Independent: Missouri Medicaid Application Wait Times Average 41 Days
Average wait times for Missouri Medicaid applicants fell in September below the federally-allowed maximum for the first time in nearly a year. According to Missouri’s Department of Social Services’ most recent publicly-available data, the state took 41 days on average to process a Medicaid application in September for the eligibility group which includes low-income children, pregnant people, families and adults. (Bates, 11/5)
KHN: Supreme Court To Hear Nursing Home Case That Could Affect Millions
When Susie Talevski sued the agency that managed her elderly father’s care before he died, she hoped to get justice for her family. She did not expect the case would grow into a national bellwether. A ruling against her could strip millions of vulnerable Americans of their power to hold states accountable when they do not receive benefits allowed by law. “This case has taken on, really, a life of its own way beyond what I could have foreseen,” said Talevski, a resident of Valparaiso, Indiana. (Yousry, 11/7)
In related news about ACA open enrollment —
KHN: Journalists Cut Through The Noise, From Open Enrollment To Magic Mushrooms
KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner helped listeners navigate open enrollment season for Affordable Care Act marketplace plans on Maine Public Radio’s “Maine Calling” on Nov. 1. ... KHN correspondent Aneri Pattani joined a conversation about the 988 suicide prevention hotline on Apple Podcasts’ “Committable” on Nov. 1. (11/5)
