California Health Advocates (CHA), the Center for Medicare Advocacy (CMA), and the Medicare Rights Center (MRC) wrote to express their on-going concerns over improper marketing practices by Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and Part D prescription drug plans (PDPs). All three organizations serve as consumer representatives to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) task force on marketing issues.

They asked the Senate Finance Committee to consider:

• Federal vs. State Regulation

• Prohibition on Door-to-Door Marketing

• Prohibiting Cross-Selling of Medicare and Non-Medicare Care-Related Products

• Limitations on Cold Calling

• Require Plan Type Designation

• Broker/Agent Commission Structures

The groups recognized that CMS and America's Health Insurance Plans are acknowledging that changes must occur to the current regulatory oversight of MA plans in order to reduce marketing misconduct, but felt that much more is needed to produce meaningful improvements.

Read the full letter here (.pdf).