In the News
NEW RULES FOR SELLING MEDICARE ADVANTAGE
The ads that Joe Namath, William Shatner and other celebrities appear in to sell you a Medicare Advantage plan are going to have to be more transparent and specific about what they are pitching and avoid using the Medicare logo in a way that could make you believe they represent the federal government.
Rules that kick in Sept. 30 are part of a regulation designed to crack down on what Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra calls “misleading marketing schemes by health insurance companies.”
Medicare Advantage plans are the increasingly popular private insurance alternative to original Medicare. Federal officials estimate that by the end of 2023, more than half of Medicare’s 65 million enrollees will be subscribed in Advantage plans.
The plans are structured much like the health insurance common among private employer plans. They typically require you to go to health providers within a network and secure approval before getting specialized care. The plans include prescription drug coverage and often provide dental and vision benefits. In contrast, under original Medicare, beneficiaries can go to any provider they choose that accepts Medicare. They need to secure a separate Part D drug plan, and they often buy a supplemental or Medigap policy to help pay for incremental health expenses.
Becerra said the new rule “would prohibit overly general ads about the Medicare Advantage program that often tend to confuse and mislead [eligible] individuals.”
The new regulation requires that an advertisement for Medicare Advantage specify the name of the plan it is trying to get older adults to join.
Other steps, says Brendan Rose, an AARP government affairs director, limit use of the name Medicare and prohibit images of Medicare cards in advertisements.
The ads may lead people to believe that the toll-free number they call goes to the federal government, when it’s to a private broker or insurance company. The regulation requires those who sell MA plans to fully explain coverage and to make sure benefits are available where someone seeing the ad lives.
KNOW YOUR FUTURE SOCIAL SECURITY PAY? MOST DON’T
A RECENT STUDY SHOWS Americans close to drawing Social Security greatly underestimate the money they’ll collect, suggesting more needs to be done to educate those near retirement.
A March paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research says most people in their 50s and early 60s misjudge their future annual benefit income by 11.5 percent, or $1,896, on average. A quarter of older adults are off by more than $5,100.
However, “receiving one or more Social Security statements reduces the forecast error in annual Social Security income by $344,” says the report, based on data from the Health and Retirement Study, a long-running University of Michigan survey of older adults.
A bipartisan U.S. Senate bill would task the Social Security Administration with sending workers over 25 a copy of their statement every five years, then more frequently beginning at 55, until they start their benefits.
“More regular statements would help millions of Americans more effectively plan for retirement and better understand their stake in Social Security,” Bill Sweeney, AARP senior VP for government affairs, wrote in a letter to the bill’s sponsors.
Expanded Support For Family Caregivers
Janet Lenius provides home care for her 90-year-old mother.
FAMILY CAREGIVERS May get much-needed help, and veterans could have better access to quality home care under an executive order signed by President Joe Biden, advocates say.
The president in April directed federal agencies to take what he described as “over 50 actions to provide more peace of mind for families and dignity for care workers who deserve jobs with good pay and good benefits.”
Among the most important steps:
→ The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was told to find ways to help family members prepare for a loved one’s discharge from a hospital. HHS was also directed to test a new dementia care initiative that includes support for respite care.
→ The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was directed to expand its Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers and provide more support for caregivers enrolled in that program.
→ HHS will seek ways to use Medicaid funding to ensure there are enough home care workers to aid older Americans and people with disabilities who are enrolled in that program.
According to a recent AARP report, the care Americans provide to their family and friends totaled an estimated $600 billion in unpaid labor in 2021.
COVID BOOSTER APPROVED
AMERICANS 65 AND OLDER and those with compromised immune systems who got a COVID-19 booster shot at least four months ago are eligible for another dose, federal health officials announced.
Any adult who never received a booster after the initial vaccine series would benefit from getting a bivalent booster, officials say.
The bivalent boosters, from vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, became available last September. They target both the original coronavirus and some subvariants of the omicron strain. In April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the additional round of booster shots for the two targeted groups and encouraged others who haven’t gotten a booster to get one.
TROUBLED SLEEP
YOUR TYPE OF INSOMNIA may predict dementia risk. People who have trouble falling asleep within 30 minutes are more likely to develop dementia, according to research published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, than those who wake up in the night, then struggle to return to dreamland.