August 14, 2024 Washington Wire

Health agents return from Washington summit

By Susan Rupe

Members of Health Agents for America returned from their 2024 Agent Summit in Washington, where they discussed issues ranging from the practice of “twisting” to the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on Medicare Part D with their elected representatives in Congress.

Ronnell Nolan, HAFA president and CEO, told InsuranceNewsNet the event was filled with “a lot of good meetings on the Hill.”

Among the issues discussed:

Members spoke with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Senate Finance Committee chair, about his call on the Biden administration to stop allowing unscrupulous brokers to switch consumer’s health insurance plans without their consent and knowledge. He also called for the government to impose criminal penalties on those who switch policies fraudulently.

Known as “twisting,” the scheme often leaves consumers without access to their regulator doctors, while paying higher deductibles and tax penalties.

“I’m excited to work with Sen. Wyden, although there probably won’t be a bill on this passed this year. But he wants us to take a look at the proposed bill and tell him what we think, what could be improved,” Nolan said.

The Inflation Reduction Act eliminates the 5% coinsurance for catastrophic coverage in Medicare Part D in 2024, adds a $2,000 cap on Part D out-of-pocket spending in 2025 and limits annual increases in Part D premiums for 2024-2030. But Nolan said that the new rules mean Medicare-age adults who are still working will be forced into Part D instead of allowed to remain on employer coverage if they are still eligible to remain on their workplace plan and choose to do so. the Medicare Part

“There's going to be a lot of confusion over this,” she said. “One of the things we suggested is have the same Part D open enrollment that you do for Medicare Advantage, so people get a little more time to decide on their coverage.”

Network adequacy was another issue discussed by HAFA members. Nolan said CMS notified HAFA that its leaders want to discuss this issue with members in the future.

“This is something we’ve been working on forever and we want to get CMS’ attention on it,” she said. “They need to realize that in some areas of the country, there are no doctors or hospitals and how can you allow an insurance carrier to come in to your market if there’s no proper network?

The “Find Local Help” section of Healthcare.gov has experienced problems, with the names of local health agents removed but the contact information of marketplace navigators remaining. Nolan said CMS informed HAFA that the removal was the result of a glitch that occurred following a system update and was assured that the website would be corrected to include local agent contact information.

Susan Rupe is editor in chief, magazine, for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected].