For decades, politicians like Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders have been calling for a national takeover of healthcare. Though this is generally eschewed by most Democratic politicians, who assure the American people with a wink and a smile that they would never support socialized medicine, nearly all of the Democrats’ healthcare proposals move us ever closer to Sanders’ disastrous healthcare utopia.
The most recent squeeze aimed at our healthcare system is the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposal to overhaul Medicare Advantage support services and the compensation received by its brokers. The devastating effect on seniors and beneficiaries cannot be understated.
While superficially aimed at enhancing consumer protection, the proposed rule’s deeper implications suggest a more covert agenda: stifling the growth of Medicare Advantage and shifting the landscape toward a more monopolized and less competitive healthcare model. Evidently, consumer choice is out and one-size-fits-all is in.
The crux of the proposal involves CMS fixing the compensation that licensed health insurance agents and brokers receive for providing their Medicare Advantage services to seniors. It also places price caps on administrative payments that Medicare Advantage plans currently make at fair-market value to third-party health insurance brokerages for essential agent, broker and beneficiary support services.
These payments ensure agents and brokers have the necessary resources to operate their businesses. They cover services such as providing state-of-the-art technology tools, compliance assistance, and licensing and training support. They also help beneficiaries with carrier-agnostic plan comparisons, general enrollment guidance, and continuing plan support.
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