New York Times

Published May 26, 2008

Dear Editor,

Thanks to the Times (Medicare's Much-Too-Hard Sell, May 21) for getting to the heart of the Medicare Advantage marketing scandal, specifically, the billions of dollars in subsidies which reward insurers for selling these private plans.  Surely, such aggressive sales tactics can surprise no one given that the Medicare Modernization Act specifically rewards companies with and average of 13 to 17 percent in overpayments (and in some cases even more) for providing private coverage. 

Rather than spending even more federal dollars policing private plans in Medicare, why not remove the underlying incentive encouraging insurers to

push these higher profit plans in the first place? How many dollars will we spend on investigations and enforcement for private insurers who want to maximize the financial incentives provided to them by Congress? Removing Medicare Advantage subsidies will level the playing field, remove the incentive to hard-sell these plans, restore years of solvency to Medicare and put the needs of seniors  above industry profits.

Barbara B. Kennelly,

President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare