Scamming our seniors.
My regular visitors know that since I am an old fart I try to keep an eye on the scams and policies that will effect most people as they retire.
The insurance industry is getting worse by the year….they have been scamming seniors for decades and it just gets worse with the passing of time.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a report Wednesday highlighting the splashy incentives—from luxury vacations to cash bonuses—that private insurance companies offer agents and brokers for enrolling seniors in potentially higher-cost Medigap plans.
Medigap is federally regulated supplemental health insurance offered by for-profit companies such as UnitedHealthcare, Humana, and Aetna.
According to Warren, the Medigap marketplace is rife with “incentive trips and other perks for brokers and agents” who—in pursuit of such rewards—could be motivated to “push seniors into the most expensive Medigap plans, regardless of whether those plans meet their needs.”
The senator found that the estimated 32 private companies that entice agents with vacations and other incentives to boost Medigap sales provided the supplemental insurance to around 6.6 million people in the U.S. in 2021 and raked in nearly $16 billion in premiums from beneficiaries that year.
Warren acknowledged that her report “may underestimate the prevalence of incentives and rewards in the Medigap insurance industry” given that insurers and third-party companies are often not transparent about their incentive practices.
In a statement, Warren lamented the weak federal and state regulations that are giving insurance giants “free rein to scam millions of seniors in Medigap, offering agents lavish vacations to steer unknowing beneficiaries into more expensive plans.”
“Regulators must act to make sure seniors aren’t getting fleeced,” said Warren, who noted that around 40% of Medigap enrollees had less than $40,000 in annual income in 2018.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/warren-insurance-medigap-scam
I have always thought that these so-called “advantage’ plans were nothing more than a scam to screw seniors out of what money they have….these insurance toads are unfeeling ass wipes…..and that includes the senior’s best friend, AARP….which pushes their own brand of ‘advantage’ policies.
Keep an eye on your finances there are slugs that will come for your money.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
In Saner Thought 
I am so glad we don’t have all that nonsense here. Though the current government is trying hard to dismantle the NHS and bring in American insurance companies to take its place. British Ministers have been on ‘fact-finding’ trips to the US, no doubt to receive enormous bribes placed in offshore accounts.
Best wishes, Pete.
The insurance industry in this country is becoming the anti-Christ (if you believe such stuff)….they are coming for the UK….be ware. chuq
Gad! These predatory bastards wasted lots of my time blocking them on my phone and reporting them as scam on my laptop. One outfit called me up to three times a day at one point, changing phone numbers they called from each time I blocked them. This went on for months and I counted just one call short of 100 times they called me during the sign-up time. The Jimmy Walker commercials on television were so annoying – “…NOOOOW!” – I had to keep my remote handy for the duration of that particular commercial so I could mute the sound before that obnoxious word was spoken. As often as those commercials were shown, one had to think there must be a ton of money being made to be able to play them all day for months!
The insurance industry is making billions and giving little….it is called capitalism. I am getting calls now from Firefighters group….they are scamming as well chuq
Geez! When I retired, I got a continuation of insurance coverage from my company coverage.
My company coverage was very complete and cost me about $70 a month. The “continuation” cost about three times that and didn’t cover any of the preconditions that I needed coverage for. The name of this continuation insurance, probably not ironically: COBRA!
After six months of paying three times as much for, essentially, no coverage, I dropped it till I was old enough to qualify for Medicare.
Affordable Care insurance didn’t come into being until after I qualified for Medicare, so, with a precondition that could kill me in days if it flared during that period of over a year, those were bitter, scary times.
Hope all is covered now….chuq
Fortunately, it is.
😎