Ritter Insurance Marketing

The House and Senate last week voted to override the President’s veto of the Medicare bill, which means that the House Medicare bill now will become law. However, it will take some time for the two main components of the law to have an impact: 1) The unfavorable rating change doesn’t take effect till 2010; and 2) The requirement for insurers to have a contract with a doctor doesn’t take effect till 2011. As for other items in the bill, the new marketing rules (born out of the Finance Committee meeting with health plan CEOs, including Aetna’s Ron Williams) start in 2009, but some market rules will take effect in late 2008. The prompt payment to pharmacists requirement takes effect in 2010, and the financial incentives to doctors who e-prescribe start in 2009, while the requirement to e-prescribe starts in 2012. The new law will eventually have an effect on the beneficiaries served by Aetna in particular parts of the country, but Aetna is well-positioned and prepared to minimize the impact and adjust operations to the new law.