CQ (10/20, Vadala) reports that House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), in an Oct. 14 letter to HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt, called on the CMS “to investigate potential marketing abuses by the health insurer Health Net, Inc.”
In a statement, Reps. Dingell and Stupak said their panel is investigating a report by the National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC) that “contends Health Net sales agents ‘attempted to induce beneficiaries to enroll in [Medicare Advantage] plans by providing false and misleading information.’”
In addition to calling for CMS to launch an investigation of Health Net, the lawmakers also asked that the agency “require Health Net to suspend its marketing activities, impose monetary sanctions and consider barring the company from participating in Medicare Advantage.” The letter also called on the inspector general’s office to investigate possible Medicare fraud by the insurer or its agents. CMS and the HHS inspector general are looking into the allegations.
