Health
Members of the influential Assembly Health Committee voted 12-4 to support Berg’s AB 2842, which would prohibit agents from using bait-and-switch techniques or other come-ons to sell policies and products to Medicare recipients.
“Believe me, seniors like myself get all sorts of solicitations from insurance agents for various insurance products,” said Berg, D-Eureka. “Seniors must have rights when they are dealing with Medicare and other insurance products. We have a lot of people out there trying to get at their money.”
Under the bill, insurance agents have to be up-front about their desire to sell something. They have to identify themselves as agents, and they can’t make an appointment to talk about Medicare Part D coverage and then use the time to sell other insurance products or services, unless those other products were mentioned when the appointment is made.
This is in keeping with other California law that requires agents to give seniors advance notice of a sales call so that seniors aren’t caught off guard without time to consult with family or other advisors.
Many seniors have come to rely on the help of insurance agents to help them through the maze-like system of Medicare law. Advising seniors on Medicare products is a growing industry. Berg’s bill takes aim at agents using tactics that take advantage of seniors and their pocketbooks by enrolling them in inappropriate plans.
“There are serious consequences for seniors who end up enrolled in the wrong plan,” said Berg. “Creating parameters for insurance agents will help seniors make informed choices regarding one of their most precious resources, their health care.”
In most cases, once seniors enroll in unneeded Medicare plans, they can not back out until the next annual open enrollment period. Being on fixed incomes to begin with, unwanted premiums can put a severe strain on a senior’s budget.
The bill is similar to a Maine law passed last year, and California will be the second state to institute this type of reform.
Berg, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care, is considered the Assembly’s key policy advocate on senior issues. This year, she has introduced a trio of bills that seek to regulate insurance agents and financial advisors.
AB 2842 now goes to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Visit Berg's Web site at http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a01/.
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Assembly Bill 2887, by Berg, D-Eureka, requires an existing state-funded health program called Every Woman Counts to provide digital mammograms. Current law requires the program only to pay for analog images of the common breast cancer test.
The Assembly Health Committee approved the bill late Tuesday on a 12-3 vote.
“Early detection is the key to survival,” said Berg. “As a breast cancer survivor, I can personally testify that quality screening is absolutely vital.”
To qualify for the Every Woman Counts program, a woman must be 40 or older, a California resident, and meet income eligibility requirements.
“The state needs to pay for new mammogram technology,” said Berg. “As always, the law needs to catch up with new technology.”
Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers among American women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2004, the CDC reported that 182,772 women were diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,954 women died from the disease.
The Susan G. Komen For the Cure is the sponsor of this bill. The bill is one of their legislative priorities for this year.
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