Across the country, licensed financial professionals are stepping up on behalf of the seniors they serve and their efforts are making a difference. Following the regulatory alert issued by NAIFA, hundreds of advisors from all 50 states reached out to their state insurance regulators demanding action to curb carriers’ practices that undermine consumer choice and steer vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries into restricted or biased product lines.

What began with the Idaho Department of Insurance’s Bulletin 25-06 — which called out deceptive plan-design and producer-compensation practices in Medicare markets — has now grown into a domino effect across state insurance departments.

In addition to Idaho, eight more states have taken action to ensure that seniors have access to unbiased Medicare-supplement and Medicare-advantage products. They are: Delaware, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Montana, North Carolina, Mississippi, and South Carolina.

On Nov. 13, representatives of NAIFA’s Medicare Collective, an initiative of the Lifetime Healthcare Center, met with officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to discuss the role of brokers and agents in providing vital guidance, services, and protections to consumers in the Medicare space. They presented the Collective’s plan to work with CMS and insurance carriers to ensure Medicare beneficiaries receive the best possible coverage and care in these challenging times. Learn more about this meeting.

As NAIFA members continue to raise their voices, the message is clear: states are listening and the marketplace must become more accountable. See NAIFA’s previous coverage of other states that have joined in the call for action.