corrente

This is, shall we say, not as forcefully written as could be. Nor as timely as one might like. But there are certain things that can be counted on to piss off just about everybody not directly employed by Enron, and "lying to Grandma" is high on the list.

(via NYT's usually reliable Business section)

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 - The nation's insurance commissioners say the federal Medicare agency has made misleading statements about the new drug benefit in an effort to persuade people to sign up.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which represents insurance regulators in all 50 states, registered its concern in a letter to the agency. State officials elaborated on their concerns in recent interviews.

If private insurers made such statements about their products, the association said, state officials would investigate their marketing practices for possible violation of consumer protection laws.

The insurance commissioners objected to a proposed federal rule requiring insurers to tell policyholders that the Medicare drug benefit provided "greater value'' than did the drug coverage available to people with private Medigap insurance. Similar statements appear on the Web site of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The views of state insurance commissioners are significant for several reasons. The commissioners regulate the marketing and advertising of all sorts of insurance. They have years of experience in evaluating the claims made for insurance products. The federal government is required to consult them in setting Medigap standards. Their letter had no apparent ties to this year's elections and expressed no opinion on the merits of the new Medicare law.

Gasp! They sound suspiciously like members of the Reality-Based Community! Worse yet, there are signs of treason here...

In fact, the letter was signed by a Republican, Ms. Praeger, who is chairwoman of the association's committee on health insurance and managed care.

The proposed notice to beneficiaries "sounds a little too much like advertising'' for the new drug benefit, Ms. Praeger said in an interview.

Members of the association said they were speaking not as Republicans or Democrats, but as professional insurance regulators responsible for protecting consumers.

The Bush administration contends that the new drug benefit will be superior to existing private coverage.

And because They say it is so, well then, it must be so!

Under the law, Medigap insurers must send a notice to policyholders with drug coverage, explaining what options they will have in 2006. The administration says insurers should tell beneficiaries, in the first paragraph of any notice, that the new drug benefit "will provide greater value than your current coverage.''

Companies are now required to screw themselves in the course of doing business. Somehow I don't think they're going to be as easily bought off as the Christian Fundamentalists who are pacified by Karl Rove doing some gay-bashing on the Sabbath Gasbag circuit.

State insurance commissioners object to that requirement. The new benefit, they said, does not necessarily offer greater value for all Medicare beneficiaries.

In its letter, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners said the federal government was using "precisely the type of 'push' advertising technique that the N.A.I.C. and its members consistently oppose and prohibit at the state regulatory level.''

If you help your grandparents, parents or other people who have to deal with Medicare, click the link above and print out the story. If you just try to tell them flat out the Gummint is lying to them, they might sigh and give you the Get Over The Election Already speech.