A study released Monday by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows when it comes to advertising, insurers favor Medicare Advantage over stand-alone drug plans.
According to the study, insurers placed three times more ads to promote Medicare Advantage plans as they did stand-alone Medicare drug plans.
This news comes during heightened Congressional focus on Medicare plan marketing practices, as insurers are permitted to advertise their 2009 plan options beginning October 1.
According to the study, the ads for Medicare Advantage plans, which provide all Medicare benefits and often additional benefits, are estimated to cost more than twice as much as stand-alone drug plan ads. Insurers spent $30.1 million to advertise Medicare Advantage and $13.1 million to advertise stand-alone drug plans.
The study was based on content and frequency of television, print and radio advertisements for Medicare plans from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2007, during which insurers were permitted to market their 2008 plan offerings and when beneficiaries were expected to revisit their Medicare drug plan and Medicare Advantage plan choices for the coming year.
The study looked at ads placed nationally or in Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Phoenix, Ariz. and Greensboro, N.C. All ads were identified by VMS, a media monitoring service.
Extra benefits were the dominant message in ads for Medicare Advantage plans, reflected in 71 percent of all occurrences and most frequently emphasizing vision, preventive care and hearing benefits, the study said. Fifty-six percent of the Medicare Advantage ads also emphasized either no premiums or low premiums for their plan.
In conjunction with the study, Kaiser released a policy brief explaining the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' legal authority to regulate advertising and other information issued by private companies contracting with the federal government.
The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a report earlier this month saying CMS is falling short in marketing its Medicare prescription drug plans.
According to OIG, the CMS Part D marketing materials and enrollment forms leave out information on how qualifying low income beneficiaries can receive subsidies for Part D. In addition, many marketing materials lack hours of operation and phone numbers for deaf persons.