A recent survey by the National Senior Citizens Law Center found that many Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare Part D plans are not publishing marketing materials in Spanish as required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid under their provider contracts.
CMS requires MA plans to make marketing and plan materials available in any language that is the primary of more than 10 percent of the population in specific market areas. These materials must be posted on the plans' websites.
As part of its survey, NSCLC visited the websites of insurance companies that offer Medicare Advantage plans in zip codes across the country where a high percentage of Spanish speaking people live. In many plans operating in areas of Miami and Los Angeles, the Center found that these materials had not been posted.
"Plain and simple, plans need to meet their obligations and we have asked CMS to look into this quickly and let us know that they are dealing with the issue so that people can make decisions before Part D open enrollment is over," said Kevin Prindiville, deputy director of the NSCLC. "It's unfortunate, but we see health insurance companies marketing their Medicare plans aggressively to Spanish speakers but not giving them the information they need to make an informed choice. This will mean a lot of people will be in the dark about their options this open enrollment season."
According to a report in Bloomberg, the center brought their complain to Medicare administrators earlier this month. In a prepared statement, CMS spokesman Tony Salters noted the complaint is being investigated.
"As we address this concern, we will take appropriate and necessary steps, including compliance action, to make these concerns whole for our Spanish-language beneficiaries and all people with Medicare," said Salters.
NSCLC is a non-profit organization that seeks to protect the rights of low-income older adults. The group has been advocating for better language access for Medicare Part D since it was enacted earlier this decade. It conducted the recent survey after receiving complaints that these documents were not available.