Aetna will no longer pay brokers for enrolling new members in some Medicare plans starting Friday.
The CVS Health subsidiary notified third-party marketers on Tuesday that it will not compensate them for signing up customers for 25 Medicare Advantage products in California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New York, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia, or for any Medicare Part D plans, said Ronnell Nolan, president and CEO of the trade group Health Agents for America.
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Aetna also halted advertising for those 25 Medicare Advantage products on the enrollment platforms Connecture and Sunfire, according to a notice the company delivered to brokers. Aetna did not respond to an interview request.
Cutting off payments for Medicare sales during the annual enrollment period, which ends Dec. 7, is highly unusual, said Rick Kes, healthcare senior industry analyst at the consulting firm RSM. Insurance companies typically reduce or eliminate commissions to minimize sign-ups in unprofitable products by discouraging brokers from promoting them, he said.