U.S. Senate investigators have found that insurance agents in at least 39 states used illegal or unethical methods to sell private Medicare Advantage plans, the Washington Post reported.
The underhanded tactics included enrolling dead or mentally incompetent people, using personal information stolen from federal records, and impersonating Medicare representatives.
The Senate Special Committee on Aging is scheduled to hold a hearing Thursday to look into the issue, the Post reported.
"There's a lamentable lack of oversight when it comes to the sales practices being used to sell Medicare Advantage plans to our seniors," said committee chairman Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.). "Our goal is that these plans must be represented in a transparent, honest and fair way."
The sales schemes have resulted in a number of civil and criminal legal cases and damaged the credibility of the Medicare Advantage program, the Post reported.
Medicare Advantage plans are health-plan options that are part of the Medicare program. If you join one of these plans, you generally get all your Medicare-covered health care through that plan. This coverage can include prescription drug coverage, according to the Medicare Web site.
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