HHS "Gag Order" Sent To Insurers Prompts Outrage From GOP
ABC World News reported during a Senate Finance Committee hearing "a war of words broke out over what one of the nation's largest health insurance companies is saying about the bill." The order "issued last night by the Department of Health and Human Services" tells "insurance companies who serve Medicare recipients to stop 'misleading' and 'confusing' mailings, saying, quote, 'we are instructing you to immediately discontinue all such mailings and remove any related materials from your websites.'
The extraordinary order comes in response to a mailing the Humana Insurance Company sent to customers in the Medicare Advantage Program," that "warned that because of Medicare cuts in the healthcare reform bills, quote, 'millions of seniors and disabled individuals could lose many important benefits and services.'"
Some legal experts "say the order is unconstitutional." The AP reports Peter Ashkenzaz, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, said, "Because these are Medicare contractors, we want to make sure that the health plans' communications to beneficiaries are not violating marketing requirements or using protected information like Medicare mailing lists improperly."
The Washington Post quotes Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, "the industry's main lobbying group, as saying, "Seniors have a right to know how the current reform proposals will affect the coverage they currently like and rely on."
