June 15,2007

Baucus Supports Suspension in Marketing of Private Fee-For-Service Plans

Senator wants CMS to go even further to enforce a regulatory structure to prevent predatory sales practices in future

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is responding with support to the nationwide suspension of marketing of private fee-for-service plans by major Medicare
Advantage organizations, as announced late today by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS). The suspension, made voluntarily by seven private insurers with the largest
numbers of beneficiaries enrolled in private fee-for-service Medicare plans, should allow CMS to
review the marketing infrastructure of these plans and bring rogue actions to a temporary halt.

“Inappropriate marketing and promotion by private Medicare plans needs to stop,” Baucus said. “I applaud plans for volunteering a suspension. I’d like to see CMS spend less time
promoting private coverage and more time figuring out how to regulate the actions of insurers who sell directly to seniors. With reports of unscrupulous marketing and unfulfilled benefits, CMS needs to do its job of monitoring and regulating plans so that seniors are better protected.”

Baucus is the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare.

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