The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a final rule that caps broker compensation in Medicare Advantage plans. The 1,327-page rule aims to stop brokers from steering beneficiaries to certain plans in exchange for higher reimbursement from insurers, while giving them more predictable compensation.

Among the key provisions of the rule:

• Medicare's definition of compensation is broadened to include all actions associated with the sales to/enrollment of a beneficiary in a Medicare Advantage plan. As a result, insurers no longer will be able to pay brokers additional fees that aren't subject to the government's compensation cap, beginning with this fall's annual enrollment.
• Fixed compensation amounts for brokers who enroll beneficiaries in plans increases by $100, which is significantly higher than the $31 increase originally proposed in November.
• Contracts between Medicare Advantage plans and marketing middlemen that result in such things as volume-based bonuses for enrollment into certain plans are prohibited. Marketing organizations also no longer are allowed to share beneficiary information with each other unless they receive the beneficiary's written consent.
• Other provisions are geared toward increasing the use of supplemental benefits, including requiring plans to send out midyear notices informing beneficiaries of the benefits available to them.

The rule is the latest action by CMS to curb Medicare Advantage marketing misconduct after regulators banned misleading TV ads last year. Beneficiary complaints of inappropriate Medicare Advantage marketing more than doubled from 2020 to 2021, according to an investigation by the Senate Finance Committee. The report found that beneficiaries sometimes were enrolled in plans without their consent or had their coverage switched to a plan that didn't cover their doctors.