Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a report Wednesday highlighting the splashy incentives—from luxury vacations to cash bonuses—that private insurance companies offer agents and brokers for enrolling seniors in potentially higher-cost Medigap plans.
Medigap is federally regulated supplemental health insurance offered by for-profit companies such as UnitedHealthcare, Humana, and Aetna.
According to Warren, the Medigap marketplace is rife with "incentive trips and other perks for brokers and agents" who—in pursuit of such rewards—could be motivated to "push seniors into the most expensive Medigap plans, regardless of whether those plans meet their needs."
The senator found that the estimated 32 private companies that entice agents with vacations and other incentives to boost Medigap sales provided the supplemental insurance to around 6.6 million people in the U.S. in 2021 and raked in nearly $16 billion in premiums from beneficiaries that year.
Warren acknowledged that her report "may underestimate the prevalence of incentives and rewards in the Medigap insurance industry" given that insurers and third-party companies are often not transparent about their incentive practices.
