Commonwealth Fund survey: Most use brokers and agents to pick Medicare plans

Most Medicare beneficiaries rely on brokers and agents to choose a Medicare plan, but there are concerns about whether they provide unbiased opinions, a new survey shows. 

The survey, released Monday by the Commonwealth Fund, comes a few days after the start of open enrollment for Medicare 2023 plans. It also examined why beneficiaries choose Medicare Advantage (MA) over traditional Medicare. 

“Medicare beneficiaries, regardless of their source of coverage, seem to most frequently rely on the one-on-one help provided by brokers and agents in choosing a Medicare plan,” the survey report said. “But brokers and agents are paid commissions by insurers, which can influence the kind of information they provide.”

The survey found that 31% of surveyed MA beneficiaries relied on brokers, as did 30% of those picking a traditional plan. Another 20% of respondents relied on friends and family to pick an MA plan, compared with 14% for traditional Medicare. 

Commonwealth Fund also looked at government-funded sources of information, which were sparsely used. Only 5% of those in traditional Medicare and 9% in MA relied on the federal hotline or Medicare.gov. The small number of respondents that rely on such tools “raises questions about whether these resources are known to beneficiaries and are meeting their needs,” the survey said. 

The Commonwealth Fund found key variation in who used marketing as a source to help choose a plan. While 6% of respondents reported marketing was a source they used, 12% of Black respondents said it was helpful to them compared to 5% of white respondents. 

Marketing was also used more among beneficiaries who earned money below the federal poverty level (FPL).

“Likewise, 12% of beneficiaries in the lowest income category (below 100% of the FPL) said they had been informed by advertising and marketing efforts, compared to only 2% of those in the highest income category (above 400% of FPL),” the think tank’s report said.

The finding comes as scrutiny of MA marketing practices has ratcheted up. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, launched a probe into MA marketing as complaints have doubled from 2020 to 2021. 

MA will likely outpace traditional Medicare in terms of total enrollment this year. MA plans get capitated payments from Medicare and offer benefits outside of traditional Medicare’s scope such as dental or vision. 

Roughly 1 in 4 (24%) beneficiaries that chose MA cited the additional benefits, and 20% sought out the plans for a limit on out-of-pocket spending, according to the survey.

Beneficiaries who stayed in traditional Medicare primarily cited the better options for providers, as MA plans can restrict patient choices to within a network. 

“This was true for beneficiaries who supplement their coverage with a private insurance plan as well as those who don’t supplement, although beneficiaries with supplemental coverage cited provider choice as the primary reason at two times the rate of those without it (50% vs. 22%),” the report said. 

The survey was of 8,022 adults from March 28 through July 4, 2022.