Humana CEO: No no regrets about sending warning letters to Medicare customers

Humana's CEO says he does not regret sending Medicare customers a letter warning that health care reform could hurt their benefits. The letters caused government officials to probe whether the insurer violated federal regulations in September. Reuters reports: "Humana Chief Executive Mike McCallister, speaking at the Reuters Health Summit in New York, said it was important to inform seniors about proposals that could affect Medicare and he had "no regrets" about sending the letter. Humana's letter "told customers that bills from congressional Democrats could hurt 'millions of seniors and disabled individuals (who) could lose many of the important benefits and services that make Medicare Advantage health plans so valuable,' CMS said in a letter to Humana informing the company of the probe. ... Lawmakers are weighing cuts to government Medicare Advantage payments to companies as part of an effort to help fund wider insurance coverage. Insurers say they will be forced to raise costs and reduce benefits for people in the plans" (Lisa Richwine, 11/11).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.