Medicare Advantage Giants Fail to Escape Broker Kickback Case

A federal judge Wednesday denied three of the nation’s largest Medicare Advantage insurers and industry brokers their request to escape the US government’s claims threatening billions in damages for a pay-for-enrollment kickback scheme.

The government’s complaint, built on whistleblower allegations, claimed Aetna, Anthem, and Humana paid millions to insurance brokers to steer people into certain plans and in some cases diverted disabled beneficiaries away from others in violation of anti-discrimination regulations.

The brokers—eHealth Inc, SelectQuote Inc., and GoHealth Inc.—allegedly marketed themselves as unbiased and “carrier agnostic” but directed beneficiaries to the highest paying carrier in the Medicare Advantage program, which ...