Insurance brokers, dealers and partners buy the majority of online Medicare Advantage advertising.
According to a report from the Commonwealth Fund published Jan. 5, brokers and similar businesses purchased 55 percent of search engine advertising related to Medicare Advantage. Health plans bought another 32 percent. Other for-profit organizations bought 7 percent, and CMS purchased another 7 percent.
The percentages of advertising purchases are disproportionate to search results, Commonwealth Fund researchers found. When users search for Medicare Advantage information, brokers make up just 20 percent of records. CMS-published information makes up 27 percent of results.
It's common for users to see at least a dozen ads by brokers or insurers at the top of a search for Medicare Advantage, according to the report.
Lawmakers and other authorities have pushed for tighter regulation of Medicare Advantage marketing. Complaints of deceptive or inaccurate advertising doubled between 2020 and 2021, according to the Commonwealth Fund.
A proposed rule from CMS would ban advertisements that don't mention a specific Medicare Advantage plan. The agency is also cracking down on television marketing, requiring Medicare Advantage advertisements to be approved by CMS before they can air.
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