Senators Attack Retail Medicare Agent Call Recording Requirement

Rounds’ bill would exclude “independent agents and brokers” from the requirements starting Jan. 1, 2023. The bill would define independent agents and brokers as insurance producers who meet the Medicare Advantage agent requirements described in section 1851(h)(7)(A) of the Social Security Act — a part of the law that serves as the statutory framework for the Medicare Advantage program.

Rounds lists Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, as a co-sponsor. The Senate Finance Committee has jurisdiction over the bill.

The bill appears to have little chance of advancing as a stand-alone bill, but James Capretta, a health policy specialist at the American Enterprise Institute, suggested Thursday, during an online web event organized by the Bipartisan Policy Center, lawmakers could introduce a 2,000-page or 2,500-page “must pass” bill around Dec. 23, and that many different health policy measures could be part of that year-end package.

Pictured: Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. (Photo: Rounds)