New US marketing rules for Rx drug plans

The US federal government has proposed new marketing regulations for providers of Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans, following reports of "aggressive" sales tactics and confusion on the part of consumers. Advocates of tougher regulation argue that there is not enough scope under the Administration's proposals for individual states to provide additional controls.

According to a round-up of the suggested new safeguards, published by the California HealthCare Foundation, a think-tank, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) will enforce the following changes to existing marketing rules for the drug plans and Medicare Advantage policies:

- prohibit cold-calls, door-to-door and unsolicited marketing in places such as waiting rooms and senior centers. This would limit face-to-face contact to customer-driven events;