Humana ordered to stop mailings

In what is becoming a long running debate on health care reform, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid on Monday sent a notice to all companies that sell private Medicare coverage and stand-alone drug plans to seniors, stating that the information provided by one insurer was misleading.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., launched an investigation of Humana Inc. Humana is one of the largest private insurers participating in a program called Medicare Advantage. Humana's mailings were advising that proposed changes "would reduce the extra benefits that would be made available to beneficiaries through Medicare Advantage plans," Elmendorf said.

With the pending health care bills currently in Congress one of the proposals targets those insurers offering Medicare coverage. With plans averaging 14 percent higher than traditional fee-for-service Medicare coverage, the health care reform bill seeks to redress this issue and ordered Humana to stop mailings.