Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 37 - INSURANCE › Part XI - Rules › Chapter 1 - Rule Number 3A-Advertisement of Medicare Supplement Insurance › Section XI-101 - Purpose

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. The proper
				expansion of Medicare supplement insurance coverage is in the public interest.
				Appropriate advertising can broaden the distribution of insurance among those
				eligible for Medicare. Advertising can increase the awareness of beneficial
				forms of coverage and thereby encourage product competition. Advertising can
				also provide the insurance-buying public with the means by which it can compare
				the advantages of competing forms of coverage.
B. Insurance advertising has become
				increasingly important in the years since the
1956 NAIC Rules Governing
				Advertisement of Accident and Sickness Insurance
were developed. The
				increasing availability of coverage under group insurance plans and the advent
				of governmental benefit programs have complicated the decisions the
				insurance-buying public must make to avoid duplication of benefits and gaps in
				coverage. The consequent need for detailed information about insurance products
				is reflected in the requirements for disclosure established by the
1972
				NAIC Rules, as amended, Governing Advertisements of Accident and Sickness
				Insurance
. This need for detailed disclosure is especially critical in
				helping to assure that individuals eligible for Medicare receive full and
				truthful advertising for Medicare supplement insurance. The NAIC has,
				therefore, determined that, while the
1972 NAIC Rules, as amended,
				Governing Advertisements of Accident and Sickness Insurance
did
				address Medicare supplement insurance, these new
Rules and Interpretive
				Guidelines
addressed solely to Medicare supplement insurance
				advertising are needed to replace the previous
1972 Rules and
				Interpretive Guidelines
with respect to Medicare supplement insurance
				advertising.
C. Although modern
				insurance advertising patterns much of its design after advertising for other
				goods and service, the uniqueness of insurance as a product must always be kept
				in mind in developing advertising. This is particularly true with respect to
				Medicare supplement insurance advertising. By the time an insured discovers
				that a particular insurance product is unsuitable for his needs, it may be too
				late for him to return to the marketplace to find a more satisfactory
				product.
D. The insurance-buying
				public should be afforded a means by which it can determine, in advance of
				purchase, the desirability of the competing insurance products proposed to be
				sold. This can be accomplished by advertising which accurately describes the
				advantages and disadvantages of the insurance product without either
				exaggerating the benefits or minimizing the limitations. Properly designed
				advertising can provide such description and disclosure without sacrificing the
				sales appeal which is essential to its usefulness to the insurance-buying
				public and the insurance business. The purpose of the new
NAIC Rules
				Governing Advertisements of Medicare Supplement Insurance
is to
				establish minimum criteria to assure proper and accurate description and
				disclosure.
E. The purpose of this
				rule is to provide prospective purchasers with clear and unambiguous statements
				in the advertisements of Medicare supplement insurance; to assure the clear and
				truthful disclosure of the benefits, limitations and exclusions of policies
				sold as Medicare supplement insurance. This purpose is intended to be
				accomplished by the establishment of guidelines and permissible and
				impermissible standards of conduct in the advertising of Medicare supplement
				insurance in a manner which prevents unfair, deceptive, and misleading
				advertising and is conducive to accurate presentation and description to the
				insurance-buying public through the advertising media and material used by the
				insurance agents and companies. This rule is being amended to remove the
				requirement that insurers file a certificate of compliance in regards to
				advertisements.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
				  Promulgated in accordance with
				  R.S.
				  22:2 and
				  22:224.