La. Admin. Code tit. 37 § XI-101
Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 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.La. Admin. Code tit. 37, § XI-101
Promulgated by the Department of Insurance, Commissioner of Insurance, LR 17:67 (January 1991), Amended by the Department of Insurance, Office of the Commissioner, LR 431985 (10/1/2017).AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 22:2 and 22:224.