More dual eligibles—individuals with Medicare and Medicaid—are enrolling in a certain type of Medicare Advantage plan as a result of aggressive marketing efforts targeting dual eligibles. This type of plan, known as a Dual Eligible Special Need Plan (D-SNP) Look-Alike, threatens to undermine promising advancements in integrated care for duals made possible by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). D-SNP look-alikes are not subject to the regulations governing D-SNPs and therefore have no responsibility to coordinate Medicare and Medicaid benefits. Because they are marketed aggressively almost exclusively to duals, they draw dual eligibles away from coordinated options and place responsibility on the consumer to navigate two separate delivery systems, potentially exacerbating disruptions and gaps in care.

Justice in Aging created this issue brief, Dual Eligible Special Need Plan Look-Alikes - A Primer, to help educate advocates working with dual eligibles about the impact of these plans on dual eligibles and to request that advocates report experiences with D-SNP look-alikes to Justice in Aging and CMS.

This new issue brief:

• Outlines some key requirements of D-SNPs;
• identifies the basic characteristics of D-SNP look-alikes;
• discusses problems look-alikes are causing for dual eligibles; and
• proposes ways to restrict them in the Medicare market.