Medicare HMOs under the spotlight in South Florida.

South Florida, one of the last places where managed care organizations can make a pretty healthy profit in the Medicare+Choice program, and where competition for enrollees is intense, is also where CMS is watching marketing campaigns and the beahvior of HMO execs very closely. In an article in today's Miami Herald, it's reported that Medicare -- which dinged CarePlus for its marketing practices -- has now sent a letter of reprimand to CarePlus' CEO for incomplete and potentially misleading comments made last month to the Miami Herald in connection with a story about the Medicare fine. The marketing abuses included a claim that CarePlus offered unlimited pharmacy benefits (they should have said "unlimited generic pharmacy benefits") and their failure to state "that disabled Medicare beneficiaries, not just seniors could enroll in the Medicare+Choice HMOs."