Medicare Minute
Watch out for Misleading Marketing
Health insurance companies try to reach people in various ways:
Television commercials, radio ads, events, mailings, phone calls, and texts.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has rules for how companies can sell Medicare Advantage plans and Part D plans. These rules protect Medicare beneficiaries from aggressive or misleading marketing. Before you enroll in a plan, make sure you understand:
What the plan covers
How it affects your Medicare benefits and other health benefits (like Medicaid or your
retiree/union coverage)
Whether your doctors are in-network
Whether the plan covers the drugs you need
An agent or broker should never pressure or mislead you into joining a plan. They should also never
offer gifts to sign up or say they were sent by Medicare or Social Security. If you feel an insurance
agent has pressured or misled you, you should save all their information. This might include:
Agent’s business card
Contact a plan directly to confirm if it will cover certain services for you or call your
local SHIP to discuss coverage questions. Take notes of your call(s) and make sure
that you get everything in writing..
1-800-856-4398
[email protected]