Daughter and Mother Reviewing Medicaid Documents

Avoid marketing scams during Medicare Open Enrollment

It's open enrollment time for Medicare. You have from October 15 until December 7 to choose a plan that is best for you. It's essential to understand your rights and some of the limits on marketing. 

Know your rights

If you request an appointment with an agent to visit or call to talk about your Medicare coverage options, remember you have certain rights, and agents must follow the law: 

• Agents must give you information only about items listed in the scope of appointment form you filled out when you asked for an appointment. They can't talk about other Medicare or insurance products that you didn't ask to talk about.
• Agents can't set their own time limits for you to sign up for a plan. Everyone has until December 7 to enroll, and there aren't any extra benefits for signing up early.
• They can't threaten to take away your benefits if you don't sign up for a plan or offer you gifts if you agree to sign up.

Take your time to read all information and verify details. For example, before you sign up, reach out to your doctors to ensure they are in that plan's network.

Report a marketing violation

There are limits on how companies and agents selling Medicare plans can contact you and what they can say. For example:

• You should never get a phone call from a company you don't have a relationship with.
• A company must not represent itself as Medicare, Social Security, or Medicaid.
• You shouldn't get information — like leaflets, flyers, door hangers, etc. — on your car or at home from a company you don't have an appointment with.
• An agent can't come back to your home without an invitation.
• An agent can't promise that you can keep your Medigap plan (supplemental plan) when you sign up for a Medicare Advantage plan. The truth is, you can't have both a Medigap plan and a Medicare Advantage plan.