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Medicare Advantage Plans Have Rules

Medicare Advantage Plans Have Rules

Seniors need to know the marketing rules for Medicare Advantage Plans before they open their doors to an uninvited salesperson or offer information to a telephone salesperson, trying to sell them a Medicare Advantage Plan. This information has been provided for senior protection from the local Area Agency On Aging Apprise Coordinator.

Medicare Advantage Plans must do the following:

Give you written information with a complete description of how the plan works.

Make clear that there is no guarantee that your doctor or hospital will agree to accept the plan’s terms and conditions or provide you with treatment if you join the plan.

Call you after you join to make sure that you wanted to join and that you understand how the plan works.

Send you a letter if they can’t reach you by telephone with instructions on how to disenroll if you change your mind.

Have people available to answer any questions you have about the plan.

Have people available to answer your doctor’s or other providers’ questions.

Medicare Advantage Plans cannot do the following:

Ask for your personal information (like your Social Security, bank account, or credit card numbers) over the telephone.

Come to your home uninvited to sell or endorse any Medicare-related product.

Call you unless you are already a member of the plan. If you are a member, the agent who helped you join can call you.

Require you to speak to a sales agent to get information about the plan.

Offer you cash to join their plan or give you free meals while marketing a plan to you.

Enroll you into a plan, in general, over the telephone unless you call them and ask to enroll.

Ask you for payment over the telephone or web, The plan must send you a bill.

Tell you that they are Medigap (Medicare Supplement Insurance) policies.

Sell you a non-health related product, like an annuity, life insurance policy, or a disability policy, during a sales pitch for a Medicare health or drug plan.

Make an appointment to tell you about their plan unless you agree in writing or through a recorded telephone discussion to the products being discussed. During the appointment, they can only try to sell you the products you agreed to hear about. Note: If you attend a meeting where a Medicare Advantage Plan will be discussed, if you sign in or sign anything at the meeting, this may give Medicare Advantage Plan salesmen written permission to actively market you.

For questions and concerns on Medicare Advantage Plans or senior health insurance issues call your Susquehanna County Area Agency On Aging and talk to an Apprise Counselor before you sign at 1-800-634-3746 or 570-278-3751.

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