October 21, 2020
With Medicare Open Enrollment going on, your mail box may be full, and your phone may be ringing off the hook. Are the mail flyers and calls legitimate? Maybe. However, Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage) and Part D (Drug Plan) have to follow some rules. When you get mail, emails or calls, keep this in mind.
Medicare plans cannot:
- Conduct unsolicited phone calls to beneficiaries with whom they have no prior relationship
- Send unsolicited emails to beneficiaries who have not agreed to receive emails
- Mail or call a beneficiary who has requested to opt out of receiving such communications
- Represent themselves as though they come from or were sent by Medicare, Social Security, or Medicaid
- Make an unsolicited home visit – i.e. “door-to-door cold call” sales
- Leave information such as leaflets, flyers, door hangers, etc. on someone’s car or at their residence (unless the beneficiary is a “no show” for a prescheduled appointment)
- Initiate a discussion about other insurance products, such as life insurance annuities, during a visit or meeting about a Part C or Part D Medicare product
- Return uninvited to a beneficiary’s residence after an earlier “no show”
If you have been contacted in violation of these rules, contact the Ohio SMP, 1-800-488-6070, option 7 or 513-458-5515, or use the report fraud button on the SMP App.
If you have questions about what Medicare Plan is right for you, contact the Ohio Senior Health Insurance Information Program (OSHIIP). They don’t sell anything, and provide unbiased assistance in helping you find the right Medicare Plan for you.
Source: SMP Resource Center