New Survey Highlights Overwhelming, Confusing, and Misleading Medicare Plan Marketing

A new survey from the Commonwealth Fund examines beneficiary experiences with marketing outreach from private Medicare Advantage (MA), Medigap, and Part D plans.

The surveyors asked beneficiaries about these interactions, including any impact on their Medicare coverage decisions. The survey was conducted during the latter part of last year’s Fall Open Enrollment period (between November 30 and December 8, 2022). Key findings include:

Plan marketing is often overwhelming. Nearly all beneficiaries saw advertisements and received phone calls, mailings, and emails on a weekly basis. Some experienced even more. Every day, over 75% saw TV or online ads, while 33% received phone calls.

Fraudulent tactics endure. Many respondents reported Medicare marketing that runs afoul of federal rules, including communications from “Medicare” promoting a specific plan (51%) and unsolicited calls from plans and brokers (74%). Few know what to do about it. About one in five survey participants said they did not know how to file a complaint about Medicare marketing and didn’t think they could figure out how.

https://www.medicarerights.org/medicare-watch/2023/09/14/new-survey-highlights-overwhelming-confusing-and-misleading-medicare-plan-marketing