At Hella Health, we are against the prevailing Medicare practices of placing unwanted calls and using pushy sales tactics to get someone to enroll in a Medicare private plan.

Transparency is a core value, and it guides us from how we protect customers’ data to how we make money. Hella means there are no surprises and no misaligned incentives. We are always upfront. Unfortunately, the current conditions in the Medicare marketplace enable unwanted behaviors that ultimately hurt older Americans.

We think that the two major factors which contribute to deception practices in the Medicare market are:

  1. The impersonation of the US government in Medicare sales and communications makes it very hard for people to tell official sites apart from private companies. More than half of the 10 most visited websites agencies offering private Medicare plans use the word “Medicare” in their name or website address (URL). This creates confusion and makes it difficult for Medicare beneficiaries to recognize that the website or person calling them from a private Medicare agency does not represent the government. 
  2. The unruly treatment of Medicare beneficiaries’ contact information facilitates abuses in the exchange of “marketing leads”, which drives an unstoppable wave of unsolicited phone calls and mailings, frustrating older Americans and leaving them vulnerable to the abuse of hard-sales tactics and scams. 

We see this unfair reality manifesting very often when our blog readers reach out to us for help after falling victim to deceptive sales calls.

See also

“A few hours ago, I fell for a scam call, foolishly giving out the numbers on my Medicare card.  What can I do to block the possible consequences (such as identity theft)?”

“I messed up. I received a call supposedly from Medicare on my home phone. They knew my name and address. Said I needed a new Medicare card. Asked for the date on my card and my Medicare Number, which I gave them. What do I do now?”

“Why can’t our government stop Medicare scams because they cost taxpayers millions of dollars? They harass older people. We get as many as 15 calls a day. I am sick and don’t need to be worried about this. Do not call is useless for this.”

We try to alleviate this problem by providing guidance on how to minimize the chances of falling for Medicare Scams or what to do in case one has fallen for one; however only regulators have the power to change market practices that facilitate this culture of deception.

But there is hope. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has recently released proposed changes to the Medicare Program to address deceptive marketing practices that flourished in the Medicare market over the last few years.

Proposed Regulatory Changes to Medicare Program

The proposed rule calls for the prohibition of: the misleading use of the “Medicare” word and the distribution of personal beneficiary data collected for marketing purposes 

Amongst other changes in the proposed rule for “Medicare Program: Contract Year 2024 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program, Medicare Cost Plan Program, etc.” parts 422 and 423 are the following:

1. CMS is proposing regulatory changes to ban the use of the word “Medicare” in agency names and website URLs.

The word “Medicare” is used and overused in advertisements and more recently numerous third-party internet sites. CMS is aware that these third-party websites urge beneficiaries to “take action”, taking advantage of the confusion that helps them to be seen as if they represent Medicare or the Federal Government. CMS is concerned that an increasing number of beneficiaries are being misled into believing the entity they are contacting is Medicare or the Federal Government.

2. CMS is proposing to prohibit private Medicare marketers (TPMOs) from distributing personal beneficiary data collected to others.

When a customer calls a 1-800 number from a direct mail flyer, a television advertisement, or an internet advertisement, they expect to only call the entity that answers the call. However, the contact information (name, address, phone number) obtained by these entities is often sold and resold to other marketers. CMS has learned that Medicare beneficiaries are often unaware that by placing the call or clicking on the web-link they unwittingly agree for their contact information to be sold to other entities with consent for future marketing activities.

We are very encouraged that regulators want to finally ban these deceptive practices.

Have Your Voice Heard

We want our readers to know that CMS has opened the proposed changes for comments until February 13, 2023. If you would like to comment on the proposed regulatory changes, you can do it here.

If you have been subject to incessant or deceiving Medicare sales calls, mailings, TV ads, or have been misled by website URLs, or have been a victim of Medicare scams, we encourage you to share your story in our social channels.

Questions about Medicare?

Shoot us an email at medicare@hihella.com.

•January 26, 2023