Medicare Open Enrollment Tips for Seniors

It's open enrollment time for Medicare Advantage plans and the Medicare Prescription Drug Program, prompting cautious words for seniors and their advocates from state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones.

"California seniors and their families should be extremely cautious when they are approached by aggressive agents selling products that sound too good to be true,” Jones said in a statement. “While the majority of agents are honest and have good intentions, there are a few bad actors just waiting to take advantage of another unsuspecting senior.”

Here are Jones' tips for seniors during open enrollment, which runs until Dec. 7:

• Remember that Medicare has no official sales representatives so the program doesn’t send people to solicit your business.
• Federal regulations prohibit unsolicited sales call, and marketing in educational or care settings.
• Guard your personal information. Never give out your Social Security number, bank account numbers, or credit card information over the telephone.
• Verify that the person you are dealing with has a proper authority to act on behalf of the plan.
• Federal regulations also prohibit offers of free meals for listening to a sales presentation or for signing up in a particular plan.

Questions and concerns about possible scams can be directed to the California Department of Insurance at 800-927-HELP (4357).

More tips for seniors can be found here.