Federal Trade Commission staff are warning that scammers and dishonest businesses sometimes pay to land at the top of search results while Medicare and Marketplace open enrollment is under way. A person who types “Medicare plans” into a search box and taps the first result may not end up at the government.
The warning, in a consumer alert published Sept. 28 by the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, says health insurance scams happen all year but increase during Open Enrollment for Medicare and the Marketplace.
How a paid result can pass for the real thing
The FTC says paid search ads carry small “Ad” or “Sponsored” labels, and the alert tells readers to scroll past them. Bad actors, the alert says, “often use web addresses that look similar to government website addresses,” along with official-looking logos and keywords, to look like HealthCare.gov or Medicare.gov.
An earlier FTC alert from June, “Searching for health insurance? Keep scrolling,” described the same pattern: dishonest businesses pay for ads at the top of results that look like official government websites.
The pattern is not new, but enrollment season is when it matters most. Following a link or phone number from one of those ads can lead to a plan that is not health insurance, or to medical identity theft, the September alert warns.
What to do before tapping the first result
The FTC’s advice is simple. Type the website name straight into the browser instead of clicking an ad, take time, and look for the .gov ending. For Medicare, that means Medicare.gov. For Marketplace plans, it means HealthCare.gov.
Who needs to watch for this? Anyone who is comparing Medicare plans, switching a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan, or shopping for a Marketplace plan before the new year. Medicare’s enrollment page lists Open Enrollment as Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, with coverage starting Jan. 1.
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Search is not the only way in. The FTC’s guide to spotting health insurance scams says government agencies do not call people out of the blue to ask for money or personal information.
Why this season draws more scammers
At a Sept. 29 roundtable, the FTC, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Senior Medicare Patrol discussed these scams. The event notice put it this way: “Scammers often work overtime during Open Enrollment for both Medicare and the Health Insurance Marketplace.”
The reason is timing. Open Enrollment is a short window in which many people are looking up plans online, and a fake site or fake agent that shows up at the right moment looks helpful. For people already in a Medicare Advantage plan, the same Medicare enrollment page lists a separate Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from Jan. 1 to March 31, so the scam season does not end on Dec. 7.
The FTC guide adds a test for the plan itself. If the seller does not have a license, what is being sold is not insurance.
The June alert boils the search advice down to two quick checks. Always look for the small “Ad” or “Sponsored” label next to a search result, and remember that most government websites end in .gov. A paid placement can carry an official-looking logo and still be an ad.
That makes the weeks between now and Dec. 7 the busiest stretch. Open Enrollment began Oct. 15, so anyone who has already searched for a plan this month has been exposed to the same paid results the FTC describes.
The roundtable panel included the Senior Medicare Patrol and SHIP resource centers, the same free counseling programs the FTC alert recommends for comparing plans. Both are named in the FTC alert as places to get that help for free, which makes them a safer first call than a search result.
Where free, real help is, and where to report
The FTC points people toward free help comparing costs, coverage and plans through a State Health Insurance Assistance Program, known as SHIP, or a local Senior Medicare Patrol. For ACA plans, it says to visit HealthCare.gov and click “Find Local Help.”
The alert lists two real phone numbers: Medicare at 800-633-4227 and HealthCare.gov at 800-318-2596. Medicare.gov’s page on reporting fraud lists 1-800-MEDICARE and says Medicare will never call to sell anything.
People who clicked a fake result, gave out a Medicare number or paid a bogus plan can report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, to their state attorney general, or to Medicare at 800-633-4227. For Medicare Advantage and Part D problems, the Medicare.gov page also lists a separate fraud line for those plans at 1-877-772-3379.
Medical identity theft is one of the risks the FTC alert names for anyone who follows a link or number from an ad. That is why the FTC’s advice comes down to one habit: start from an address typed in by hand, not from whatever sits at the top of the page.
Not sure the Medicare or HealthCare.gov site on the screen is the real one?
The FTC warns that a lookalike site can lead to a plan that is not insurance or to medical identity theft. A Medicare number and personal details handed to the wrong site cannot be taken back, and that exposure can last long after enrollment closes.
The turn is from spotting the fake to protecting what it could reach. The Senior Fraud Defense & First-Hour Recovery Kit includes the credit-freeze steps, which lock down credit files so a stolen identity is harder to use, and a first-hour plan for what to do when a scam is already under way.
More Financial Reading
- 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- 15 Steps to Stop the Scams That Took $7.7 Billion From Seniors
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
