Where to Get Free, Unbiased Help With Medicare

Free counselors, official phone lines and a few warning signs can make choosing coverage easier and safer.

Choosing health coverage takes time. Plans change their prices and their lists of covered drugs from year to year, and the deadlines come quickly.

Many people find it easier to talk the choices through with someone who knows the system. Free help is available, from counselors who don’t sell plans and from Medicare itself.

It also helps to know what Medicare will and won’t do, so you can tell an official contact from a scam.

HICAP: free one-on-one Medicare counseling

California’s Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program, known as HICAP, offers free, confidential, one-on-one counseling about Medicare [1]. Its counselors receive special training in Medicare and give unbiased advice [2].

HICAP is open to people 65 and older who have Medicare. It also serves people under 65 who have Medicare because of a disability, and people who will soon be eligible [1].

A counselor can answer your questions and help you weigh your choices. The decision stays yours.

To reach a local HICAP office, call 1-800-434-0222.

It helps to have your Medicare card and a list of your prescriptions, with doses, nearby when you call or visit.

Medicare’s own phone line and plan finder

Medicare runs its own help line, 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except some federal holidays. TTY users, who use a text telephone, can call 1-877-486-2048 [3].

If you’re comfortable online, Medicare’s online plan comparison tool, at Medicare.gov/plan-compare, lets you enter your prescriptions and compare the plans offered in your area.

Open Enrollment for Medicare runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, 2026 [4]. That gives you time to ask questions before you decide.

If you join a Medicare Advantage plan and later change your mind, you get another chance. From Jan. 1 to March 31, people already in a Medicare Advantage plan can switch to a different one or return to Original Medicare, the other main way to get Medicare coverage [4].

Help for people who aren’t on Medicare yet

Californians who buy their own coverage, including many people who aren’t old enough for Medicare yet, use Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace.

Covered California offers free in-person help from certified enrollers near you, available in many languages [5]. First-time applicants can also ask for a free callback from a certified enroller within 15 minutes through a service called Help on Demand.

You can reach Covered California at (800) 300-1506, or (888) 889-4500 for TTY, or online at CoveredCA.com [5].

Open enrollment runs Nov. 1, 2026, to Jan. 31, 2027. Enroll by Dec. 31 for coverage that starts Jan. 1 [6].

If you already have a Covered California plan, you can renew it or switch plans starting Oct. 1 [7].

Help with the cost

Free help with the paperwork can also mean help with the bill. The extra federal tax credits that lowered many premiums ended on Dec. 31, 2025 [8].

In 2027, California’s own help with premiums reaches people with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level. That’s $31,920 for one person, or $66,000 for a family of four [7]. A certified enroller can help you apply and see what you qualify for.

How to spot a Medicare scam

Open enrollment season is a good time to be careful with your personal information. Medicare.gov is direct about what Medicare does and doesn’t do [9].

“Medicare will never call you to sell you anything or visit you at your home,” Medicare.gov says.

A few habits help protect you:

• Keep your Medicare number to yourself unless you contacted the person first and gave them permission to contact you. That is Medicare’s own advice for phone calls, email and visits in person [10].
• Hang up on any caller who asks for your information or money, or who threatens to cancel your health benefits. Then call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to check.
• Don’t feel rushed. You have until Dec. 7 to make Medicare changes, so there’s time to check with HICAP or Medicare before you agree to anything.
• Report anything suspicious. Call 1-800-MEDICARE, or contact the federal Office of Inspector General at oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud or 1-800-HHS-TIPS [11].

These warning signs are about unexpected contact from someone you didn’t reach out to. A plan or a licensed agent you contacted yourself is a different situation.

What to do now

Writing your questions down before you call makes the conversation easier. These are a good place to start:

1. Are all of my prescriptions covered by the plans I’m considering, and at what cost?

2. Are my doctors and my pharmacy in each plan’s network?

3. What will I pay each month, and what will I pay when I see a doctor or fill a prescription?

4. What changes in my current plan next year, if I keep it?

5. What happens if my health changes during the year?

If you want a second set of eyes on your choices this year, call HICAP at 1-800-434-0222 before the Dec. 7 Medicare deadline. Have your Medicare card and your list of medicines ready.

By Kevin Famuyiro

References

1. Medicare Counseling (HICAP), California Department of Aging, https://aging.ca.gov/Programs_and_Services/Medicare_Counseling/

2. Answers About Medicare, California Department of Aging, https://aging.ca.gov/Aging_Resources/Answers_About_Medicare/

3. Talk to Someone, Medicare.gov, https://www.medicare.gov/talk-to-someone

4. Joining a plan, Medicare.gov, https://www.medicare.gov/basics/get-started-with-medicare/get-more-coverage/joining-a-plan

5. Support, Covered California, https://www.coveredca.com/support/

6. Open Enrollment, Covered California, https://www.coveredca.com/enrollment/open-enrollment

7. Covered California Rates and Plans for 2027, Covered California, https://www.coveredca.com/press-releases/2026/07/21/covered-california-rates-and-plans-for-2027-california-continues-fight-for-health-insurance-affordability-and-access

8. Important Changes, Covered California, https://www.coveredca.com/important-changes

9. Reporting Medicare fraud & abuse, Medicare.gov, https://www.medicare.gov/basics/reporting-medicare-fraud-and-abuse

10. Your Medicare card, Medicare.gov, https://www.medicare.gov/basics/get-started-with-medicare/using-medicare/your-medicare-card

11. Report Fraud, HHS Office of Inspector General, https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud/