You may have seen a barrage of TV commercials urging viewers to sign up for Medicare Part C plans with so-called extra benefits and promises of no premiums. Maybe your mailbox has overflowed with similar come-ons. But those aggressive marketing campaigns for Medicare Advantage plans—private health insurers’ alternatives to traditional or original Medicare—may not be around much longer.
The huge rise in complaints about Medicare Advantage marketing has led the Biden administration to launch a crackdown. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 41,000 such complaints in 2021, double the number in 2020. Nevertheless, Medicare Advantage plans are hugely popular. More than 30 million Americans have them; roughly half of those eligible for Medicare.
