Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are the private insurance alternative to Original Medicare. To get people to join, MA advertisements sometimes use celebrities to lead consumers to believe they represent the federal government. A new rule from Medicare prohibits ads that mislead individuals. Use of the Medicare name is limited and images of the Medicare card in marketing materials or ads are prohibited. The regulation also makes it clear that an advertisement for MA must specify the name of the plan it is trying to get older adults to join. There are also provisions about brokers, insurance agents, and others who market MA plans. Read a story from AARP.
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