Is there free help with Medicare questions?

Yes. Every state runs a State Health Insurance Assistance Program, or SHIP, which gives free one-to-one Medicare counseling from people who are not paid on commission and have nothing to sell. You can find your state program at shiphelp.org or by calling 877-839-2675.

Who do I contact if my Medicare premium went up because of my income?

Social Security. The higher amount, called IRMAA, is calculated by Social Security from a tax return filed two years earlier. If a life-changing event has since lowered your income, you can ask them to use current figures on form SSA-44. There is never a fee to file it.

Which kinds of help cost money?

Two of the ten routes on this page: an elder-law attorney for Medicaid planning, and a CPA or fee-only planner for tax questions such as a Roth conversion. Everything else listed here — SHIP counseling, 1-800-MEDICARE, Social Security, the Eldercare Locator, and a VA-accredited service officer — is free.

Who should you actually talk to?

A great deal of the best help in this field is free, and hardly anyone knows it exists — because the websites that would tell you are paid when you enroll in something instead. This page has no such arrangement. Pick the situation closest to yours and you will get one place to start, what it costs, and a list of what to have in front of you when you call.

Eight of these ten doors are free. The two that charge say so plainly, at the top of the card and again beside the cost, and we earn nothing either way — we take no referral fees, and we have no broker or agency to send you to.

Which of these is closest to your situation?

Before you call anyone

Write your question at the top of a page before you dial, in one sentence. Hold times are long, and the moment somebody picks up is a poor moment to work out what you meant to ask. Write down the name of the person you spoke to and the date underneath the answer; if you need to call again, that note is worth more than your memory of the conversation.

And if someone calls you first, offering to review your Medicare coverage or to send you something, the safe answer is always the same: hang up, then call the number you looked up yourself.

What we get out of this page

Nothing. Not one organization on this page pays us, and we do not accept referral fees from anyone. We do not sell insurance, we do not recommend plans, and there is no broker behind the curtain, because we do not have one. Our full commercial disclosure is on the editorial policy page.