Medicare Open Enrollment Opens October 15: Spot the Paid Search Ad That Imitates Medicare.gov

On September 28, 2026 the Federal Trade Commission published a consumer alert with a warning that is timely for households and for every business that helps people find coverage. It says health insurance scams happen year-round, but they pick up during Open Enrollment for Medicare and the Marketplace. This article walks through the dates, the scheme the FTC describes, and a short rule you can use this week.

The dates to know

Medicare's Open Enrollment Period runs from October 15 to December 7. In that window you can join, drop or switch a Medicare Advantage Plan, with or without drug coverage, or add or drop drug coverage (Medicare.gov). If you join a plan, Medicare says it must get your request by December 7 for coverage to start on January 1 of the next year.

Marketplace plans follow a different calendar. HealthCare.gov lists November 1 as the day Open Enrollment starts for 2027 coverage, December 15 as the last day to enroll or change plans for coverage that starts January 1, and January 15 as the day Open Enrollment ends (HealthCare.gov). The FTC says health insurance scams pick up around these weeks.

How the trick works, according to the FTC

The alert starts from a simple observation. If you are looking for a new plan, you might search online. But before you click on a search result, remember that scammers and dishonest businesses sometimes pay to appear at the top (FTC consumer alert, September 28, 2026).

The FTC says bad actors often use web addresses that look similar to government website addresses. They also use keywords and official-looking logos to make you think you are at the real HealthCare.gov or Medicare.gov when you are not. The risk is concrete: if you use the link or the phone number in the ad, you might end up paying for a scammy plan that is not health insurance, or expose yourself to medical identity theft.

Put together, the scheme has four steps. You search for a plan. The top result can be a paid ad. Its address looks like a government one. You call or click, and the cost is a fake plan or your medical identity.

What to check before you call or pay

Two small checks help you spot a paid lookalike. The first is the label: the FTC tells you to look for the small "Ad" or "Sponsored" label next to search results to identify paid ads, and to scroll past them. The second is the ending of the address: be sure to look for the .gov ending, not just an address that resembles one.

A third habit removes the guesswork. You do not have to judge a search result at all if you never use one to reach these sites.

The rule: type it, skip the ad, check .gov

1. Type the name of the website yourself. For Medicare, it is Medicare.gov, or call 800-633-4227. To compare health insurance plans, check your coverage or find out if you qualify for savings, go to HealthCare.gov or call 800-318-2596.
2. Take your time and skip the ad. Look for the small "Ad" or "Sponsored" labels, scroll past paid ads and look for the .gov ending.
3. Get free help comparing plans. You can get Medicare help through your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) or your local Senior Medicare Patrol. For help with ACA plans, visit HealthCare.gov and click "Find Local Help."
4. Report it. If you suspect a health insurance scam, tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and your state attorney general. If the scam involves Medicare, report it at Medicare.gov or 800-633-4227.

Why this matters for a business

If your team answers Medicare or insurance questions, your customers may start searching, and some of them may land on the wrong page before they reach you. Two habits help. Give people the typed address, not a search term, in every message and on every phone script. And decide in advance what your staff says when a caller describes a plan that was bought through an ad: the right answer is to stop, re-check on Medicare.gov, and report it.

Our related article on defending Medicare call centers against deepfakes covers another way the same program is targeted. For the wider September picture of fake business ads, see our article on the FTC's question about ad platforms and impersonation scams, which mentions this alert as one of four dated examples.

PATech Labs builds AI automation for small businesses in the United States, including verification steps that run on every call or transaction and send exceptions to a person for approval. If you want a "typed address, second check" rule built into your workflow, talk to us.