Free Medicare counseling, in your state
Every state runs a State Health Insurance Assistance Program: trained counselors who will sit down with you, go through your own medications and doctors, and help you work out what your options actually cost. It is free, it is confidential, and they earn nothing whichever plan you choose — which is exactly what makes them different from the person who calls you after you fill in a form online.
Every state runs its own counseling program under a different name. Pick yours to get the right phone number.
Choose a state above for a direct number, or start with the national locator:
State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) National Network
Enter your ZIP code on shiphelp.org to reach the counseling program for your area.
What to bring
Appointments are often an hour. Turning up with these turns that hour into real answers instead of a fact-finding session.
- Every medicine, with dosesExact names, strengths, and how often you take them. The bottles themselves are fine.
- Your doctors and where they practiceOncologist, cancer center, infusion suite, and any specialist you see regularly — with locations.
- Your Medicare card and any plan cardsBring them to the appointment. Never send these numbers by email or type them into a web form.
- Your Annual Notice of ChangeThe letter your plan sends each autumn setting out what changes in January. It is the document people most often bin unread.
- A rough sense of your income and savingsCounselors can screen you for Extra Help and Medicare Savings Programs on the spot, and thousands of people qualify without knowing it.
- Your written questionsIncluding anything a plan told you on the phone that you want a second opinion on.
Every state, DC and Puerto Rico
Program names vary a lot — yours may be called HICAP, SHINE, CHOICES, MMAP or SHIBA rather than SHIP. Last checked July 25, 2026. If a number has changed since, the national locator at shiphelp.org or 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) will route you correctly.
How to tell a counselor from a salesperson
- A SHIP counselor never asks for your Medicare number to give you advice, and never asks for it by phone or email at all.
- Medicare does not cold-call you. If someone rings unprompted offering to review your plan, hang up — even if the caller ID says Medicare.
- Nobody legitimate needs to come to your door, and nobody can enroll you without your explicit consent on a recorded line.
- Report suspected fraud to your local Senior Medicare Patrol or to 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).