Here’s something an insurance agency doesn’t usually lead with: there’s a free, government-backed counseling service for Medicare, and we think you should know about it. Every state runs a State Health Insurance Assistance Program — SHIP — staffed by trained counselors who offer unbiased Medicare help at no cost. They don’t sell anything, they don’t earn commissions, and they exist purely to help people understand their options. We recommend them regularly, because informed clients make better decisions — and better decisions are the whole point.
Every state has one, sometimes under its own local name. Counseling happens by phone, in person, or at community events.
Counselors are trained and certified on Medicare rules — many are volunteers who’ve helped hundreds of people like you.
No sales pitch, no commissions, no favorite carrier. Just plain explanations of how your options work.
Walk away understanding your choices — then enroll yourself, or work with a licensed advisor to finish the job.
SHIP counselors are excellent at explaining how Medicare works: the difference between Original Medicare and Advantage, how Part D drug coverage functions, what Medigap does, and how programs like Extra Help and Medicare Savings Programs can lower costs for people on tight budgets. They can help you understand notices you’ve received, walk through appeals, and flag potential fraud. What they don’t do is advocate for a particular plan or carrier — neutrality is their mandate. That neutrality is their greatest strength and their natural limit: when you’re down to two or three finalists and need someone to run your exact doctors and drug list against every carrier’s network and formulary, that hands-on comparison work is where a licensed advisor comes in.
This isn’t an either-or choice. Picture this: you talk with a SHIP counselor and come away clear on how Advantage and Medigap differ, and which direction fits your life. Then you bring that clarity to a licensed advisor, who compares actual plans in your ZIP code, checks your doctors and prescriptions against each one, and handles the enrollment paperwork — at no cost to you either, since advisors are paid by carriers rather than by clients. Education from a neutral source, execution from a licensed one. If you want the background first, start with our Medicare guide library or our answers to common questions — they cover the same ground you’d discuss in a first counseling session.
Some situations practically call out for a neutral counselor. If you have both Medicare and Medicaid, the rules interact in ways that deserve an unhurried explanation. If your budget is tight, SHIP counselors know the landscape of programs that lower Medicare costs — Extra Help for drug coverage, Medicare Savings Programs for premiums — and can help you apply. If you’ve received a confusing notice, a denial you want to appeal, or a call that smells like a scam, SHIP is a safe first stop that will never try to sell you anything while you’re vulnerable. And if you simply don’t trust anyone with something to sell — a healthy instinct — starting with SHIP lets you build understanding before you ever talk to an agent.
Picture this: a man helping his newly widowed mother sort out her Medicare feels overwhelmed by mailers, TV ads, and phone calls, all pushing different directions. He books a SHIP appointment, and a counselor patiently maps her actual situation: what she has now, what her choices are, what questions to ask next. Armed with that, he calls a licensed advisor to compare specific plans against her doctors and prescriptions — and the whole thing resolves in days instead of months. Neutral education first, licensed execution second. It’s the calmest path through a noisy system.
If you’d like a pointer to your local SHIP, just ask — we’ll happily send you there, no strings attached. And when you’re ready to compare real plans side by side, call 561-339-0727. Free help from your state, free guidance from us: use both, and you’ll make this decision from a position of strength.
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