Her Father’s Drug Costs Were Jumping to $1,860. The Free Counselor Who Called Back Wasn’t Selling Anything.

8 min read · Last updated August 24, 2026

In this article

• What SHIP is, and why it is not the same as calling a plan’s agent
• What a SHIP counselor can actually help with
• Can you call on your parent’s behalf
• How to find your state’s SHIP and what to bring
• What families get wrong about SHIP
• Frequently asked questions

Diane Klein’s father Robert got his Medicare Advantage plan’s Annual Notice of Change in early October, warning that his out-of-pocket drug costs were set to climb to $1,860 next year. Diane called the plan’s own number first, and the agent on the line was friendly and quick to suggest a different plan the same company sold. She hung up, searched for a second opinion, and found a free counseling program called the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) that does not sell insurance at all. A volunteer counselor called her back two days later and walked through her father’s actual drug list without ever mentioning a plan he should switch to.

What SHIP is, and why it is not the same as calling a plan’s agent

The State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) is a national network of free, local Medicare counseling offices, one in every state plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was created by Congress in 1990 and is now overseen by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), the federal agency inside Health and Human Services that funds most community-based aging services. States run their own SHIP office, usually through a state unit on aging or a state insurance department, working with local partners to staff more than 2,200 sites nationwide.

The distinction that matters most for a caregiver is money. A plan’s own agent, and often the licensed broker who answers 1-800-MEDICARE for a complex question, works inside a system where enrolling someone in a plan is how the call gets paid for. A SHIP counselor is a trained volunteer or staff member funded by a federal grant, not a commission. According to KFF’s analysis of the program, brokers and agents “often have a financial incentive to steer beneficiaries towards Medicare Advantage,” while SHIP counseling exists specifically because that incentive does not sit anywhere in the room. That is the whole reason to call SHIP before, or alongside, any call to a plan.

What a SHIP counselor can actually help with

A SHIP counselor’s job is broader than picking a plan. According to shiphelp.org, SHIP’s public-facing national site, counselors help people understand when and how to enroll in Medicare in the first place, walk through Medicare’s enrollment windows so a late fee does not sneak up on someone, and explain how Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and Medigap compare at a conceptual level, without ever recommending a specific company’s plan. If your parent is switching coverage outside the usual fall window, a counselor can also explain whether a Medicare Special Enrollment Period applies to their situation.

Counselors also help with the parts of Medicare that have nothing to do with picking a plan at all: filing an appeal after a claim denial, applying for Extra Help with Part D drug costs, and applying for a Medicare Savings Program that can cover premiums and cost-sharing for someone on a fixed income. None of that work generates a commission for anyone, which is exactly why a plan’s own sales line rarely brings it up first.

Can you call on your parent’s behalf

This is the question that stops most caregivers before they ever pick up the phone, and the answer is more forgiving than people expect. Calling a plan directly, or reaching a Medicare representative through 1-800-MEDICARE for anything beyond a general question, typically requires your parent to have already signed Medicare’s own Authorization to Disclose Personal Health Information form, or to have formally named you their Medicare authorized representative. That is a real federal privacy rule, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and it exists to stop a stranger from calling and getting someone else’s health information.

SHIP works differently. According to guidance summarized by AARP (the American Association of Retired Persons) and the National Council on Aging (NCOA), a SHIP counselor is not required to have that authorization form on file before speaking with you about general Medicare questions, plan comparisons, or how to apply for a savings program on your parent’s behalf. A durable power of attorney (POA), the legal document that names you as your parent’s agent for decisions, is not something SHIP requires you to produce either. In practice, most local counselors still prefer your parent to be present on the call, by phone or in the room, or to have given clear verbal permission for you to speak for them, since that is simply good counseling practice even where it is not a legal requirement. Ask your state’s SHIP office directly how it prefers to handle this the first time you call, since the exact preference can vary by office. What formal authorization actually unlocks is direct access to your parent’s account with Medicare itself or with the plan, which is a taller bar than what a SHIP conversation needs.

Question	SHIP counselor	1-800-MEDICARE	A plan’s own agent
Is it free?	Yes, no cost to the caller	Yes, no cost to the caller	Yes, but paid through the plan’s own budget
Is the advice unbiased?	Yes, no commission on any outcome	Mostly, though complex cases are often referred out	No, tied to selling that company’s own plans
Can they enroll you in a plan?	No, guidance only	Yes, can process enrollment	Yes, that is the point of the call
Do they sell anything?	No, by federal design	No, but may transfer you to a licensed broker	Yes, that company’s own plans
Best for	Comparing options, appeals, and savings program applications without a sales pitch	Fast general questions and processing an enrollment you have already decided on	Someone who already knows exactly which plan they want

How to find your state’s SHIP and what to bring

The fastest way to find your parent’s local office is shiphelp.org, SHIP’s national public site, which lists every state program along with a toll-free number, 1-877-839-2675. Your local Area Agency on Aging can also connect you directly if you would rather start with a phone call than a website search.

Before the appointment, gather what the counselor will actually need: your parent’s Medicare card or Medicare number, a current list of every prescription drug and dosage, the plan’s Annual Notice of Change or Explanation of Benefits letter if one arrived, the name of any current Medigap policy, and a list of the doctors and pharmacy your parent wants to keep using. If your parent has named you their agent under a health care power of attorney, bringing that document is not required for a SHIP conversation, but it is worth having on hand in case the counselor needs to escalate anything to Medicare directly. Most of all, try to have your parent nearby for at least part of the call, even briefly, since it makes the whole conversation move faster.

What families get wrong about SHIP

Two mistakes show up over and over. The first is assuming SHIP and 1-800-MEDICARE are interchangeable, when SHIP counselors spend roughly three times longer per session and are trained specifically to compare options rather than process a transaction. The second, and the one that keeps more families from ever calling, is assuming a caregiver simply has no standing to call at all without a lawyer-drafted authorization in hand. Most families give up on the idea before finding out that a SHIP counselor will talk them through the basics without that paperwork, and only needs it if the situation later requires direct access to your parent’s Medicare account.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a power of attorney to call SHIP for my mother? No. A SHIP counselor can generally talk with you about general Medicare questions, plan comparisons, and savings program applications without a power of attorney (POA) or signed authorization on file. Formal authorization becomes necessary only if you need direct access to your mother’s account with Medicare itself or with her plan.

What is actually different between SHIP and calling 1-800-MEDICARE? 1-800-MEDICARE handles a high volume of quick, general questions and can process an enrollment once you already know what you want. A SHIP counselor spends far more time per call, averaging about 33 minutes versus roughly 9.5 minutes on the Medicare line, and focuses on comparing your options rather than completing a transaction.

Does SHIP cost anything? No. SHIP is funded by a federal grant through the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and is free to every caller, regardless of income or how the counseling turns out.

Can a SHIP counselor tell me which specific Medicare Advantage plan is best for my father? A counselor can walk through how different types of coverage generally work and help you compare your father’s own costs and doctors against his options, but SHIP counselors are trained not to endorse a specific company’s plan, since that is exactly the sales role the program is built not to play.

Is there a best time of year to call? Fall’s Annual Enrollment Period, October 15 through December 7, is the busiest and most useful window since it is when most people can freely change plans, but SHIP takes calls year-round for appeals, savings program applications, and Special Enrollment Period questions that come up outside that window.