How to Stop Medicare Marketing Mail After a Loved One Dies

After a loved one passes away, Medicare-related advertisements may continue arriving for months. If the person was approaching age 65, the amount of mail can be especially frustrating because their name may appear on numerous Turning 65, or “T65,” marketing lists.

Unfortunately, there isn’t one master Medicare marketing list that removes a person’s name from every company’s database.

There are, however, several steps you can take to reduce unwanted Medicare marketing mail.

Why Does the Medicare Mail Keep Coming?

Many Medicare advertisements aren’t actually sent by Medicare.

Insurance companies, marketing organizations and other businesses may obtain names and addresses from commercial and public data sources to identify people approaching Medicare eligibility.

Once someone’s information has been distributed among multiple databases, notifying one company doesn’t necessarily remove the person’s name from all the others.

That’s why marketing mail may continue even after Medicare and Social Security have been notified of the death.

1. Make Sure Social Security Has Been Notified

In many cases, the funeral home reports a person’s death to Social Security.

If you’re unsure whether the death has been reported, contact the Social Security Administration.

Social Security: What to do when someone dies

Never provide a Social Security number, Medicare number or other sensitive information simply in response to unsolicited Medicare marketing mail.

2. Use the Deceased Do Not Contact List

The Association of National Advertisers maintains DMAchoice, which includes a Deceased Do Not Contact List.

Family members, friends and caregivers can register a deceased person’s information to help participating organizations remove that person from their marketing lists.

This won’t necessarily stop every piece of Medicare advertising, but it can help reduce commercially generated mail.

Deceased Do Not Contact List

3. Stop Prescreened Credit and Insurance Offers

Some marketing lists originate from consumer credit-reporting information.

OptOutPrescreen is the official service provided by the major consumer credit reporting companies for opting out of prescreened credit and insurance offers.

For a deceased person, follow the service’s instructions for requests involving someone who has died.

OptOutPrescreen

Be cautious of websites pretending to provide this service. Use the official OptOutPrescreen website.

4. Return Certain Mail Addressed to the Deceased

For certain mail addressed to the deceased person, you may be able to leave the mail unopened and mark it:

DECEASED — RETURN TO SENDER

Returning mail can help individual senders learn that the recipient is deceased, although it doesn’t guarantee removal from every mailing database.

Don’t open mail addressed only to the deceased person unless you’re legally authorized to handle their mail or estate.

5. Contact Repeat Senders Directly

If the same insurance company or marketing organization continues sending advertisements, contact the sender and ask that the deceased person’s name and address be placed on its internal Do Not Mail list.

Keep in mind that advertisements that look similar may originate from different companies or marketing organizations.

Removing a name from one company’s database doesn’t necessarily remove it from another company’s list.

Medicare Mail vs. Medicare Marketing

It’s important to distinguish official Medicare correspondence from advertisements selling Medicare-related insurance products.

Don’t automatically discard mail simply because it mentions Medicare.

If you’re handling the deceased person’s affairs, check the sender carefully. Correspondence from Medicare, Social Security, an existing health plan, a medical provider or another government agency may involve legitimate matters that still need attention.

Marketing advertisements are different.

Protect the Deceased Person’s Personal Information

Unwanted Medicare advertising can unfortunately create opportunities for scams and identity theft.

Never provide a deceased person’s:

• Social Security number
• Medicare number
• Bank account information
• Credit or debit card information
• Date of birth or other sensitive identifying information

simply to have the person’s name removed from a marketing list.

A legitimate request to stop advertising generally shouldn’t require sensitive financial or Medicare identification information.

Will All the Mail Stop Immediately?

Probably not.

Marketing lists and mailing campaigns are often prepared well in advance. Mail may already have been printed or scheduled before an opt-out request is processed.

You may therefore continue receiving advertisements for a period of time even after completing these steps.

The goal is to gradually remove the deceased person’s information from the major sources feeding those marketing lists.

One Important Thing to Remember

If you’re receiving Medicare advertisements for a deceased loved one, it does not necessarily mean Medicare or Social Security still considers that person alive.

The advertisements may simply be coming from commercial marketing databases that haven’t been updated.

Taking the steps above can help those databases catch up and reduce the unwanted mail.

Local Medicare Help in Rural Texas

MediWhat.Info believes Medicare information should be understandable and straightforward.

We provide Medicare education and local assistance to people throughout rural Texas. If you have Medicare questions of your own, we’re happy to help you put the pieces together.

Mike & Tracy Wetsel
Licensed Insurance Agents
MediWhat.Info — Cisco, Texas

Not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program.