Medical Expense✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 2/5
CMS uses the 'Secret Shopper' program to:
Select an option to reveal the answer and the full 3-part explanation — free, no signup.
Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
The CMS Secret Shopper program involves CMS staff and contractors posing as potential beneficiaries to evaluate how Medicare Advantage and Part D plans market and sell their products. It is designed to detect misleading marketing, improper scope-of-appointment practices, and other violations of CMS marketing rules. Noncompliant plans face corrective action or sanctions.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) Part B premiums are set by statute and regulation, not by secret shopper activity.
- C) Medigap open enrollment is administered by insurers under state and federal rules.
- D) State Marketplace certification is a state exchange process, unrelated to CMS's Secret Shopper program.
Memory hook
Secret shoppers keep Medicare marketing honest — they shop undercover.