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CMS just released some major compliance updates that effect brokers and agents. These provisions were finalized on May 9, 2022. If you plan to sell 2023 Medicare Advantage and/or Part D plans this fall, you’ll need to be aware of these compliance changes.
The two biggest changes include a new required disclaimer and a requirement that phone calls are recorded and stored for 10 years.
Note: these compliance changes apply to ANY Medicare Advantage or Part D plan sold with a 2023 effective date.
New Required Disclaimer
Here’s the new required disclaimer:
"We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options."
This disclaimer will need to be included in all the following places:
- On all marketing materials, in print (12pt font), electronically, television, and radio
- Within the first minute of all sales calls
- Prominently displayed on your website
- Verbally, electronically, or in writing, during any sales meeting with a beneficiary
If you sincerely offer all plans in your area, this regulation doesn’t apply. But it is incredibly rare for an agent to actually be able to offer all plans. Most counties have at least one plan that can only be sold by captive agents or that is a direct-to-consumer plan. There are also certain plans that agents and brokers can’t sell.
In almost all circumstances, agents and brokers will need to start including this disclaimer in their marketing materials, during phone calls, on their website, and during any sales meetings with beneficiaries.
Recorded Sales Calls Requirement
Also, agents and brokers will need to record all sales calls with beneficiaries and retain those recordings for 10 years.
Calling leads, scheduling appointments, collecting SOAs, presenting plans, collecting drug and provider lists, and phone enrollments – these calls all fall under the defined “chain of enrollment” and must be recorded and retained for 10 years.
Please reach out to your current phone provider to see if they provide call recording. If your phone does not have a built-in recording feature, the applications Zoom and Google Voice allow you to record calls.
New compliance information gathered from Medicare Program; Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs; Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency; Additional Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency See Section 4: Third-Party Marketing Organizations (87 FR 27822)