As all of you Medicare agents already know, the Center for Medicare Services (CMS) has recently enacted new rules and regulations. The biggest change has to do with how you are allowed to contact prospective customers. Cold-calling or even calling someone referred to you is now expressly prohibited. Below is an excerpt from H.R. 6331:
Section 103 -Prescribes prohibitions on certain sales and marketing activities under Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and prescription drug plans, including:
(1) the provision of gifts or prizes as enrollment inducements;
(2) unsolicited means of direct contact;
(3) cross-selling (the sale of other non-health related products, such as annuities and life insurance, during any sales or marketing activity or presentation conducted with respect to an MA plan); or
(4) the provision of meals to prospective plan enrollees.
What does this mean to agents who buy leads?
In response to the many questions we receive about whether using a lead-generation service such as ours is within compliance of the law, we have compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions:
How do you generate your Medicare leads?
We advertise on Google, Yahoo, MSN and other online channels every day. Seniors come to our website via these ads.
With the new rules, can I contact the referrals you send to me by phone and/or email?
Sure, since consumers come to us, we are not contacting them in an “unsolicited” fashion.
Do the consumers request to be contacted?
Yes, our website clearly states they will be contacted by an agent or agents who can assist them. In addition, we display YOUR information so they are expecting to hear from YOU.
Do you offer any gifts or incentives to seniors in exchange for their information?
Never. Not only is this now against the law, but our company policy has always prohibited this type of “incentivized” marketing.
Do you also pitch other products to seniors.
No. Our website is geared specifically to Health Insurance and Medicare plans. In fact, we do not pitch any products, we simply match consumers and agents.
As you can see, we believe that our service is still as valuable as ever. In fact, we welcome the new rules as a way for seniors to be able to speak with licenced agents who can help them find insurance without worrying about calls from people pitching unrelated products.
