With AEP right around the corner, now is the time to get a plan in place for your marketing efforts. Having an effective marketing plan is an essential piece of the puzzle for any business as it helps drive business to you or your agency. In an effort to have the most effective marketing and advertising, compliance is often overlooked but nonetheless it is extremely important that you market compliantly.

As you develop marketing and advertising materials for Medicare audiences, it’s important to know that CMS makes a distinction between “Communications” and “Marketing.”

• Communications are all activities and materials used to provide information that is targeted to current and prospective enrollees, including their caregivers and other decision makers.
• Marketing is a subset of communications and is determined based on both the content and intent of the activity or materials. Marketing includes activities and materials with the intent to draw a beneficiary’s attention to a specific plan or plans and to influence a beneficiary’s decision-making process when selecting a plan for enrollment or deciding to stay enrolled in a plan (retention-based marketing). Additionally, marketing contains information about the plan’s benefits, cost sharing, measuring, or ranking standards.

UNSOLICITED CONTACT:

PERMITTED CONTACT:

So what can you do?

• Call individuals when valid  “permission to call/contact” is given
• Give your contact info to current clients who want to refer a friend/relative (the referred individual needs to contact you directly)
• Call your current MA enrollees to promote other Medicare plan types or to discuss plan benefits (ex. contact your PDP enrollees to promote MA-PD products)
• Call current enrollees to discuss/inform them about general plan information, such as: Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) dates, plan changes, educational events, etc.
• Return phone calls/messages or leave information at a residence if your prescheduled appointment becomes a No-Show
• Email potential enrollees, provided all emails contain an opt-out function and follow other generic marketing material guidelines.

DO YOU PLAN ON CREATING YOUR OWN MATERIAL?

Here are some items to keep in mind:

• To be considered “Generic,” materials can’t include Company Names or Logos, Plan Specific Names, Product Specific Names, Specific Benefit Info, STAR Ratings, etc.
• All text on materials, including footnotes and disclaimers, must be printed with a font size equivalent to or larger than Times New Roman 12pt font.
• DO NOT use the word “Entitled” when referring to Medicare Plan Benefits. Use “Eligible” instead.
• Use caution when using the word “Senior”. Can’t limit your audience to those over 65, some Medicare beneficiaries are under 65.
• DO NOT use absolute superlatives like “the best”, “highest rated”, “all”, or “the most doctors,” unless it can be substantiated.
• Must identify who the sender is on all mailed marketing pieces
• DO NOT use the word “free” in relation to a Benefit
• Websites and Social Media are governed by the same regulations as normal printed material

For mailers, we always suggest using the following disclaimers:

• “NOT AFFILIATED WITH OR ENDORSED BY THE GOVERNMENT OR FEDERAL MEDICARE PROGRAM”
• If having consumer fill out a permission to contact form: “BY PROVIDING THE INFORMATION ABOVE I GRANT PERMISSION FOR A LICENSED INSURANCE AGENT TO CONTACT ME REGARDING MY MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT, MEDICARE ADVANTAGE, AND PRESCRIPTION DRUG PLAN OPTIONS”
• If asking the consumer to contact you: “CALLING THE NUMBER ABOVE WILL DIRECT YOU TO A LICENSED INSURANCE AGENT”

For further guidance, please reference the following guides:

Please pass this information on to
your downline agents (if you have any)

Contact us with any questions or for more
information regarding compliance. 
We are here to support YOU!

compliance@premiersmi.com