On 2/9/2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the CMS Medicare Communications and Marketing Guidelines (MCMG). This bulletin breaks down what it means and the additional steps you will need to take as an agent. Contracted agents will have access to complaint assets that can be used to advertise to clients.
With the Medicare Annual Election Period (AEP) quickly approaching, you may have questions surrounding what you can and cannot do to market plans before October 1, which is the start of the AEP marketing period.
CMS requires that all FDRs fulfill specific Medicare Compliance Program Requirements. We will describe these requirements in this document.
CMS holds all agents who enroll clients in Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans responsible for their marketing behavior. All of the carriers have compliance oversight teams that monitor the activities of agents selling their products.
Agents create and use a variety of materials to advertise that they sell Medicare products such as Medicare Advantage and Part D products. These include, but are not limited to, letters, postcards, posters, brochures, scripts, radio and television ads, billboards, banners, signs, yellow page ads, church bulletin ads, social media content and websites.
Events put on to educate the public about Medicare Advantage and Part D can be a great way to establish your presence in the community.
There are numerous regulations requiring the protection of consumer information, particularly the HIPAA Privacy Rule and Security Rule, as well as state breach notification laws.
Resource documents for Compliance.