When you call your licensed insurance agent to discuss your Medicare insurance options, you should have started hearing a short message before your conversation, like: “Hello, this call will be recorded for quality and control purposes…” When you first started calling your licensed insurance agent, your calls weren’t recorded before. What’s changed, and why?
In short, this action is to help protect you.
Why Does My Agent Record Our Calls Now?
In 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new ruling for 2023 Medicare Advantage (Part C) and prescription drug plan (Part D) insurance sales. The ruling (called the Final Ruling for Contract Year 2023) required that third-party marketing organizations, including insurance agents, record all consumer calls in their entirety. This included the Scope of Appointment (which gives the agent permission to talk to you about products) and any discussion of plan details.
This was later clarified to only be required for marketing, sales, and enrollment calls, including “retention-based marketing,” or messaging intended to influence a beneficiary’s decision to stay enrolled in a certain plan. In 2023, the definition of marketing was expanded to materials that mention any benefits, including common additional benefits like dental, vision, hearing, premium reduction, or cost-savings. This does allow for calls to set appointments or post-enrollment check-ups to not require recording.
The final ruling also codified certain language to clarify that not all plans or benefits are available everywhere. While these clarifications are important, you should remember that all calls with agents will now require recording by your agent.
Since agents must save the recording of the conversation, you, as the consumer, can hold your agent accountable and prove if there are non-compliant sales tactics.
These changes were deemed necessary to curb and deter overly aggressive sales tactics and automated marketing pitches that may confuse consumers. This issue was starkly brought into focus after a staggering 165 percent increase in complaints that Medicare insurance sales advertisements were aggressive or misleading from 2020 to 2021. Commercials claimed that you may be able to enroll in plans that offered certain benefits or money added to your Social Security benefit; others claimed to help you change to a plan “you deserve.” Some people reported that they thought they were speaking with government officials, were enrolled in plans with limited networks, or didn’t have their plan details fully explained.
Since agents must save the recording of the conversation, you, as the consumer, can hold your agent accountable and prove if there are non-compliant sales tactics.
What Will Agents Do with the Recordings?
Even if there is a need for this ruling, it’s natural to wonder what exactly will be done with your recording. Any time your voice is recorded, there are privacy concerns, especially when you’re recorded talking about personal health circumstances. You can rest assured that these concerns have been considered.
Trustworthiness is one of the key attributes of a good agent, and this adds another layer of trust and protection for consumers.
As part of the ruling, third-party marketing organizations are required to use a tool that securely stores the calls. The tool that they utilize isn’t specified, as long as it meets the requirements that calls are protected and stored. Through this, the recording is available if it’s needed, but not available to anyone who shouldn’t be able to access them. Trustworthiness is one of the key attributes of a good agent, and this adds another layer of trust and protection for consumers.
What If I Don’t Want My Call Recorded?
Of course, if you’re still wary about having your health information recorded, it’s worth keeping in mind that this ruling is only for phone calls. An in-person meeting does not need to be recorded, so you could set up an in-person meeting with your agent if you’d feel more at ease discussing private health concerns face to face.
Whichever method you choose, the new recording ruling does not change the actual process of enrollment beyond recording your call.
Alternatively, you could continue the conversation through email. Video or digital conversations, such as Zoom, count as telephone calls. This means the audio portion of those calls are required to be recorded. Whichever method you choose, the new recording ruling does not change the actual process of enrollment beyond recording your call.
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It’s reasonable for change to make you nervous, especially one associated with something as important as enrolling in a Medicare insurance plan. But a change can also be a good thing, like when it’s adding another layer of protection for consumers from bad actors in the industry. Ultimately, the goal of any marketing piece or meeting with an agent should be to help you make an informed decision about your Medicare insurance coverage and possibly find a plan that fits your needs. By holding agents and other third-party marketing organizations accountable, you can be more confident that your needs are being met.
