BB
Broker’s Broker
Independent Agent Resources, Henderson, NV
Compliance Toolkit
Check this before you market, call, text, or email a prospect. Search below or browse by topic.
Scope of Appointment (SOA) Medicare
Required before most individual, one-on-one Medicare Advantage or Part D sales meetings.
What it is
A Scope of Appointment (SOA) is a documented agreement between an agent and a Medicare-eligible consumer that specifies which Medicare product types (e.g., Medicare Advantage, Part D prescription drug plans, Medicare Supplement) will be discussed during a scheduled one-on-one sales appointment. It exists to prevent agents from steering a conversation into products the consumer didn’t agree to discuss, and to create a paper trail of consumer consent.
When it’s required
- Before any individual (one-on-one) marketing/sales appointment (in person, by phone, or via video) that will discuss Medicare Advantage or Medicare Part D plans.
- Generally expected to be collected in advance of the appointment (commonly cited as at least 48 hours prior when practical), with limited exceptions for walk-ins or unscheduled same-day meetings where a documented in-person SOA may be completed immediately before the discussion begins.
- Not typically required for pure Medicare Supplement (Medigap)-only conversations or for public/formal marketing events where no individual sales presentation occurs. Confirm this against current-year rules and your specific carrier’s requirements, since carrier policies are sometimes stricter than the baseline regulatory requirement.
General rule of thumb: If you are about to have a one-on-one conversation with
a Medicare-eligible consumer about MA or Part D plans, stop and confirm a signed/dated SOA is on
file covering the product types you intend to discuss before the substantive
conversation starts.
How to properly document one
- Use a compliant SOA form (paper, electronic signature, or recorded verbal SOA via a compliant recorded phone process). Never rely on a verbal, undocumented “yes.”
- Capture the consumer’s name, the product types they’ve agreed to discuss, and the date the SOA was obtained. This must be dated before the appointment, not backfilled afterward.
- If the appointment expands to a product type not originally listed (e.g., the consumer asks about a product type mid-meeting that wasn’t on the original SOA), a new/updated SOA covering that product type generally must be completed before discussing it, often on a subsequent day for in-person, or immediately if using a compliant recorded process.
- Retain the completed SOA in the consumer’s file for the retention period required by CMS and your carrier (commonly cited as a multi-year retention window; confirm the exact current requirement).
- Never pre-check or pre-select product types on behalf of the consumer. The consumer (or their authorized representative) must indicate their own choices.
Sample SOA Form: Field Checklist
Carrier portals and CRM/SOA tools you use through Broker’s Broker or your upline may generate a compliant SOA automatically. When in doubt, use the carrier’s official SOA tool rather than a homemade form.
Call Recording & Retention
Medicare sales calls generally must be recorded in their entirety and retained.
The general rule (conceptual; confirm current CMS requirement)
Telephonic marketing and sales calls with Medicare-eligible consumers (including calls that lead to enrollment in a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan) are generally expected to be recorded in their entirety, from greeting through disposition, when conducted by or on behalf of a carrier or its downstream agents/agencies. This is intended to protect consumers from misrepresentation and to give carriers/CMS an audit trail.
- Recording generally applies to the full call, not just the enrollment portion. Partial recordings are typically not considered compliant.
- Retention periods are commonly cited in multi-year terms (many carriers require 10 years, consistent with typical CMS recordkeeping expectations); verify the exact current-year retention requirement with each carrier, since this can vary by contract.
- Recordings and documentation must generally be retrievable on request (by the carrier or CMS) within a short turnaround window.
- Some carriers require use of their approved dialer/recording platform rather than a personal phone or unapproved app. Using non-approved tools to conduct Medicare sales calls is a common compliance violation.
What must typically be said at the start of the call
Opening call disclosures (general pattern; confirm carrier script)
Never use a personal cell phone, personal texting app, or unapproved softphone to conduct or
record Medicare sales calls unless it has been specifically approved by the carrier as meeting
recording and retention requirements. Using non-compliant tools puts both the agent and the FMO
at risk during a carrier or CMS audit.
Marketing Do’s and Don’ts
Channel-by-channel guidance for phone, text, email, and social media outreach to Medicare-eligible and ACA prospects.
📞 Phone
✔ Do
- Confirm you have a valid SOA before an individual MA/Part D sales conversation.
- Use carrier-approved dialers/recording tools for Medicare calls.
- Identify yourself, your agency, and the purpose of the call at the outset.
- Honor “do not call” and opt-out requests immediately and document them.
✘ Don’t
- Don’t cold-call Medicare beneficiaries who have not given permission to be contacted (unsolicited outbound MA/Part D calls are generally prohibited).
- Don’t discuss product types outside the scope agreed to in the SOA.
- Don’t use scare tactics, high-pressure closes, or misleading claims about government affiliation.
💬 Text (SMS)
✔ Do
- Obtain clear, documented prior express written consent before texting marketing content, including the specific phone number and consent date.
- Include a simple opt-out method (e.g., “Reply STOP to unsubscribe”) in every message.
- Keep a record of consent capture (source, timestamp, opt-in language shown).
✘ Don’t
- Don’t text marketing messages to numbers scraped from public sources or purchased lists without documented consent.
- Don’t use autodialed/automated texting platforms without confirming TCPA-compliant consent is on file for each recipient.
- Don’t ignore STOP requests or continue texting after an opt-out.
✉️ Email
✔ Do
- Include a working unsubscribe link and honor requests promptly (CAN-SPAM expects this within a short window, commonly cited as 10 business days).
- Use accurate “From” names/addresses and non-deceptive subject lines.
- Include your agency’s physical mailing address in marketing emails.
✘ Don’t
- Don’t use deceptive subject lines implying the email is from Medicare, the government, or a consumer’s current carrier.
- Don’t send marketing email to purchased/harvested lists without a lawful basis and proper disclosures.
- Don’t use unapproved marketing copy. Run new email templates through your agency/carrier compliance review first.
📱 Social Media
✔ Do
- Use only carrier-approved or agency-approved marketing materials and images.
- Clearly identify yourself as a licensed insurance agent, not a government entity.
- Route inquiries generated through social ads into a compliant intake/SOA process before any individual sales discussion.
✘ Don’t
- Don’t post unapproved comparisons, guarantees, or superlative claims (“best plan,” “guaranteed savings”) without substantiation and compliance sign-off.
- Don’t use CMS, Medicare, or federal government logos/imagery in a way that implies endorsement.
- Don’t collect personal or health information through social media comments/DMs as a substitute for a compliant lead form.
ACA / off-exchange note: While CMS Medicare Marketing rules technically apply
to Medicare products, many of the same principles (honest claims, clear agent identification,
documented consent for outreach, no misrepresentation of government affiliation, and proper
recordkeeping) are good general practice for ACA/off-exchange health, final expense, life, and
annuity marketing as well, and may be independently required by state insurance law, carrier
contracts, or the FTC. When in doubt, apply the stricter standard.
TCPA Basics for Outbound Calling & Texting
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act governs how you can call or text prospects who haven’t asked to hear from you.
Consent requirements
- Calls or texts made using an autodialer or prerecorded/artificial voice generally require prior express written consent from the consumer. A simple verbal “yes” is usually not sufficient for autodialed/text marketing.
- Consent should be specific: it should reference the phone number, the type of communications (calls and/or texts), and ideally the agent/agency or lead source.
- Consent obtained through a third-party lead vendor should be documented and traceable: keep records of the lead source, the consent language the consumer saw, and the timestamp.
- Consent can generally be revoked by the consumer at any time, through any reasonable method (a text reply, verbal statement on a call, email, etc.). Once revoked, stop contacting that number for marketing purposes.
Do-Not-Call list awareness
- Check outbound call/text lists against the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry and maintain your own internal do-not-call list of consumers who have opted out directly.
- Being an “established business relationship” with a consumer may create limited exceptions under some rules, but exceptions are narrow, time-limited, and don’t override a consumer’s direct opt-out request. Don’t rely on this without compliance confirmation.
- State-level mini-TCPA and do-not-call laws can be stricter than federal rules. Confirm requirements in every state where you solicit business.
- Violations of TCPA can carry statutory damages per call/text and are frequently the subject of class action litigation. This is a high-risk area to get wrong.
Bottom line: If you didn’t personally obtain clear, documented consent to call
or text a specific number, don’t cold-call or cold-text it using automated tools. When buying
leads, confirm in writing that the vendor captured TCPA-compliant consent, and keep that proof
on file.
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