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Last year, the CMS compliance industry, and the Medicare Supplement Providers it regulates, had to adapt on the fly to an unprecedented situation that was both frightening and confusing. With only a few months before the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) began, the COVID-19 pandemic led to lockdowns that made in-person events ill-advised and, ultimately, untenable.

As we discussed last week, the Center for Medicare Service’s 2020 Annual Election Period will be one like none before. We offered some insight into what providers are facing this year, and this week we’ve decided to offer a few tips to help providers adjust to that new normal. 

We are back for the next round of Market Research 101, but before we wax poetically about another market research methodology, we must acknowledge: we are nearing the end of our digital market research seminar. Sadly, all good things must come to an end and Market Research 101 is getting there quickly.

During Medicare’s Annual Election Period (AEP), TrendSource Trusted Insight designs and executes secret shop programs for over 30 Medicare Advantage plans, helping companies ensure their sales agents comply with mandated CMS guidelines. Based on more than 4,000 individual projects, we identified the top violation per audit type and, while some have appeared in years past, others were previously unseen. By alerting our clients to these issues, they were able to implement corrective actions. Below, we outline, in no specific order, some of the top AEP 2017 violations.

Supporting over 30 health plans nationwide in their compliance towards CMS Marketing Guidelines, TrendSource is in a unique position to identify the top violations that occurred during AEP 2015. Based on over 4,000 completed secret shop compliance audits during the 2015 AEP season, we found the following to be the top violation trends.