Every year, even when you expect it, the CMS Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) CMS can sneak up on you. This leaves Medicare Supplement Providers asking, “When is AEP 2023?”
The answer this year is the same as it is every year: AEP takes place between October 15 and December 7.
During this window, Medicare recipients can shop for and elect a Medicare Supplement Provider. For providers, this means two things:
- An influx of calls and visits from Medicare recipients seeking information about specific supplemental plans.
- Heightened monitoring from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), designed to ensure Providers comply with federal regulations surrounding sales tactics.
That is the great stress of AEP for Medicare Supplement Providers—a simultaneous influx of inquiries and heightened monitoring means that regulators are paying the most attention to Providers just as they are at their most busy and distracted.
The Advantages of a CMS Monitoring Program
During AEP, it behooves Providers to run CMS monitoring programs across all sales contact points, including phone and online interactions, in-person events, and even appointments.
The benefits of a monitoring program are twofold: First, they allow Providers to institute small scale corrections when their staff violates CMS guidelines—think of an AEP monitoring program as a dry run for sales associates and their employers. Much better to be caught in violation by a CMS monitoring program than by a CMS representative, which will result in punitive actions.
Second, the programs demonstrate a distinct due diligence. If a sales associate or call center rep is found to be in violation, the Provider can point to the monitoring program as a best-efforts measure to ensure front line compliance.
Of course, ultimately, any punitive action is entirely at the discretion of CMS, but a monitoring program certainly never hurt anybody in their compliance efforts.
TrendSource CMS Monitoring Programs for AEP
TrendSource has helped Medicare Supplement Providers monitor their sales interactions for over a decade with both year-round and AEP-focused CMS monitoring program.
CMS compliance programs can monitor a wide range of front-line interactions, including:
- Call center calls (English, TTY, and Translator calls)
- Informal and formal events
- Appointments
Providers can assemble these components to make their CMS monitoring program into exactly what they need.
AEP is a busy time for Providers and their frontline salesforce. TrendSource CMS Compliance Programs bring some order to the chaos and help companies avoid the worst possible outcomes.
