Medicare Agents Can Meet With You the Same Day You Sign the Appointment Form Starting October 1

Starting October 1, 2026, Medicare agents and brokers will no longer be required to wait 48 hours after a beneficiary completes a Scope of Appointment before holding a plan discussion. The Scope of Appointment is a form that records which types of coverage a beneficiary agrees to hear about during a sales meeting. The change is part of the Contract Year 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Final Rule published in April 2026. CMS said the prior waiting period sometimes delayed assistance for people who were ready to act. The same rule eliminates the 12-hour separation that had been required between educational events and marketing events held at the same location, and it now allows agents to collect a Scope of Appointment during an educational presentation as long as plan-specific marketing does not occur during that portion. Agents must still complete the Scope of Appointment before beginning any plan discussion. Under the same rule, recordings of sales and marketing calls must be kept for 6 years instead of 10. The audio must be kept for the first 3 years; for years 4 to 6, a complete and accurate transcript is enough. The part of a call where you enroll in a plan is still kept for 10 years, because it serves as your enrollment form. The marketing changes take effect October 1, two weeks before the Annual Enrollment Period opens October 15. People shopping for 2027 Medicare coverage this fall may notice that an agent is prepared to discuss plan options in a single sitting. The rule also changes when agents must give the standard disclaimer about which plans they sell. It used to be due in the first minute of the call. Now it can come later, as long as it comes before any talk about a plan's benefits.