Reverse the New CMS Medicare Call Recording Requirements

Reverse the New CMS Medicare Call Recording Requirements

Started
July 1, 2022
Signatures: 12,783Next Goal: 15,000
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Why this petition matters

CMS recently passed new regulations requiring licensed and certified independent agents to record phone calls that result in the enrollment of a Medicare Advantage or Prescription Drug Plan.  This new requirement will add an additional burden to agents attempting to assist Medicare beneficiaries when choosing a suitable health and drug plan.

According to the Federal Registry, in 2022, CMS reported 39,617 "complaints to Medicare" out of 29,000,000 enrollments.  This is only 0.0013661%.   

Most of these complaints originated from misleading TV commercials, encouraging Medicare beneficiaries to call a 1-800 number.  Third Party Marketing Organization (TPMO) created many these misleading TV commercials.  The ads encouraged beneficiaries to call a toll free number  answered by a call center employee whose primary job was to encourage the beneficiary to change their existing Medicare health or drug plan to a plan that offered "additional benefits", when in fact the new plan may not cover their prescriptions or have their Primary Care Provider in the plan's provider network.  In some cases, the plans recommended were not available in the beneficiary's county or area.

Because of these misleading TV commercials, beneficiary complaints to Medicare increased.  CMS addressed these complaints by creating new regulations to protect Medicare beneficiaries.  These new regulations require TPMOs, agents and brokers to record calls that may result in a new enrollment of a Medicare Advantage or Prescription Drug Plan.

The new CMS call regulations will discourage many licensed and certified agents and brokers to certifiy and not to represent Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans.  There are an estimated 100,000+ licensed and certified independent agents and brokers that certify each year to offer Medicare Part C and D plans.

With fewer certified agents and brokers, the compaints to Medicare and workload may increase, not decrease.  Fewer certified agents and brokers will also increase the workload of SHIP Counselors (of which there are an estimated 15,000 SHIP Counselors nationwide), leaving beneficiaries with fewer options when considering Medicare health and drug plans.

Additional concerns include HIPAA requirements to compliantly store data. 

Via this petition, the recommendation to CMS is to remove the licensed and certified independent agents and brokers from the definition of a TPMO, and from the new call recording requirements. 

If you agree with this assessment, please sign this petition to send a message to CMS that licensed and certified independent agents and brokers are a part of the solution, and not the primary driver of complaints to Medicare.

For more information, please review the new regulations at the Federal Registry: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2022-09375/p-1291

 

 

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Signatures: 12,783Next Goal: 15,000
Support now
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