Just before many of us paused for the holiday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its CY2027 final rule for the Medicare market. Agents and brokers everywhere have some good reasons to celebrate: the 48-hour rule will be gone, you’ll be able to hold marketing and educational events in the same space without a mandatory gap, and the call recording mandates will get somewhat loosened.
Before we dive in, know this: all marketing changes go into effect on October 1, 2026 – so don’t go skirting the 48-hour rule just yet.
CMS removed the requirement of a 12-hour gap between educational and marketing events if held in the same venue. Marketing events could potentially take place directly after and in the same location as the educational event, so long as attendees are notified the switch is occurring. Beneficiaries should also have sufficient opportunity to leave the event, so plan a refreshment or restroom break.
CMS removed the 48-hour rule, meaning agents can once again hold personal marketing appointments directly after collecting the Scope of Appointment. You’ll no longer have to track whether the beneficiary is in the last four days of an enrollment period, for example – simply collect the Scope and begin the appointment right away.
CMS removed the ban on collecting a Scope of Appointment at educational events. You'll now be able to collect them right after every Medicare 101 session you deliver.
These changes reduce beneficiary friction after making contact with a trusted agent (e.g., you). Taken together, these changes also make educational events a real growth engine for your business going forward – you might educate a crowd, collect Scopes of Appointment, and make sales on the spot, if you’re so inclined.
The TPMO disclaimer will change, and now must only be read before benefits are discussed. CMS had previously required the Third Party Marketing Organization disclaimer (the one that begins “We do not offer every plan available in your area…”) to be read in the first minute of every sales or marketing call. The disclaimer also mandated agents refer beneficiaries to their State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) for more guidance options.
Beginning on October 1, the disclaimer instead must be read before benefit discussions. Practically speaking, this means you can say “Hi, how are you?” and collect demographic information before jumping right into the disclaimer. Likewise, if through the course of conversation, you discover the beneficiary does not have a valid election period, you could be exempt from the disclaimer during that call – as long as you haven’t talked about benefits at all.
Agents/brokers and plans can now use superlatives (“best,” “most,” etc.) in marketing, so long as the claim has sufficient evidence to back it. You’ll now be able to tell beneficiaries “this plan has the largest PCP network in Michigan” – as long as it’s factually true. However, be careful: “free” is not a superlative, so keep referring to plans with no premium as $0.
Call recordings must now only be retained for six years. Citing cost and administrative burden associated with call recordings, CMS is giving some ground on this one. While all sales and marketing calls must still be recorded, there is some nuance in this requirement reduction. For the first three years of the six-year period, an audio version of the call must be retained. For the last three, the record may be retained as either an audio call or as a full recording transcript.
CMS proposed these changes in December of 2025, so there were some pretty good clues that something was afoot. However, there’s a lot here for agents to like: your compliance burden is reduced, and educational events now have equal value to both you and your clients/prospects.
These aren’t the only changes addressed in the 219-page rule, though. We’ll share the rest of the story later this week.