Medicare’s Annual Notice of Change: The agent’s key to AEP appointments

Each September, Medicare carriers must send an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) to their enrollees. The document is crucial – it explains changes to premiums, benefits, and coverages the beneficiary can expect if they stay enrolled in the same plan next year. And, because it’s your clients’ first real exposure to all the chaos we’re expecting in 2026, it’s your best shot at proactively filling up your appointment book for this AEP. Let’s see how.

First things first: What is in a Medicare Annual Notice of Change?

These letters can be quite hefty, and we wouldn’t be surprised if large forests were killed just to meet this compliance requirement. But that’s beside the point.

What’s in those letters is what matters.

Beneficiaries and their agents (by way of carrier portals) can find:

• Premium increases or decreases
• Changes in drug formularies
• Provider network adjustments
• Copay, deductible, or out-of-pocket maximum adjustments
• Added or removed plan benefits – although supplemental benefits like OTC cards may be excluded

That’s a lot of insurance information packed into one document. And that’s why enrollees need your help making sense of it. They may not understand what’s changing. Confusion can lead to drops or switches. Both cases put your renewal commissions at risk. And so, you’ll need to be on top of your outreach game to provide expert support – and protect your book.

What could agent outreach about ANOCs look like?

You can’t afford – either in time or money – to wait for calls to come in. You’ll need to prod your procrastinators – and save yourself from angry clients who would otherwise be blindsided with plan changes on January 1.

Step one: It’s triage time

Pull a list of all your Medicare clients by carrier, product type, and plan. An agency management system, like the one offered by our friends at AgencyBloc (Get 10% off your first year!), can make it easier.

Rank your clients in order of the magnitude of the changes they’ll experience. Know of a plan closure? Those enrollees will need to be touched. Do you have enrollees who will be moving from no premium to any premium? They’ll need some outreach, too.

Step two: Schedule your outreach

An AMS or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can make this easier. But if not, you can still get all this done the old-fashioned way.

• Day 1-2 after ANOC is mailed:
  • Text and/or email “Your Medicare plan just sent your 2026 update. I’ll review your changes and reach out with your options.”
• Day 3-7:
  • Leave a short voicemail: “It’s Joe from XYZ Insurance agency. I reviewed your ANOC letter. Let’s book a call to talk through the changes and see if you need a switch.”
• Day 8-14
  • Follow-up text and/or email: “I wanted to check in. Do you have your ANOC letter handy? Let’s find time to review. My calendar is filling fast for AEP.”

Step three: Control the calendar before it controls you

We highly recommend you use a booking link or scheduling tool (like Calendly or ChiliPiper) to make it easy for clients to pick a time that works for both of you.

Such platforms can send confirmation texts or emails before the appointment, which will surely decrease your no-show rate.

Otherwise, find the time to manually make those reminders!

Step four: Have a plan for each client

There will be a lot of changes to account for this year. And while no list will be exhaustive, we’ve gathered a few examples of what you’re most likely to encounter – along with a possible solution for each.

Scenario one: The client’s plan has closed, or exited their county

This will no doubt cause some disruption. You’ll want to present a variety of options at the price point they were previously enrolled at, while checking doctors and drugs across each. If similar plans are available, walk through the costs and benefits of each as part of your presentation.

Scenario two: Premium increases, but prescriptions and doctor coverage are stable

This isn’t the end of the world. Your clients may be able to stomach a premium increase – but you’ll want to come prepared with options. Compare alternatives at similar and lower price points in their area, offer the most similar plan, and explain any cost and benefit differences they may encounter.

Scenario three: A key medication has dropped off the formulary

You’ll want to compare all the plans you offer to see whether and how the drug is covered. Since carrier pharmacy networks vary, you may need to advise your client on a new pharmacy, too – including mail-order options.

Scenario four: A key hospital, PCP, or specialist has left the network

Some beneficiaries aren’t so attached to their providers and are happy to switch to another one in the same network. Others, however, strongly prefer to continue their provider relationships. In that case, you’ll again need to compare the plans you offer, and help them switch to a plan that has their preferred providers in-network.

Step five: Relax. You’ve earned it.

Once December 8^th rolls around, you have our permission to curl up in bed and refuse to leave for a few days. This volatile market will lead to plenty of plan changes – and you’ll have your work cut out for you.

Fortunately, your partners at Action Benefits can help: Our proprietary Book of Business disruption report will be published in early October; CoverageForOne can help you shop for doctors and drugs across all your Action carriers, and our team of experts is always here to answer your questions.