Your rights
What Medicare agents can and can't do: the rules for 2026–2027
Federal rules limit how agents can contact you and what they have to tell you when they sell Medicare Advantage or Part D drug plans. Some of those rules changed on October 1, 2026. Here's what applies now, so you know what a good agent will do, and what should make you hang up.
Last reviewed October 26, 2026. General information, not advice about any plan.
How agents can contact you
To sell Medicare Advantage or Part D plans, agents and plans can't, unless you asked them to:
- Call, text or leave you a voicemail, including robocalls, calls based on a referral, and calls to "confirm" mail they sent.
- Come to your door, or leave flyers there, without an appointment you already set for that date and time.
- Send you direct messages on social media.
- Approach you in parking lots, hallways or lobbies.
- Visit you in a nursing home or assisted living facility unless you asked them to.
They can send you mail and email (every email must let you opt out), and plans can contact their own members about their plan. Once you ask to be contacted, by calling, returning a reply card or filling in a form, that permission covers the topics you asked about for 12 months.
Before a meeting: Scope of Appointment
Before an agent meets with you about Medicare Advantage or Part D plans, in person, by phone or online, they must agree with you on which kinds of products you'll discuss, and record it. This is the Scope of Appointment. For a meeting in person it's in writing.
- It is
- A record of the topics you agreed to discuss. It's good for 12 months.
- It isn't
- An enrollment, an application, or a promise to buy anything.
- Waiting period
- None since October 1, 2026. The meeting can happen right after you complete it.
- What it limits
- The agent can't bring up other kinds of products, like Medigap, dental or life insurance, unless you agree to a new Scope of Appointment.
During the call or meeting
You'll hear how many companies they represent
Agents who sell for more than one company must say, before discussing any plan's benefits, how many companies and plans they represent in your area, and that Medicare.gov and 1-800-MEDICARE can tell you about all your options.Sales calls are recorded
Agents and companies selling for insurers must record marketing and sales calls in full and keep them for at least 6 years. Phone enrollments are recorded too.You decide what's shared
Your information can go to another company only with your written consent naming that company.You can stop at any time
Hang up, end the meeting, or ask for the comparison in writing to think about. Nothing is final until you enroll.
Things an agent can never do
- Say they're from Medicare or the government, or that a plan is endorsed by Medicare.
- Charge you a fee to enroll in a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan.
- Enroll you in a plan you didn't agree to.
- Offer you cash, gifts worth more than $15, or a free meal to get you to enroll.
- Sell without a license in your state.
If an agent broke these rules, call 1-800-MEDICARE and your state's insurance department. Each state's page has the number and complaint form.
What changed in October 2026
A federal rule for the 2027 plan year changed three things that many websites still describe the old way:
- 48-hour wait
- Removed. There's no longer a required wait between the Scope of Appointment and the meeting.
- The disclaimer
- Must now be said before any plan benefits are discussed, rather than within the first minute of the call. It no longer mentions SHIP.
- Call recordings
- Kept at least 6 years, down from 10. Phone enrollments are still kept as enrollment records.
Common questions
Is there still a 48-hour wait after a Scope of Appointment?
No. The 48-hour waiting period, and its exceptions, ended for marketing that began October 1, 2026. An agent can meet with you right after you complete a Scope of Appointment.
Can a Medicare agent call me?
Only if you asked them to, for example by calling them first, sending a reply card or filling in a request form, or if you already have a plan with that company. Cold calls, texts and voicemails to sell Medicare Advantage or drug plans aren't allowed.
Are calls with Medicare agents recorded?
Marketing and sales calls by agents and companies selling Medicare Advantage or Part D plans for insurers must be recorded and kept for at least 6 years. Enrollments done by phone are also recorded.
Do these rules apply to Medicare Supplement (Medigap)?
Not directly. These are federal rules for Medicare Advantage and Part D. Medigap sales are regulated by your state. But during a Medicare Advantage or drug plan appointment, an agent can't bring up Medigap or other products you didn't agree to discuss.
Can an agent share my information with other companies?
Only with your prior written consent, and the consent must name each company that will receive it.
Keep reading
- Medicare scams: how to spot them, and what to doThe calls, texts and offers scammers use around Medicare, the signs that give them away, and exactly who to call if you think you've been targeted.
- What to bring to your first meeting with a Medicare agentA one-page checklist: the cards, doctor list and prescriptions an agent needs to compare plans for you, plus what you should never hand over.
- A local Medicare agent or a 1-800 number: what's the difference?The TV ads and the agent down the street are both licensed. How they differ in who you talk to, what happens to your phone number, and who's there next year.
- How to check an insurance agent's licenseLook up any agent with your state's insurance department, in about two minutes.
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