Scope of Appointments (SOA) are an important part of selling Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans. That said, coming up with a system – and staying on top of ever-changing regulations – can be a bit of a hassle.
In this article, we're covering everything you need to know about SOAs, including some of the easiest ways to obtain and store them.
A Scope of Appointment (SOA) is a document that your client must sign prior to a scheduled appointment with you where you will discuss Medicare Advantage and/or Part D prescription drug plans.
If you don't have a signed SOA, you can't talk about either of these plan types.
SOAs are designed to protect consumers by offering transparency about the sales process. They can mark which plan types they want you to talk about, giving them a bit of control over the contents of their appointment.
As an example, a beneficiary might have the opportunity to check off or initial consent to talk about the following product types:
Some SOA templates may shorten the options by simply listing:
Whatever the beneficiary checks off or initials indicates what you are allowed to discuss during your appointment.
Scope of Appointments come with a few important compliance rules.
Let's get into it.
As you already know, CMS brought back the 48-hour rule, which means you must get a signed SOA at least 48 hours before your scheduled appointment.
The 48-hour rule was was a longstanding rule before 2018, and it is now brought back for 2024.
This 48-hour rule should be interpreted literally. For example, if an individual signs an SOA at 4:00 PM on a Tuesday, their appointment cannot take place until after 4:00 PM on Thursday.
Only 20% of comments supported the 48-hour rule proposal from CMS, but even still, CMS decided to go forward with signing it into law.
The biggest criticism was that there's just no positive effect of making a beneficiary wait two full days, and it may even be "detrimental" to beneficiaries.
One comment stated that seniors aren't required to wait 48 hours to purchase a car, so why should they have to wait 48 hours to discuss and enroll in a health or drug plan?
CMS' response was giving beneficiaries time to consider their options and whether they really want to meet with an agent is helpful, particularly for those who are more vulnerable.
The idea is they'll talk to caregivers and others they trust for help and advice prior to their scheduled appointment.
Scope of Appointment (SOA) forms are valid for 12 months.
Aside from having a valid SOA for your current appointment, we encourage you to have your clients sign another one at the end of their appointment. That’ll alleviate the need to wait 48 hours in the future as SOAs are valid for a full 12 months.
Once you have your completed SOA, you must keep it on file for 10 years, even if you didn't end up selling anything. If you do a telephonic SOA, you must keep that audio file for 10 years as well.
We encourage you to utilize MedicareCENTER to complete your SOAs as the system will automatically store your SOA for the required 10 years – for free.
More on MedicareCENTER shortly.
A new rule is you may not distribute or collect Scope of Appointments (SOAs) at an educational event.
Collecting SOAs prior to the new 48-hour rule was somewhat of a pain, but now it really does require a system.
Thankfully, MedicareCENTER makes SOA collection and storage easy.
Check out how to send and store SOAs in MedicareCENTER with this short video:
Here are the best SOA features included in MedicareCENTER, which is free:
It doesn't hurt to let clients know what to expect when it comes to SOAs.
While the 48-hour rule was put in place to protect consumers, it's safe to say the waiting period might really annoy some who would prefer to meet right away.
Letting clients know you are committed to following the rules and regulations set by CMS can help ease any confusion or concerns.
If you have a website, consider posting a blog post or announcement about what an SOA is and the new 48-hour rule. If you have an email newsletter or the ability to send emails to your clients in bulk, consider sending the message that way.
At the end of the day, communicating about the SOA compliance rules – and how you follow those rules – can really build trust through transparency.
A Scope of Appointment (SOA) is a crucial document that ensures insurance agents have the client's explicit permission to discuss specific products or services before a scheduled meeting. Agents that plan to discuss Medicare Advantage and/or Medicare Part D prescription drug plans must have their client or prospect sign an SOA before their appointment.
You must keep SOA forms on file for 10 years, even if the appointment didn't end in a sale. For agents that use MedicareCENTER, this system will automatically store your SOA for the required 10 years.
Scope of Appointment (SOA) forms are valid for 12 months.
You do not need to collect a scope of appointment form if you will not discuss either Medicare Advantage or Part D prescription drug plans with your client.
If you do plan to discuss either or both of these plan types, the only exceptions for the 48-hour SOA rule include:
Agents must obtain a scope of appointment no less than 48 hours prior to presenting and enrolling a beneficiary into a plan. There are two exceptions to the 48 hour rule; the 48 hour rule is waived if a beneficiary is in the last 4 days of their valid enrollment period or if they are an in-person walk-in appointment.
There you have it – everything you need to know about the infamous Scope of Appointment form.
The new 48-hour rule from CMS might have stirred the pot a bit, but we're big fans of embracing change. Plus, MedicareCENTER makes SOA collection a cakewalk, so there's really nothing to worry about.
Don't underestimate the importance of keeping clients in the loop, and let us know in the comments if you have any additional questions about this crucial document.