Keep your eyes and ears open to the news, periodically check for regulations and stay in contact with industry networks and publications to make sure you are up-to-date with Medicare trends and regulations.
CMS Regulations & Guidance
Agents need to follow CMS regulations to stay compliant and keep their ability to sell Medicare plans. If you hear about something new with CMS or Medicare regulations, you can head straight to the official websites to read the rulemaking yourself and leave a comment if you choose.
Regulations.gov
When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has a proposed rulemaking, it will enter a comment period. Comment periods are usually 60 – 90 days, and any comments that CMS receives during that comment period will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov. Of course, they will refrain from posting any harmful or threatening comments directed at individuals, but will post all acceptable comments, even if they copy previous statements.
Through eRulemaking, as of 2008, anyone can submit public comments electronically through the Federal Dockets Management System, or by mail or courier. To see which CMS documents are posted on the Federal Register and currently open for public comment, you can go to regulations.gov, enter CMS or the file code or related keywords in the search bar, and filter with “open show documents open for comment.”
Review The Yearly Medicare & You Handbook
If changes are relevant to consumers, you will be able to find that information easily through the Medicare website or CMS. Costs are updated every year on the Medicare website. The Medicare & You Handbook also comes out with a new edition every year, opening with a “What’s new & important?” page to quickly sum up key changes and direct you straight to the appropriate page.
Keep Up With Trusted News Sources
Policy changes for Medicare are a government affair. Changes or small adjustments at the federal level will be reported in the news. If you see something in the news or on social media, you can follow the articles or links back to their sources and see for yourself what makes the item newsworthy.
Additionally, health insurance companies share publicly available data about plan enrollment and pricing. It’s easy to find statistics about trends in enrollment and predicted enrollment for Medicare Advantage plans, for example.
Seek out information sources that are data-driven, and if possible, go with a .org/.edu/.gov/.net website for a higher probability that your source can be trusted. Networking with other health insurance and Medicare agents on LinkedIn and through other business-minded groups will help you stay up to date, because those will be places to look for circulating trends and news. You may even be able to sniff out trends in your region if you pay attention to patterns in enrollment, pricing and benefits.
Lean on your network of fellow agents to help you stay up-to-date with Medicare trends and regulations.
