Medicare agents are required to document essentially every move from initial contact with the client to setting up a sales appointment and filling out any necessary applications. One of these forms is called the Scope of Appointment form, and you work together with the client before any sales appointment to define exactly what will be discussed. You can make adjustments later with additional forms, but this is a formality the CMS and your carriers ask of all Medicare agents.
What Is a Scope of Appointment Form
Scope of Appointment Forms are something you fill out with the client before any sales or individual appointment. It allows you and the client to document exactly which health care products that the client would like to discuss at the meeting. By describing exactly what you will be discussing, you create the boundary, or scope, of what products you can talk about during the appointment.
How To Use a Scope of Appointment Form
Before the appointment, you and the client will talk about which health care products you plan to discuss. Document these choices on the appropriate form. You can use the CMS-approved Scope of Appointment form, a CMS-approved oral recording of Sales Appointment Confirmation or CMS-approved BRC to compliantly document the scope of appointment.
The Scope of Appointment will also document if the client would like to bring a family member or Power of Attorney to join in on the meeting. If the client brings someone to the meeting who was not included in the initial Scope of Appointment form, you will need to use another form to document their presence.
Once you and the client have initialed and signed the forms, print a copy or otherwise attach them to the application you submit to your carrier. You will want to keep these forms for at least 10 years, in case they need to be reviewed.
What To Do if the Client Wants to Discuss More
Before you can begin a discussion on a product that was not agreed to on the initial Scope of Appointment form, you and the client will need to document the new health care products they would like to discuss on an additional Scope of Appointment form. Complete the proper form, sign and initial before you begin any discussions about the additional products.
If you sell more than Medicare insurance plans and the client is interested in speaking with you about your other offerings, you will need to make a separate appointment to discuss those products.
