Medicare Lead Generation for Insurance Agents
Medicare lead generation for agents is shaped by two constraints that do not apply in other verticals: a compressed annual enrolment window that concentrates demand into ten weeks, and CMS marketing rules that govern what a lead form may say and how a beneficiary may be contacted. Volume planning and compliance are therefore the same problem, not two separate ones.
Planning around AEP
The Annual Enrolment Period runs from 15 October to 7 December. Most agents write the majority of their year inside it, which means lead supply is bid up by every agency at once, and price rises accordingly.
Work backwards from capacity rather than budget. If an agent can hold a given number of meaningful conversations per day across the window, that sets your total lead requirement; buying beyond it produces records nobody calls, which is the most common and most expensive AEP mistake.
TODO(usama): insert our AEP capacity and the date by which agencies need to reserve volume with us.
Year-round SEP volume
Special Enrolment Periods run continuously and are triggered by qualifying events: moving, losing employer coverage, becoming eligible for Medicaid, and others. Volume is lower than AEP but it is steady, and competition for it is much softer.
SEP leads are qualified differently. The screening question is which qualifying event applies and whether the beneficiary is inside the window it opens, which is a more specific conversation than a general AEP enquiry.
What CMS marketing rules require
CMS regulates how Medicare Advantage and Part D plans may be marketed, and that reaches the lead form. Disclaimers are required, certain comparative claims are restricted, and the entity collecting the information has obligations about how the beneficiary is subsequently contacted.
For a buyer the practical consequence is that you cannot treat a Medicare lead form like a general insurance form. Ask any vendor to show you the exact form text and disclaimers a beneficiary saw. If they will not, you are inheriting a compliance exposure you cannot inspect.
This is not legal advice and the rules are revised. Have your compliance function review the form language each plan year. Our note on [TCPA consent requirements](/lead-generation/tcpa-compliance) covers the calling-side obligations that sit alongside these.
How we screen
We screen callers for age or eligibility basis, current coverage status, and state before transfer, so agents spend their time on beneficiaries they can actually help rather than on qualification.
TODO(usama): insert our current Medicare cost per lead, live transfer availability, and monthly volume by state.
See the main [Medicare leads](/lead-generation/medicare) page for delivery detail, or the [lead generation overview](/lead-generation) for the other verticals.
Common questions
- When should I reserve AEP lead volume?
- Before the window opens. Supply is bid up sharply from mid-October, and vendors allocate capacity to agencies who committed earlier. TODO(usama): give our specific reservation deadline.
- Are SEP leads worth buying outside AEP?
- Yes, if your agents have capacity year-round. Volume is lower but competition is much softer, and a qualifying-event lead is often further along in intent than a general AEP enquiry.
- Do you provide live transfers for Medicare?
- TODO(usama): confirm whether we offer Medicare live transfer, and if so the screening applied before transfer.
- Who is responsible for CMS marketing compliance?
- Obligations attach to plans, to agents and to the entities marketing on their behalf, so in practice everyone in the chain carries some. Review the form language your vendor uses with your own compliance function each plan year.
Plan your AEP volume
Tell us your agent headcount and states. We will work backwards from conversation capacity to a realistic lead number rather than selling you volume you cannot call.
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