In 2023 and 2024 the CMS Final Rules established and later clarified call recording requirements for insurance agency and broker calls dealing with Medicare enrollment. In 2023, the CMS Final Rule appeared to require all Medicare-related calls must be recorded. The CMS 2024 Final Rule clarified that only enrollment calls must be recorded.
Within that same timeframe, compensation rates for Medicare Advantage and Part D plan enrollments appeared to cause agencies and brokers to direct enrollees toward those plans. Given the costs of recording calls and storing client information securely that often require advanced integrations between a CRM system and a phone system, the CMS recognized that a potential cause of this trend was the proposed increase of $31 in compensation was insufficient to offset the costs of meeting the regulatory requirements.
Many commenters apparently stated that this rate would effectively price them out of serving the Medicare Advantage market.
What Changed with the 2025 CMS Final Rule?
One of the most significant changes is the proposed increase in compensation to lessen the impact of agent and broker administrative costs while removing the temptation to enroll someone in an incorrect plan to help cover those costs. This increase certainly improves the bottom line for agencies hardest hit by the changes required to meet compliance guidelines.
This crackdown will likely come with some grumbling, though the new compensation rates will help agents and brokers better afford the systems required for compliance.
The 2025 rule has not changed any requirements for recording enrollment calls (clarified in 2024) or logging customer data in a CRM. The increased enrollment compensation should help the bottom line appear more black than red for Medicare enrollment, without incentivizing enrollment in unnecessary plans.
How Does the CMS Ruling Affect Insurance Agencies?
Agencies are still required to record and store enrollment calls for 10 years. Intulse makes this easier as call recording is a standard feature of our VoIP phone system. If you’re an Intulse client, we have good news! Meeting this requirement is easy and certainly affordable. Call recording is a standard feature and doesn’t cost you anything to enable, even on your mobile devices. You may incur call recording storage fees, but they are extremely affordable.
You can start/stop recording any call you’re actively on from the My Phone screen in the Intulse App. Or, you can contact our support team to have automatic call recording turned on for all incoming or outgoing calls.
What Other Benefits Can Intulse VoIP Offer Insurance Agencies?
Outside of our standard VoIP phone system features, insurance agencies and brokers can benefit from our VoIP phone integrations with insurance industry CRMs like:
When combined with our standard feature set, VoIP integration with insurance CRMs unlocks a whole new world of automation by linking calls, client activities, recordings, and much more with your client’s records in the CRM directly from the Intulse VoIP phone system.
If you’re not a current Intulse client but need assistance with call recordings to ensure you’re following the updated requirements starting this year, we are here to help!