When selling Medicare Advantage an agent needs to obtain a scope of appointment (SOA) prior to discussing any plan information. What is a scope of appointment? A scope of appointment is a form that an agent must have a Medicare beneficiary complete, prior to an appointment, designating exactly what products they wish to discuss. You may obtain a scope of appointment in various ways. One way is through a generic paper form, approved by CMS, that all carriers must recognize. You can also use carrier-specific forms as well. The other option, which has grown in popularity over the years, is electronic or e-scopes.

An e-scope is basically a digitized version of the paper scope. Depending on the program, these setups can vary, but all must follow and be approved by CMS. These can be emailed and signed by the client at their leisure. At Pinnacle Financial Services, we always recommend using a generic scope if possible (link here). Generic scopes typically have other cross-selling opportunities listed, like hospital indemnity products, that can be sold during a Medicare appointment.

To set the bar higher, Pinnacle Financial Services has an online enrollment system called Connect4Medicare. Connect4Medicare allows you to enroll clients into Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement and even Prescription Drug Plans (PDP) electronically all in one place. This software even has an e-scope built-in. Agents that contract with Pinnacle Financial Services receives access to this for free- no hidden fees! Instead of using each carrier website with numerous logins, it is all condensed into one convenient site.

With the current restrictions on our country with the Coronavirus hindering our ability to be around people, electronic platforms will become extremely detrimental to business. For the e-scope, all the client needs are an email address for the scope to be sent to and to e-sign. You can also have them sign it in person for a face to face visit as well!

Partner with Pinnacle Financial Services to get access to all these great tools and more!