Medicare’s New Marketing Rules Took Effect October 1: What Changed for Houston Beneficiaries

If you are on Medicare in Harris County, you have learned to brace for autumn. The mailbox fills. The phone starts ringing from numbers you do not recognize. The commercials return to daytime television, always with a toll-free number at the bottom of the screen. That annual surge is about to arrive with a different set of rules behind it, and almost nobody has told beneficiaries about it.

On October 1, 2026 — two weeks before the Annual Enrollment Period opens — a package of federal Medicare marketing rule changes takes effect. They come from the Contract Year 2027 final rule that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published in the Federal Register on April 6, 2026. Most of the coverage of that rule focused on drug pricing and Star Ratings. Further in, at pages 17448 through 17470, is something that will change your daily experience of Medicare season more than any benefit change: CMS removed several of the timing rules that used to slow a sales conversation down.

We are an insurance agency. We are writing about the rules that govern insurance agents, including us. That is an obvious conflict of interest, so let us be plain about it: some of these changes make our job easier, and a few of them remove friction that existed to protect you. You deserve to know which is which. What follows is what the rule actually says — verified against the Federal Register text and the codified regulations rather than against someone’s summary — what it will feel like in practice, and the list of things that are still against the rules, so you can recognize a genuine violation when one happens to you.

What actually changed on October 1, 2026

First, a point about dates, because this is where most of the summaries circulating right now go wrong. There are two documents. A proposed rule appeared in the Federal Register on November 28, 2025, at 90 FR 54894. The final rule — the one that carries legal force — appeared on April 6, 2026, at 91 FR 17384. If you read something that cites the November 2025 document as the authority, it is citing a proposal, and CMS did not finalize every piece of what it proposed.

The final rule took effect June 1, 2026, and most of its provisions apply to coverage beginning January 1, 2027. The marketing provisions run on their own clock. CMS wrote it into the rule directly: “the new marketing and communications policies in this rule are applicable for all contract year 2027 marketing and communications, beginning October 1, 2026.” October 1 is the first day plans and agents may market the coming year’s plans at all, so the new rules and the new selling season begin on the same morning.

Five changes matter to you as a beneficiary. Here they are, against what they replaced.

The Scope of Appointment, explained plainly

This is the single most useful thing in this article, so we are going to take it slowly. If you understand the Scope of Appointment, you understand most of what protects you during Medicare season.

A Scope of Appointment — everyone in the business says “SOA” — is a short form that says which kinds of Medicare products you have agreed to let an agent talk about with you. That is all it is. It is a permission slip with a subject line.

The form lists product categories with checkboxes. Typically: Medicare Advantage and Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plans; standalone Part D prescription drug plans; Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policies; and sometimes dental, vision, or hearing products. You check what you are willing to discuss. You sign. The agent keeps it on file.

The requirement comes from statute, not merely from CMS’s discretion — sections 1851(j)(2)(A) and 1860D-4(l)(2) of the Social Security Act direct the Secretary to require advance agreement on the scope of a marketing appointment and to require the plan to document it. That statutory footing is exactly why the SOA survived this rule while the 48-hour wait did not. CMS can adjust the timing. It cannot delete the requirement.

What signing an SOA does

• It limits the conversation to the product lines you checked. If you checked only Medicare Advantage, the agent is not supposed to pivot into a Medicare Supplement pitch, and certainly not into life insurance or annuities.
• It creates a record. The agent’s upline and CMS can audit it. If an agent sold you something outside the scope you agreed to, the form is the evidence.
• It must exist before the marketing conversation. Under 42 CFR 422.2274(c)(9)(ii), plans must maintain a system confirming that agents properly complete SOA records for all personal marketing appointments — including telephonic appointments and walk-ins.

What signing an SOA does not do

Two more things worth knowing, because agents rarely volunteer them.

You can limit it. The form has checkboxes precisely so you can leave some of them empty. If a plan’s dental and vision benefits are the only thing you want to hear about, you may say so. If you have a Medigap policy you are happy with and you do not want to be talked out of it, do not check the Medicare Supplement box. An agent who tells you that you have to check every box is wrong.

You can decline it entirely. Refusing to sign an SOA is not rude and it is not a mistake — it simply means the marketing appointment cannot proceed. That is a legitimate choice. It is also a useful test: an agent who reacts badly to “I would rather not sign today” has told you something about how they will behave later.

The 48-hour wait is gone — what that feels like

Here is the honest version of this change, including the part that argues against our own convenience.

Until October 1, 2026, an agent generally had to obtain your SOA at least 48 hours before sitting down with you. In practice, that meant a two-step process: a first contact where you agreed to meet and signed the form, then a gap, then the actual appointment. There were two exceptions — SOAs completed in the last four days of your election period, and walk-in meetings you initiated yourself. Both of those exceptions have been eliminated along with the waiting period itself, because they are no longer needed.

CMS’s reasoning, set out at 91 FR 17455, is that the 48-hour rule created “an unnecessary barrier to accessing important MA and Part D information” without “a quantifiable protection to the beneficiary.” The agency pointed to beneficiaries who live far from an agent, who lack transportation, or who simply wanted to compare several agents without building 48 hours of delay into each conversation. Those are real problems, and if you have ever tried to arrange two separate trips for what should have been one meeting, you will recognize them.

But be clear-eyed about what the 48 hours also did. It was, incidentally, a cooling-off period. It put two nights between the moment an agent had your attention and the moment they had your signature on an application. Some people used that time to call a daughter in Dallas, to look up whether their cardiologist was in network, or to notice that they did not actually want to switch plans. That automatic pause is gone.

One useful detail for families: CMS clarified in this rulemaking that a “small group” for SOA purposes means a limited number of people, generally related or living in the same household — a married couple, or a parent and an adult child who are both Medicare-eligible. A book club at someone’s house is not a small group, and an agent treating it as one is running a sales event under the wrong rules.

Superlatives and the new rules on advertising language

This is the change you will notice on television before you notice it anywhere else.

Since April 2023, a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan could not use a superlative in its marketing unless the material itself referenced the data or documentation behind the claim. That is why so many recent Medicare ads carried a line of small print citing a study. CMS has now deleted that paragraph — then codified at 42 CFR 422.2262(a)(1)(ii), with an identical Part D twin at 423.2262(a)(1)(ii) — entirely. One caution if you go look it up: striking that paragraph renumbered everything beneath it, so 422.2262(a)(1)(ii) today holds an unrelated rule about discriminatory recruiting. The superlative restriction is not moved. It is gone.

It would be easy, and wrong, to describe this as a free-for-all. The rule that replaced it is the opening sentence of the same regulation, which now reads: “MA organizations may not mislead, confuse, or provide materially inaccurate information to current or potential enrollees.” CMS’s position is that this general standard was always doing the real work, and that the superlative-specific paragraph was redundant.

What matters to you is how CMS says it will apply that standard. In the final rule the agency was unusually specific, and its examples are worth reading closely because they draw a line you can use yourself.

CMS said it would consider a claim like “we have the best supplemental benefits in Texas” to be misleading and confusing — because which benefits are best “are entirely subjective to the health needs of each beneficiary.” There is no data that could substantiate it. But CMS said a claim like “we have the most comprehensive dental benefits in Michigan” would be acceptable, provided the plan can factually support it “through data, surveys, studies, or other types of information, and when requested, the plan can provide that information to CMS.”

So the substantiation requirement did not disappear. It moved. Plans no longer have to show their work inside the advertisement, but they must still be able to produce it when CMS asks during a material review or a complaint investigation. The practical effect for you is that the small print vanishes from the ad while the obligation stays hidden behind it.

Two related limits survived untouched, and both are worth carrying into AEP with you.

The first concerns the word plans may not use to describe a plan with no monthly premium. Under 42 CFR 422.2262(a)(1)(xi), a plan still may not use that word for a zero-dollar premium, a premium reduction, a reduction in deductibles or cost sharing, or the low-income subsidy. The accurate phrase is “$0 premium,” and a $0 premium is not the same thing as a plan with no costs — you still owe your Part B premium, and you still have copays, coinsurance, and an out-of-pocket maximum. Our guide to how Medicare Advantage plans are structured walks through where those costs actually sit.

The second concerns testimonials. If an ad uses a paid endorser, it must say the person was paid. If an actor is portraying a situation, the ad must say it is an actor portrayal. And anyone shown endorsing a plan as a member must actually have been enrolled when the endorsement was made. Those requirements are all still in 42 CFR 422.2262(b).

There is one more piece of context that belongs here, because it will shape what the ads emphasize. CMS had proposed, in a separate provision, to prohibit plans from marketing the dollar value of supplemental benefits — the “$2,400 allowance” style of advertising. CMS decided not to finalize that prohibition. So the flashing dollar figures on your television are staying, and they remain one of the least reliable ways to judge whether a plan fits you.

Seminars and sales events may now share a room

Medicare marketing distinguishes between two kinds of gatherings, and the difference is not cosmetic.

An educational event must be advertised as educational and must be designed to inform you generally about Medicare. At an educational event, agents may not market specific plans or benefits, may not give a sales presentation, and may not distribute or accept enrollment applications. A marketing or sales event is where specific plans get pitched and applications may be taken.

From April 2023 until this October, a sales event could not take place within 12 hours of an educational event in the same location — meaning the whole building or adjacent buildings. The intent was to stop people from feeling trapped into staying for a pitch after attending a seminar.

That 12-hour rule is now gone. Under the amended 42 CFR 422.2264(c)(2)(i), a sales event may directly follow an educational event in the same room, on one condition: you must be “notified that the educational event is ending and a marketing event will begin shortly” and be “given a sufficient opportunity to leave” before it starts. CMS suggested a verbal announcement, or a clear notation on a printed schedule, and described a restroom or snack break as an example of a sufficient opportunity to leave.

Alongside it, CMS reversed a second restriction: agents may once again make available and collect Scope of Appointment forms at educational events, under 42 CFR 422.2264(c)(1)(ii)(D). Between 2023 and now, that was prohibited.

Two notices you will stop receiving

Two pieces of mail are being removed by this rule. Neither got much attention, and both were consumer-facing, so we are flagging them.

The Mid-Year Supplemental Benefits Notice. Under a rule finalized in 2024, Medicare Advantage plans had to send enrollees a personalized notice partway through the year listing the supplemental benefits they had not used — the dental allowance sitting untouched, the unclaimed over-the-counter credit. CMS has rescinded that requirement, removing 42 CFR 422.111(l) and 422.2267(e)(42). If you were counting on that letter to remind you what your plan includes, it is not coming. You will need to check your own benefits, or ask someone to check them with you.

The Notice of Availability of language assistance. This is the insert, formerly called the multi-language insert, that told you translated materials and interpreter services were available. CMS rescinded the Medicare-specific requirement at 42 CFR 422.2267(e)(31) to avoid duplicating civil-rights rules enforced elsewhere.

Read the second one carefully, because the underlying rights did not disappear with the notice. CMS stated explicitly that plans “must continue to provide interpreter services for non-English speaking and LEP individuals” at no cost to the caller, and that plans must still translate required materials into any language spoken by at least 5 percent of the people in a plan’s service area, under 42 CFR 422.2267(a)(2). In a county where a very large share of households speak a language other than English at home, that distinction matters: the flyer telling you about your rights is going away, but the rights are not. You may still ask your plan for materials in your language and for an interpreter, at no cost, and they must provide them.

The AEP calendar, which did not change

Amid all of this, the dates you actually have to act on are the same as they have always been. The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and coverage you choose during it begins January 1, 2027.

The two weeks between October 1 and October 15 are the part people misunderstand. Marketing is legal in that window; enrolling is not. So if someone calls you on October 5 insisting that you must act immediately, the calendar itself contradicts them. That fortnight is a good time to read your AEP pre-flight checklist, gather your prescriptions, and decide what you actually need — before the phone starts ringing in earnest.

A script for any agent who calls you

Because the friction is gone, more conversations will move quickly from hello to application. The counterweight is knowing what to ask. None of these questions are rude, and all of them are answerable in a sentence. An agent worth your time will answer them without hesitating.

If you would rather see how this works from the other side of the table, our guide on how to find a Medicare agent in Houston covers appointments, compensation, and the questions we think you should be asking us.

What is still against the rules

This is the section to keep. The October changes were real, but they were narrow — they loosened timing rules. The conduct rules that protect you from the worst behavior were not touched. Everything in the right-hand column below remains prohibited under 42 CFR 422.2264 and 422.2262, exactly as it was before.

The disclaimer you should listen for on a sales call

If a third-party marketing organization calls you — the entities that generate and route most Medicare leads — they must read you a disclaimer. As of October 1, the timing changed: it is no longer required within the first minute, but it must come before any benefits are discussed. The required wording, at 42 CFR 422.2267(e)(41), is: “We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent [number] organizations which offer [number] products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.”

Two things to notice. First, if you never hear a version of that sentence before someone starts describing benefits, the call is already out of compliance. Second, CMS removed the reference to State Health Insurance Assistance Programs from that required wording in this rule. The counseling programs still exist; they are simply no longer named in the script.

Sales and marketing calls are also still recorded and retained. Under the amended 42 CFR 422.2274(g)(2)(ii), all marketing and sales calls must be recorded in full and kept for six years — as audio for the first three years, and as audio or a complete and accurate transcript for years four through six. If you ever dispute what you were told on a call, a recording of it exists.

How to report a marketing violation

Start with a phone call to us at 832-400-6538. That is not us steering you away from anything — it is the fastest way to find out whether what happened to you was actually a violation, and to get the details written down while you still remember them. Most people who call us about a bad Medicare sales experience are not sure whether the agent broke a rule or simply behaved badly, and those two things lead to different places.

Before you report anything, write down what you can while it is fresh:

• The date and time of the call, visit or event, and the phone number that appeared on your caller ID.
• The agent’s name, the agency they said they worked for, and the carrier or plan they were pitching.
• Whether you had ever contacted them first, or returned a reply card, or given permission to be called. This is the fact that determines whether a call was unsolicited.
• Whether a Scope of Appointment was signed, when, and what boxes were checked.
• Anything you were told that turned out not to be true — a doctor said to be in network who was not, a drug said to be covered that was not.
• Whether anyone asked for your Medicare number, Social Security number, or bank details, and at what point in the conversation.

The formal channels themselves are worth knowing. Complaints about Medicare plan marketing are logged in CMS’s Complaints Tracking Module, and CMS stated in this rule that it shares complaint information with states under existing memorandums of understanding so that state licensing law can be enforced alongside the federal rules. In practice, that means a single complaint can reach both regulators.

There are three distinct places a Medicare marketing problem can go, and they are not interchangeable:

One caution about who you call back. If someone leaves a voicemail claiming to be from Medicare and asks you to return the call, do not use the number they left. Unsolicited voicemails about Medicare plans are themselves prohibited, so the message is evidence of a violation before it is anything else.

Frequently asked questions

This article explains federal Medicare marketing rules for Houston and Harris County residents. Wise Insurance Agency is an independent, Texas-licensed agency. We do not offer every plan available in your area; any information we provide is limited to the plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.