Per the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a valid scope of appointment (SOA) is required for all Medicare Advantage applications and must be kept on file for at least 10 years.
A new Cigna Medicare Advantage policy goes into effect on July 1, 2020, and paper scopes of appointment will no longer be required to be submitted along with applications. While we no longer require the SOA with the submitted paper app, Cigna encourages you as the agent to complete your SOA form compliantly and to store and maintain those files for 10 years, but we will no longer require a paper SOA to be submitted along with the application.
If an agent chooses to include a paper SOA with a new application, the agent will receive a receipt confirming that the SOA was included. If an agent chooses to forego the SOA inclusion, an email will be sent stating that no SOA was provided and reminding the agent of CMS requirement to store and maintain in file for ten years.
While we are no longer requiring agents to submit SOAs with applications, we want to help you to stay in compliance with CMS conditions. Our team will continue to monitor scope submissions, and quarterly, we will request a small percentage of SOAs for auditing purposes and to simply remind agents of the CMS requirement. The inability to provide a valid SOA on request may lead to a Sales Disciplinary Action Plan (SDAP).
Please reach out to CARL or your local broker sales representative if you have any questions or for more information on this policy change. We are always listening to our agent partners and welcome your thoughts on how we can make it easier for you.
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