Submitting Marketing Materials

Created

Dec 18, 2024 7:48 PM

Marketing vs. Communication Material

Marketing- any material that mentions any benefit will be considered marketing. (e.g. dental, vision, cost-savings, and/or hearing services) as well as any mention of star ratings. All agent/agency created Marketing Materials must be submitted to Spark for a Compliance Review. In addition, all Marketing Materials must be submitted to a carrier and CMS for approval prior to use. Spark Compliance will assist in filing materials with a carreir and CMS.

Communication- are educational and informational in nature. They provide general information about Medicare and coverage options. This could be explaining the Parts of Medicare, or telling the prospect the services you offer. All agent/agency created Marketing Materials must be submitted to Spark for a Compliance Review and approval prior to use.

Checklist for submitting materials for review

When submitting materials, check the following items in the checklist below.

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Submit documents for compliance approval

Is the material Marketing or Communication?

For Marketing Material- read and follow the guidelines in the Marketing Material Requirements Guide below prior to submitting your marketing material for Spark Compliance Review.

Marketing Materials Requirements Guide.pdf111.5KB

For Communication Material- including a Lead Generation Form (BRC/PTC), read and follow the guidelines in the Communication Materials Requirements Guide below prior to submitting to Spark for compliance review.

Communication Materials Guidelines.pdf161.1KB

You MUST use compliant agent titles- Compliant agent titles are: Licensed Insurance Agent, Licensed Sales Agent, Licensed Sales Representative, Sales Agent, and Sales Representative.

Check that your material has the correct disclaimer- See one of the guides above.

Materials that include a phone number should clearly indicate that calling the agent number will direct an individual to a licensed sales agent. Immediately prior to including the agency’s number or any number that will reach a sales agent, state that the number will dial a "licensed sales agent" or “licensed insurance agent”. Use this statement when listing a number that dials a licensed sales agent directly. “Calling this number will connect you to a licensed insurance agent.”

State Specific Information

California materials only- your license # is included on the piece

Anyone planning to sell in Florida- your company name cannot have the words “Medicare” in it. You may use it in other states, but you will be at risk of states changing their rules in the future to disallow “Medicare”. We recommend renaming your company and using DBAs (doing-business-as) where appropriate.