Medicare Supplement Leads: Why the Caller's Part B Date Matters More Than AEP

Buy Medicare supplement leads around each caller's Part B start date and current coverage, not around the autumn plan-switching season. A person's Medigap Open Enrollment Period is a one-time, 6-month window that starts in the first month they have Part B and are 65 or older. Inside it, an insurer cannot use medical underwriting or charge more for health problems. Outside it, the insurer can decline on health unless a guaranteed issue right applies. That single date decides how easy the sale is, so it belongs in the screen, in the billable rule and in the budget.

This guide is for Medicare agencies, call centers, FMOs and media operators who buy Medigap leads or calls, or generate them with Google and Meta.

Why does Medigap run on its own clock?

The October to December season is about people joining, switching or dropping Advantage and Part D drug plans. Medigap runs on a different clock. The 2026 Medicare guide "Choosing a Medigap Policy" says the Medigap Open Enrollment Period "doesn't repeat every year" and starts per person, when Part B and age 65 line up. Some states add extra open enrollment periods, including some for people under 65.

Two things follow for a buyer:

1. Medigap demand is spread across the year, because people turn 65 and start Part B every month.
2. A caller's value depends on where they sit relative to their own six months. A 65-year-old in month two of that window can buy any Medigap plan sold in their state with no health questions. A 72-year-old who wants to switch carriers may face underwriting and may be declined.

The plan-year calendar for Advantage callers is in our post on planning Medicare Advantage lead buying by season. Medigap needs its own plan, built on caller facts rather than dates on a calendar.

Which caller facts decide whether a Medigap sale is possible?

The Medicare guide lists situations where it is illegal to sell a Medigap policy, and situations where the buyer has guaranteed rights. Each one is a screening question. Ask it in the first minute of the call or on the form, before the agent spends time quoting.

| Caller fact | Why it matters | Screen question | |---|---|---| | Part B start month and age | Shows whether the one-time six months of guaranteed acceptance is still running | "What month did your Part B start?" | | In an Advantage plan | A Medigap policy can only be sold if the person is leaving that plan | "Are you in an Advantage plan now, and do you plan to leave it?" | | Holds a Medigap policy | A new one can only be sold if the person states in writing they will cancel the old one | "Do you have a Medicare supplement policy today?" | | Has Medicaid | Selling Medigap to someone with Medicaid is illegal except in limited situations | "Do you have Medicaid?" | | First eligible for Medicare before 2020 | Plans C and F are closed to people new to Medicare on or after January 1, 2020 | "When did you first become eligible for Medicare?" | | Coverage just ended through no fault of their own | May create a guaranteed issue right, often with a deadline of 63 days after coverage ends | "Has a supplement or plan you had ended recently, and when?" | | State | Plans, rules and extra rights vary by state, and the agent must be licensed there | "Which state do you live in?" |

None of these questions asks for medical detail. They sort callers into three groups: inside their six months or holding a guaranteed issue right, eligible but subject to underwriting, and not sellable today. Your sales process and your price per call should treat those groups differently.

This is not legal advice. Agree the exact screen with your compliance team and confirm state rules with the relevant state insurance department.

What should count as a billable Medigap lead or call?

Write the billable rule before the first invoice. For Medigap, a workable definition has five parts.

• Format. Inbound call, live transfer, exclusive form lead, shared form lead or aged record, each with its own test. A form lead needs a working number and a consent record that names your agency or a category that includes it. A call needs a minimum connected duration.
• Sellability screen. The caller is on Original Medicare or leaving an Advantage plan, does not hold a Medigap policy they intend to keep, and lives in a state your agents are licensed in. Records that fail these tests are returnable, provided the seller agreed that up front.
• Part B tag. The seller or media buyer records the Part B start month for every lead. Without it, you cannot tell whether a source delivers guaranteed-issue callers or underwriting cases.
• Duplicate rule. One payable call per caller inside an agreed number of days. Repeat callers are one of the spend leaks listed on our Google and Meta media buying page.
• Disputes. A fixed number of days to dispute, with credits applied before the next invoice.

For more on consent records and return reasons for year-round products, see the billable definition for life insurance leads. The same clauses apply to Medigap, with the sellability screen above added.

How do Google and Meta reach people turning 65?

Search and social find these callers in different ways, and the rules on each platform change how the qualifying gets done.

Google search reaches people typing a plan letter, a supplement question or a carrier comparison. Intent is visible in the query, so ad groups can be split by topic: plan letters, switching, and turning 65. The Medicare guide notes that the premium is the only difference between policies with the same plan letter from different companies, which is why rate comparison searches are common.

Meta requires the Financial products and services special ad category for insurance ads aimed at US audiences, from 14 January 2025. In that category the age setting is fixed at 18 to 65+, gender cannot be chosen, ZIP targeting is unavailable, the minimum radius is 15 miles and lookalike audiences are off (Meta developer documentation, checked 12 November 2026). A Medigap campaign on Meta cannot narrow delivery to people aged 64 to 66. The creative, the form questions and the landing page have to do the qualifying, starting with the Part B month.

Copy rules. The Medicare guide lists claims that are illegal when selling Medigap: saying a Medigap policy is part of Medicare or any other federal program, calling an Advantage plan a Medigap policy, suggesting government approval, or misusing the names or symbols of HHS, SSA or CMS. Ads and landing pages should avoid anything that reads that way. Our verticals page applies the same principle to ACA work: ads must not imply government affiliation.

A worked example: two sources, same call count

Hypothetical numbers. Not client data, not vendor pricing.

A buyer takes 120 paid calls from each of two sources in a month. Every call met the duration rule, so every call was billed. The question is how many were sellable.

| Line | Source A | Source B | |---|---|---| | Paid calls | 120 at $55 = $6,600 | 120 at $40 = $4,800 | | In an Advantage plan, not leaving | 14 | 38 | | Keeping an existing Medigap policy | 6 | 9 | | On Medicaid | 4 | 7 | | Sellable calls | 120 minus 24 = 96 | 120 minus 54 = 66 | | Cost per sellable call | $6,600 ÷ 96 = $68.75 | $4,800 ÷ 66, about $72.73 | | Policies sold | 14 | 7 | | Cost per sale | $6,600 ÷ 14, about $471 | $4,800 ÷ 7, about $686 |

Source B looked $15 cheaper per call and cost about $215 more per sale. In this invented case, many of Source B's callers were Advantage members with no plan to leave, which suggests its ads or form were reaching the wrong part of the over-65 audience. Two fixes are possible: make those callers returnable in the contract, or rewrite the screen and the creative so they stop calling. The Part B month tag then shows which sellable calls came inside guaranteed acceptance, where underwriting cannot block the sale.

What does search interest show?

Google Trends, US web search, checked 13 November 2026, shows "medicare supplement leads" as too sparse to chart on its own over 12 months or 5 years. Sparse is not the same as zero. Among the top related queries for the broader Medicare lead term over 12 months, it ranked third at 26, behind "medicare insurance leads" (100) and the Advantage version (55), and ahead of "turning 65 medicare leads" (14). The yearly high point for the broader term fell in April in 2022, August in 2025 and May in 2026, outside the autumn season. These are relative index values, not search volumes, and they do not show why people searched. They fit a picture of Medigap buying as a year-round job tied to individual dates.

How we run Medicare calls

Our insurance verticals page lists Medigap calls alongside Advantage and Part D, and gives each vertical its own definition of a call that pays. We run Google and Meta campaigns for insurance call buyers, keep spend inside the states and hours your agents can take calls, and report every week on profit per paid call rather than clicks. The performance marketing service page covers the wider offer.

The reporting side is described in the media ROI automation case study. There, a Make.com automation fetches spend from each ad platform and Ringba call revenue on a 15-minute cycle, and the team stopped spending about three hours a day assembling ROI reports by hand. For Medigap, the useful addition to that kind of report is the Part B month tag, so profit can be read by eligibility status as well as by source.

If you want a second opinion on your Medigap screen, the Part B tag and the return rules before spending more, book a campaign review. Commercial details are covered on that call.

Frequently asked questions

Are Medicare supplement leads seasonal?

Less than Advantage leads. Each person's Medigap six months start when they have Part B and are 65 or older, so new eligible buyers appear every month. The autumn season can still change the mix, because some callers are choosing between an Advantage plan and Original Medicare with a supplement.

Can an agent sell Medigap to someone in an Advantage plan?

Only if the person is leaving that plan. The Medicare guide says the person can apply before the Advantage coverage ends and should ask for the Medigap policy to start when that coverage ends.

Should calls from people past their first six months be paid for?

That is a commercial decision for the contract. Those callers can still buy, but the insurer may decline them on health. Many buyers pay for them at a different rate or tag them separately, so the weekly report shows their cost per sale on its own.

Can a Meta campaign target only people turning 65?

No. Under Meta's Financial products and services special ad category, the age range is fixed at 18 to 65+. Qualifying has to happen in the ad copy, the form and the call screen.

Sources and dates

• Medicare.gov, "Choosing a Medigap Policy" (2026 guide), checked 13 Nov 2026: https://www.medicare.gov/publications/02110-choosing-a-medigap-policy.pdf
• Meta for Developers, Special Ad Categories, checked 12 Nov 2026: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/marketing-api/audiences/special-ad-category/
• Google Trends, US web search, 12 months, "final expense leads", "medicare supplement leads", "medicare leads", "aca leads", "insurance leads", checked 13 Nov 2026: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%2012-m&geo=US&q=final%20expense%20leads,medicare%20supplement%20leads,medicare%20leads,aca%20leads,insurance%20leads&hl=en-US
• Google Trends, US web search, 5 years, same terms without "aca leads", checked 13 Nov 2026: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=final%20expense%20leads,medicare%20supplement%20leads,medicare%20leads,insurance%20leads&hl=en-US