For agencies

AEP checklist for Medicare agencies

Written by a Medicare agent with 32 years in the field.

Annual enrollment is a volume problem, not a knowledge problem. This is the checklist an agency can actually run when the book is hundreds or thousands of drug lists deep.

Before the season

Clean the book: current email, mobile number, ZIP code, and pharmacy for every client.
Split the book by agent so nobody is chasing the same client twice.
Decide the one question you need from each client: their current medicine list.
Agree on a single place the team works from, so drug lists are not sitting in four inboxes.
Load the new plan year data and confirm the counties you serve are all covered.

Week one of enrollment

Upload the book and send every client their own secure page in one bulk send rather than calling for lists.
On that page, clients type medicines with exact drug-and-strength suggestions or snap a pill bottle, pharmacy statement, or handwritten note.
Watch delivery, opens, and completions instead of guessing who has responded.
Use the dashboard to find non-responders and follow up on your schedule.

As lists arrive

Price each list against every stand-alone Part D plan in that client's county.
Compare preferred retail, standard retail, and mail order in the same view.
Confirm tiers and restriction flags on any brand-name drug before recommending.
Send the client and the agent the same result, with a direct enrollment link for the recommended plan.

Triage the calls

Let clients who are comfortable enroll themselves on Medicare.gov from the green button.
Book calls only for clients who ask for help or whose result changed significantly.
Flag anyone whose cheapest plan is close to their current one — those need a conversation, not a switch.
Keep a queue of unfinished clients visible to the whole team until the season closes.

After the season

Save every comparison so the following year starts from last year's list, not a blank page.
Record who self-enrolled versus who needed a walkthrough, per agent.
Note the drugs that caused the most switches — they will do it again next year.
Compare staff hours spent against last season and decide next year's staffing from that number.

What automation removes from this list

One bulk send replaces hundreds of outbound calls asking for medicine lists.
On each private link, clients type medicines with exact drug-and-strength suggestions or snap a pill bottle, pharmacy statement, or handwritten note.
Six of the seven steps in the pipeline run without a person; the one human step is a short confirmation.
The clients who self-enroll never occupy a calendar slot, so the team's calls go to the ones who need them.

Important notice

PDP Automation is not a government website and is not Medicare.gov. Costs shown are estimates for comparison based on the official plan files loaded into the system. For every available plan, visit Medicare.gov, call 1-800-MEDICARE, or contact your local SHIIP or SHIP office.

Run your book through it before the season starts.

Start free

More reading: automating AEP drug plan reviews and cutting data-entry wages.

Start earlier with this guide to collecting client drug lists before AEP.