Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D call centers are currently on the threshold of their most critical compliance window: the CMS Call Center Monitoring Study. Starting in February, CMS begins its annual "secret shopper" campaign, placing thousands of test calls to evaluate how effectively plans communicate with your prospective beneficiaries.
CMS specifically evaluates your ability to connect a limited-English-proficient (LEP) caller to a professional interpreter and accurately convey complex benefit information through that linguist.
The results of these test calls feed directly into your Star Ratings, which carry immense financial and competitive weight:
Quality Bonus Payments (QBPs): CMS estimated a staggering $12.7 billion in bonus payments for 2025. For 2026, plans rated 4 stars or higher will continue to secure these vital funds.
Marketability: A 5-star rating earns you the "High Performing" icon on Medicare Plan Finder, granting your plan a year-round Special Enrollment Period (SEP).
Compliance: Failing to meet accessibility thresholds (historically a score of 75% or higher) can trigger corrective action from CMS.
To help you protect your revenue and your reputation, we have outlined the pathway to success in our Free CMS Strategy eBook.
CMS measures the time it takes to get an interpreter on the line, requiring connection and the answer to an introductory question within 8 minutes. Use a dedicated CMS line that provides prioritized access to a LanguageLine Certified Interpreter in the tested languages: Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, French, and Tagalog.
A streamlined IVR call tree in the six tested languages, plus an option for “all other languages,” empowers your agents to connect to the right interpreter without delay. This reduces the risk of misrouting, which is a common cause of test-call failure.
An interpreter is most effective when they have the "cheat sheet." Share your plan-specific job aids, plan names, and benefit descriptions with your language partner. This ensures the linguist is already familiar with your specific terminology before the call begins.
Working with an interpreter is a learned skill. Because the interpreter needs time to translate, your agents should:
Speak in short sentences and pause to allow the interpreter to capture and relay the information.
Avoid jargon and slang that is difficult to translate into other languages.
Talk directly to the caller, not the interpreter (e.g., say "How can I help you?" instead of "Ask him how I can help").
Compliance is not a "set it and forget it" task. Regular “Touch Base” meetings with your dedicated Account Executive support ongoing collaboration, faster issue resolution, and reduced risk—directly improving service for callers with LEP.
Download our Free CMS Strategy eBook
We don’t just provide an interpreter; we provide an audit-ready infrastructure. LanguageLine serves as your strategic consultant, helping you build a repeatable system that holds up under federal scrutiny.
Practical Support:
Unmatched Scale: We handle spikes in volume during the test season, ensuring a "busy" signal never compromises your accessibility score.
CMS-Trained Interpreters: Our linguists are trained specifically in Medicare terminology, ensuring accuracy remains high during complex benefit explanations.
Frictionless Access: We provide the one-touch technology needed to meet and exceed CMS's rigorous time-to-connection requirements.
Strategic Partnership: We go beyond the call. We consult on your IVR call flows, help refine your CSR training, and provide the "pattern recognition" that comes from supporting the nation’s top-performing health plans.
Download our Free CMS Strategy eBook
The window is opening soon, and the competition for those $12.7 billion in bonus payments is fierce. Don't leave your Star Ratings to chance.
Download our Free CMS Strategy eBook to discover our full Methodology for 5-Star Success and stay informed on the evolving regulatory landscape for 2026 and beyond.