Can Medicare Agents Sell Annuities?

Yes — with a life insurance license. But most Medicare agents who add annuity income to their business never learn to sell an annuity at all. They add one review to the service they already provide, make an introduction, and a specialist handles the rest. They are paid a share of the commission when a client buys — and nothing when one doesn't.

This guide covers the one compliance rule that matters, what you need before you can be paid, what the job actually is, and what it pays.

The Short Answer

Yes. A Medicare agent with a life insurance license can be paid on annuity business — without becoming an annuity seller. Through RAMP (Reducing Annual Medicare Penalties), the job is three steps: serve your Medicare client, schedule a Retirement Income Review, and send one warm introduction email. A Retirement Income Specialist conducts the review and handles any appropriate retirement-income work.

The One Rule That Matters

CMS prohibits marketing non-health products — including annuities — during a Medicare Advantage or Part D sales appointment governed by a Scope of Appointment. Schedule the Retirement Income Review outside any such appointment, as its own appointment. Never promise to eliminate IRMAA or guarantee savings.

What You Need

Your life insurance license. You cannot be paid on annuity business without it, and we won't pretend otherwise. Many states issue a combined Life and Health license — if yours does, you already have it. Most states also require a short annuity suitability training course before you can be paid on an annuity sale.

Carrier appointments — handled just in time. You don't contract with sixty carriers before you begin. When a case is ready, you get appointed with the one carrier that case needs. Nothing to do up front.

What you don't need: annuity product knowledge. Case design skills. A single hour of sales training. You are not learning to sell annuities — you're adding one review to the service you already provide.

Why Your Medicare Clients Are the Right Clients

The overlap between Medicare clients and annuity prospects is not a coincidence — it is structural. Your Medicare clients are typically retirees or near-retirees with accumulated savings, fixed income concerns, and tax exposure they may not fully understand.

What Is IRMAA and Why Does It Matter?

IRMAA stands for Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount. It is a surcharge added to Medicare Part B and Part D premiums for individuals whose income exceeds certain thresholds. Approximately 5 million Americans currently pay IRMAA. The surcharge can range from a few hundred to over $6,000 per year per individual.

IRMAA is calculated based on Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) from two years prior. For many retirees, IRA withdrawals and other taxable income push them into IRMAA brackets unnecessarily — and they have no idea it can be reduced. That is what a Retirement Income Review looks at, and why it belongs in the service you already provide.

The Retirement Income Review

At the end of the Medicare conversation, say this word for word:

Don't soften it. Never "Would you be interested…?" or "Would you like…?" You are stating the next step in serving them. The only question you ask: daytime or evening?

1. Serve your Medicare client. Nothing changes about what you already do.
2. Schedule the Retirement Income Review. Make it part of the process. Use the script.
3. Send the warm introduction email to your Specialist and your client, right after you schedule.

Your Retirement Income Specialist conducts the review — and handles any appropriate retirement-income work.

Who Handles Suitability

The Retirement Income Specialist conducts the review, gathers the facts, makes any recommendation, and documents the suitability analysis behind it. Your part is the introduction — you are not recommending a product, which is why you don't need to be able to evaluate one.

What You Earn

20% of street — paid when the client buys. You are paid on the sale, not on the appointment. If the Retirement Income Review leads to an annuity your client purchases, you earn 20% of the street commission on it. If it doesn't, no one is paid — not you, not the Specialist.

What 20% means in dollars. About 70% of the annuity business written through Annuity.com is fixed indexed annuities (FIAs). The average FIA pays 5–7% in street commission, and our average FIA is about $150,000 — roughly $7,500 to $10,500 in street commission on an average case. Your 20% of that is about $1,500 to $2,100, paid when the client buys.

Illustration based on company averages. It is not a projection or guarantee of earnings; commission rates and case sizes vary by product, carrier and state.

That's exactly why you can offer the review as a genuine service. Nobody earns anything unless something turns out to be right for your client — so there's no reason to push, and your client has no reason to wonder.

When it does close, you didn't source the lead, buy it, design the case, or sit the closing appointment. If you later want more of the case, the Team Selling Pathway runs five stages, each worth another 20% of street, up to running the appointment yourself at 100%. Most Medicare agents stay at stage one. That's a legitimate place to stay.

The Bottom Line

You don't have to learn to sell annuities to add annuity income to your Medicare business. Schedule the Retirement Income Review, send one email, and let a Retirement Income Specialist do the rest. You're paid 20% of the street commission when a client buys — and nothing when one doesn't.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I get paid for the appointment?

No. You're paid only if your client purchases an annuity following the Retirement Income Review — 20% of the street commission on that sale. There is no payment for setting the appointment, for making the introduction, or for the review itself. If nothing is appropriate for your client, nothing is sold and no one is paid.

Do I need carrier appointments?

Yes, but not before you start. Appointments are handled just in time — when a case is ready, you're appointed with the carrier that case needs. You won't spend your first weeks filling out contracting paperwork for sixty carriers you may never write.

Can Medicare agents sell annuities to their existing clients?

Yes. A Life Insurance license — which many Medicare agents already hold — covers fixed annuity sales in most states. The primary compliance requirement is that annuity discussions must occur in a separate appointment from any Medicare Advantage or Part D enrollment meeting, with separate Scope of Appointment documentation.

Will selling annuities affect my Medicare carrier appointments?

Not if done correctly. The risk to Medicare carrier appointments comes specifically from discussing annuities during a Medicare enrollment appointment governed by a Scope of Appointment. Annuity conversations in a properly documented separate appointment do not violate CMS guidelines.

How do I raise this without it feeling like a pitch?

You don't raise annuities at all. You schedule a Retirement Income Review — a look at whether retirement-income decisions could raise what your client pays for Medicare in future years. The Retirement Income Specialist conducts it, and nothing is recommended unless it is right for your client.

Do I need to become an annuity expert before I can start?

No. You serve your Medicare client, schedule the Retirement Income Review and send one email. A Retirement Income Specialist conducts the review, designs the case, makes any recommendation and documents the suitability analysis behind it. If you later want more of the case, the Team Selling Pathway lets you take it on in stages.