A call tracking plan for ACA open enrollment

Step 1: confirm the dates for your states

For the 2027 plan year, HealthCare.gov lists open enrollment as starting November 1, with December 15 as the deadline to enroll for a January 1 start, and January 15 as the last day of open enrollment. Coverage for enrollments between December 16 and January 15 begins February 1. Dates on the federal marketplace have been the subject of recent rule changes and litigation, so re-check HealthCare.gov and CMS announcements before you print anything.

State-based exchanges set their own dates. Some run longer or end at different points. If your agency serves clients in a state that runs its own exchange, look up that exchange’s dates and plan around each state separately. The overview of the segment is on the ACA health insurance page, and the shorter checklist is in the open enrollment call playbook.

Step 2: build the number plan

Decide before the first ad runs which sources you want to compare, then give each one a tracking number. A typical ACA plan:

• one number for paid search;
• one number for social ads;
• one number for direct mail or print, or one per drop if mail volume is high;
• one number for your website, mapped to landing pages by campaign through number insertion;
• one spare, for a source you have not thought of yet, such as a partner or event.

That is five numbers, or six with a second mail drop, so it fits the Growth plan (10 numbers). The Starter plan includes 3, and an extra number is $5 a month. A new account can hold up to 3 numbers during its first 30 days; an order for more is held for review. After that, the full count of its plan applies. Label each number by decision, such as “Google Ads · ACA”. The attribution guide explains why one landing page per campaign matters. Founding customers work through the number plan with us; see pricing. Numbers are not on sale yet. Create a free account and ask to be told when they are.

Step 3: staff for missed calls

Enrollment calls come in peaks: lunch hours, evenings after work, and the last week before each deadline. A missed call from a paid ad is money spent for nothing. VereTel logs missed calls too, and its desk can filter to missed calls only, so you have a list to work from.

• Name the person who checks the missed-call filter, and when: first thing, midday and close of business.
• Call back missed numbers the same day. Keep a note in your own system, since the desk is a read-only call log.
• Plan coverage for the days before December 15 and January 15, when volume rises.
• Remember that each number forwards to one line. There are no menus, no time-of-day routing and no overflow to a second line, so make sure the line you forward to can handle the load, for example a hunt group on your own phone system.

Step 4: size the minutes

Plans include a monthly minute allowance: Solo 250, Starter 1,000, Growth 3,000, Scale 7,500. Minutes above the allowance cost $0.06 each.

Example, with hypothetical numbers: suppose your agency expects 600 calls in a peak month and each averages 5 minutes, which is 3,000 minutes. That equals the Growth allowance. If it turned out to be 3,600 minutes, the extra 600 minutes would cost about $36. Replace these figures with your own call history from last season. The ROI calculator can help you test different volumes.

Enrollment months are heavy, so choose your plan for the busiest month. Billing is month to month, so you are not locked in; to change plans, talk to us.

Step 5: run a weekly review

Pick one weekday and one person. Bring the desk’s call list with the previous seven days selected.

1. Count calls per tracking number.
2. Count missed calls per number and as a share of the total.
3. Divide the week’s spend for each source by its calls. This is your cost per call.
4. Compare with your own enrollments from each source, taken from your enrollment records, not from VereTel.
5. Decide one change: move budget, change a landing page, add staff to a shift.

Weekly is fast enough to act during the season and slow enough to see a pattern. Test every number with a real call before launch.

What to check with an advisor

Marketing rules for Marketplace plans, including how you may advertise and how you obtain consent before contacting people, are set by CMS, your state and the carriers you represent. This guide does not cover them. VereTel does not record calls today, so call-recording rules do not arise from VereTel numbers. See the open enrollment campaigns use case for campaign planning.