OEP Retention & Expansion: The Member Services Strategy That Keeps Members Enrolled
Why your January call center decides your March retention rate, and how to staff for it.
Thursday,
September 17, 2026
10:00 a.m. PT (1:00, p.m., ET)
30 minutes, plus 15 minutes of live Q & A
First-quarter member services performance decides Medicare OEP and ACA retention, because members can switch from January through March and new plan year changes drive emotional calls. The team most likely to keep a member in February is the continuous, bicultural team that enrolled them in October, not a seasonal hire. This webinar covers the retention math and the staffing behind it.
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Why the First Quarter Decides Retention
The most expensive month of the plan year is January, and most plans staff it with the least experienced team, which they will keep all season. The Medicare Advantage OEP lets members switch from January through March. ACA effectuation drives its own wave, and new plan year formulary and network changes turn routine calls into emotional, high-stakes ones.
Whether a member stays often hinges on the first few minutes of a single call: whether the professional understands the issue, handles it with empathy, and resolves it on the first try. A member lost in the first quarter is the most expensive kind of loss because they were already enrolled and acquired, yet walked out over a conversation that could have gone differently.
The team most likely to retain a member in February is the one that enrolled them in October.
What You Will Learn
How to turn the first quarter from a cost-containment window into a revenue-protection window.
Why January is the highest-risk month
How the Medicare OEP, ACA effectuation, and new plan-year changes combine to create the hardest calls of the year.
The retention math
What a single point of first-quarter retention is worth across a book, and why a March loss is the most expensive.
The highest-risk call
What a formulary, network, or subsidy change call requires and why the first few minutes determine whether the member stays.
Why continuity is the lever
How the team that enrolled a member in October and prepared in December wins the February save call that a seasonal hire cannot.
From bilingual to bicultural
What changes on the save call when the professional understands the cultural context, not just the words, and why that affects retention and the rating?
Agenda and Who Should Attend
Why the first quarter determines retention.
The OEP and ACA calendar and the new plan-year changes that drive the calls.
The highest-risk calls and what they need.
First-call resolution, empathy, and the authority to resolve them.
Continuity and the December pivot.
How a dedicated team prepares for January before the calls come in.
Bicultural service on the save call.
Embedded cultural fluency and what it protects, on the phone and across channels.
Live Q&A. Bring your first-quarter retention questions.
Who should attend:
VPs of Member Services, Directors of Member Retention, VPs of Customer Experience, and chief operating officers at Medicare Advantage and ACA plans are accountable for first-quarter retention and member-experience outcomes.
What you will walk away with:
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A first-quarter retention model that treats January as a revenue-protection window rather than a cost-containment one.
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The continuity and bicultural staffing approach underpinning the highest-stakes save calls.
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The leading Q1 metrics that predict the March retention number are available while there is still time to act.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is January the riskiest month for retention?
The Medicare Advantage OEP runs from January 1 to March 31, allowing members to switch plans. New plan-year formulary and network changes trigger emotional, high-stakes calls. The first quarter is also the CAHPS survey window, so the same calls shape the rating.
What is a one-point retention improvement worth?
Across a sizable book, the per-member-per-month revenue difference is material because retained members carry value throughout the rest of the plan year. On a 50,000-member book, one point equals 500 members.
What is the difference between bilingual and bicultural service?
Bilingual means conducting the call in two languages. Bicultural also means understanding the cultural context, family dynamics, and the tone the conversation requires, which most often determines whether a call is an emotional retention call.
When and where is the webinar?
It is Thursday, September 17, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. PT and will be held online. A replay will be sent to all registrants, so you can watch it on demand if you cannot attend live.
Is there a cost to attend?
No. The session is complimentary, and registration also provides access to the on-demand replay.