Before recommending that an applicant purchase a Medicare supplement policy, a Massachusetts producer must make reasonable efforts to determine:

Why A is correct

211 CMR 71.15 imposes an appropriateness standard on recommended Medicare supplement purchases in Massachusetts. The producer must make reasonable efforts to learn the applicant's existing coverage and circumstances so the recommendation fits the applicant's actual needs — including determining whether the proposed policy would merely duplicate coverage the applicant already holds. Selling without that inquiry invites the excessive-insurance problem the Massachusetts Division of Insurance designed the rule to prevent.

Why the other options are wrong

• B) Political and community affiliations are irrelevant to the appropriateness inquiry under 211 CMR 71.15.
• C) The consent of an applicant's other insurers plays no role in the appropriateness analysis; the focus is the applicant's needs and existing coverage.
• D) Willingness to replace all existing coverage is the opposite of the inquiry; the rule demands an assessment of whether the sale fits, not a push toward wholesale replacement.

Memory hook

Suitability check first: no sale without asking what the applicant already has.