Medicare AEP 2026
Medicare AEP Direct Mail Services
Print and mail production for Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, FMOs, agencies, and brokers that mail during the Annual Enrollment Period: data work, variable printing, letters and postcards, and direct USPS entry on confirmed drop schedules from one Lakeland, Florida facility.
The short answer
What Is Medicare AEP Direct Mail?
Medicare AEP direct mail is the printed outreach that Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, FMOs, agencies, and brokers send during the Annual Enrollment Period, which runs October 15 to December 7 every year with coverage taking effect January 1. During that window nearly every carrier and agency in a market competes for the same mailboxes, so production timing and postal entry matter as much as the offer. A production partner supplies the mechanics behind the campaign: list preparation and suppression, variable data printing, letters and postcards, presort, and USPS entry on a confirmed drop schedule. Mail Processing Associates runs that production from a single HIPAA-compliant, SOC 2 Type 2 certified facility in Lakeland, Florida, where we have printed and mailed for organizations in all 50 states since 1989.
In plain terms: you bring approved creative and a data file, and we turn them into delivered mail on the dates the season demands. The sections below cover the 2026 calendar, the formats we produce, the data work behind targeting, and the compliance posture that lets a plan or agency clear MPA as a production vendor quickly.
The production calendar
The 2026 AEP Mail Calendar
The 2026 AEP opens October 15, 2026 and closes December 7, 2026, with enrollments taking effect January 1 for the 2027 plan year. What follows is the production calendar MPA recommends for hitting that window, not a restatement of CMS rules: your compliance calendar governs what can mail when, and this schedule makes sure production is never the reason you miss it.
Early September
Creative locked
Final approved artwork and disclaimers are in hand, sized and formatted for print. Late creative is the single most common reason an AEP campaign misses its first in-home window.
Late September
Data files finalized
Lists are delivered, cleaned, suppressed, and locked. NCOA and CASS processing runs, undeliverable records come out, and final counts are confirmed for postage.
October 1
CMS marketing begins
CMS permits marketing for the upcoming plan year to begin October 1. Awareness pieces can start dropping, and first-wave AEP production is already on press.
Week of October 15
AEP opens, first waves in-home
The Annual Enrollment Period opens October 15. First waves land in mailboxes that week, timed through direct USPS entry from our own Business Mail Entry Unit.
November
Sustained drops
Follow-up waves, seminar invitations, and second-touch letters mail on a steady cadence while beneficiaries are actively comparing plans.
December 7
AEP closes
Enrollment ends December 7 and elections take effect January 1. Final-notice pieces need enough runway in the mailbox to drive a response before the deadline.
Production itself is fast once files are approved: most jobs move through our facility in 3 to 5 business days, and 5 to 7 for Marketing Mail volume. The calendar above is about reserving press time and locking inputs early, so every wave mails on the date we confirmed rather than the date the season allows.
Two waves beat one. Response compounds across the season, so the campaigns that win November send a second and third touch to the same audience instead of one oversized October drop. We schedule multi-wave programs as a single production plan, with print, data work, and postage handling priced across the full season.
Campaign formats
What We Mail During AEP
Every format prints and mails under one roof on production Xerox presses: Iridesse for color work, Nuvera for black-and-white volume. Format choice follows a simple rule: anything touching PHI or member-specific data mails in an envelope, and postcards never carry PHI.
Prospecting postcards and self-mailers
Non-PHI acquisition pieces built for reach: plan-awareness postcards, oversized self-mailers, and seminar drivers. Messaging stays generic to the market, while the recipient's name and county personalize the piece where your rules allow it.
AEP announcement and plan-highlight letters
Letters in envelopes for anything member-specific: plan-change announcements, benefit-highlight letters, and agent introduction letters. The envelope protects the data and earns more reading time from an audience that still opens its mail.
T65 age-in birthday programs
Turning-65 campaigns run year-round and are not bound to the AEP window. We mail monthly T65 waves triggered by age-in dates, so a prospect hears from you during their own initial enrollment window instead of inside the October pile.
Member communications
Statement-class production for the operational side of the season: required member notices, onboarding letters, and welcome kits, run under the same HIPAA controls as our statement printing work, with read-and-match integrity on every envelope.
Event and seminar invitations
Invitation packages for educational events and enrollment seminars, with RSVP tracking built in. QR codes are available on every format, so seminar interest is measurable by mail wave, county, and drop date.
Press time for the season is reserved in September
Formats stay flexible until the season starts. The drop dates do not. Tell us your format and quantity and we hold your window.
Request an AEP Mail QuoteThe data layer
Targeting and Data
AEP response is won at the data layer before a single sheet prints. We prepare, clean, and personalize from your data file; you keep ownership and control of the audience and the suppression rules. Bring your own file, license a list through our data team, or combine both sources in one campaign.
Request an AEP Mail QuoteData work we run for AEP campaigns
- T65 age-in selects. Monthly turning-65 lists pulled by birth date, county, and ZIP, so age-in mail lands inside each prospect's own enrollment window.
- Geographic and demographic selects. County, ZIP, age band, income, and household selects sized to your service area and plan footprint.
- Dual-eligible outreach lists. List work for dual-eligible campaigns where your compliance rules permit them, with suppressions applied before anything prints.
- Suppression and NCOA hygiene. NCOA processing runs at approximately a 94% match rate, and cleaned lists reach about 98.5% deliverability, so postage is not spent on movers and vacancies.
- CASS certification. Address standardization that qualifies the run for automation presort and keeps the per-piece number down.
- VDP personalization. Variable data printing merges name, plan, agent, and county-level offers from your file, and our data services team handles the processing end to end.
Who owns what
Compliance Posture
The dividing line is simple. Your compliance team approves creative and disclaimers. MPA handles data, print, mail, and postal logistics.
A production vendor, not a TPMO
MPA does not write plan messaging, does not give enrollment or plan-selection advice, and never promises CMS approval of a piece. What we commit to is production: the approved file you send is the piece that mails, on the schedule we confirmed.
HIPAA business associate
MPA is HIPAA compliant and operates as a HIPAA business associate when a campaign involves protected health information. Files move over secure transfer, access is limited to trained members of our team, and data is handled under documented controls from intake through destruction.
SOC 2 Type 2 certified
MPA is SOC 2 Type 2 certified, with controls observed operating over an audit period rather than designed on paper. The report is available for your security review under NDA.
Format follows the data: pieces carrying PHI or member-specific detail mail in envelopes, and postcards never carry PHI. MPA is also a Florida State Mail Contract holder, a production credential earned through state procurement review, and the documented controls behind that credential are the same ones your vendor assessment will see.
Documentation is ready before your vendor review asks for it: a business associate agreement executed before any PHI moves, the SOC 2 Type 2 report under NDA, and our secure file transfer specification. Reviews tend to clear quickly because the paperwork already exists for regulated mail work; nothing is assembled after the fact.
Florida positioning
Why Florida Plans and Agencies Use MPA
Florida has one of the largest Medicare-eligible populations in the country, and its center of gravity sits along the I-4 corridor. MPA produces AEP mail in Lakeland, between Tampa and Orlando, and hands it to USPS directly. The same schedule discipline covers South Florida markets and out-of-state drops: one facility, one production plan, one accountable team.
Request an AEP Mail QuoteThe logistics case
- I-4 corridor position. Lakeland sits between Tampa and Orlando, in the middle of Central Florida's heaviest Medicare counties.
- Direct USPS entry. Mail enters the postal stream through our own Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU), which typically improves in-home dates by 1 to 2 days compared with mail that takes extra handling steps.
- Tampa P&DC access. Tampa Bay drops enter at the Tampa Processing and Distribution Center, keeping Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco in-home dates on schedule. See our Tampa direct mail page for the west coast logistics.
- All 50 states from one facility. A Florida-based plan or FMO can run its national footprint through the same production line and the same account contact.
- Credentials that clear review. Veteran-Owned Small Business, Florida State Mail Contract holder, and 5.0 stars across 100+ verified Google reviews.
AEP mail FAQ
Medicare AEP Direct Mail Questions
The questions plan marketers, FMO program leads, and agency owners ask before committing an AEP budget to mail.
When should AEP mail be in production?+
Creative should be locked by early September and data files finalized by late September, so first waves are in-home the week of October 15 when the Annual Enrollment Period opens. MPA confirms the production and drop schedule in writing with your quote, then holds those dates through the season.
Can you personalize each piece?+
Yes. Variable data printing merges your data file into the approved artwork, so each piece can carry the recipient's name, plan detail, agent or broker contact, and county-level offer. Every piece in the run can be unique without slowing production.
How is PHI handled?+
MPA is HIPAA compliant and operates as a HIPAA business associate when a campaign involves protected health information. PHI-bearing pieces mail in envelopes, never on postcards, and data moves through secure transfer with SOC 2 Type 2 controls and access limited to trained members of our team.
Do you work with agencies and FMOs or only carriers?+
All three, plus local brokerages. We produce AEP campaigns for Medicare Advantage and Part D carriers, for FMOs coordinating drops across multiple agencies, and for independent agencies and brokers, at volumes from a few thousand pieces to full-market drops.
Can you mail outside Florida?+
Yes. MPA mails to all 50 states from one Lakeland, Florida facility, with direct USPS entry through our own Business Mail Entry Unit and confirmed drop schedules for multi-state AEP campaigns.
What does AEP direct mail cost?+
Every campaign is quoted all-in per piece at your volume's presort tier: print, data work, addressing, and postage handling in one number. Use the quote form on this page or call (863) 687-6945 with your format and quantity.
Ready for the season?
Lock your AEP production window.
Press time in September and October is finite, and the plans that mail on October 15 reserved it early. Send your format and quantity through this form and our team returns an all-in per-piece quote with a confirmed drop schedule.
- Built for the AEP window. Confirmed drop schedules from creative lock in September through the December 7 close, with press time reserved before the season starts.
- Compliance-aware production. You approve creative and disclaimers. We handle data, print, mail, and postal logistics, and PHI never mails on a postcard.
Prefer to talk it through? Call (863) 687-6945.
We got your request
Request received. Our team will reply with your AEP mail quote within one business day.
Need to move fast? Call (863) 687-6945.
Veteran-Owned | Florida State Mail Contract Holder | 35 Years of Regulated Mail Production | SOC 2 Type 2 | HIPAA Compliant