Medicare Open Enrollment Sarts October 15 and CMS's Spanish Radio Script Is Still "Coming Soon": How Community Groups Can Make Spanish Audio Explainers With Text-to-Speech (2026)

1. The audio gap

Print and video are covered. A PDF is no use to someone who finds small print hard to read, who is more comfortable listening than reading, or who will only hear about enrollment on the radio, over a phone line or in a message forwarded by a relative. On the CMS Spanish page, the radio live script is marked as coming soon and no finished audio is listed. That is a gap, not a criticism: agencies publish text first, and local groups usually make the audio.

Text-to-speech fills that gap if you treat it as a delivery tool and not as an author. You supply the words. The voice only reads them.

2. Ground rules before you record anything

• Start from official text. Use CMS's Spanish materials, or a plan's own approved Spanish documents, as the source. Do not ask an AI tool to explain Medicare from scratch and then read that aloud.
• Explain, don't recommend. Audio can say what the enrollment window is, what the Annual Notice of Change is, and where to get free counselling. It should not tell a listener which plan to pick.
• If you sell plans, follow your compliance rules. Brokers and agents have marketing rules that apply to audio as much as to print. Have your compliance contact approve the script before it is voiced.
• Point to a person. Every clip should end with a way to reach 1-800-MEDICARE or a State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) counsellor, plus your own office hours.
• Say that the voice is synthetic if anyone asks, and consider saying it at the end of the longer clips. People who rely on a trusted community voice deserve to know.

3. Five short formats that work

Make the 30-second version first. It is the one a radio host, a church announcer or a clinic waiting room will actually use.

4. Write for the ear, in Spanish

A Spanish text written for print often has long sentences and stacked clauses. Audio needs shorter ones.

• One idea per sentence. If a sentence has two "que", split it.
• Dates in words. Write "del quince de octubre al siete de diciembre", not "15/10–7/12". The slash form can be read in the wrong order.
• Phone numbers in groups. Read digits in small groups with a pause between them. If a number includes letters, say the digits as well, and repeat the number once at the end.
• Keep official names stable. Use the same term every time, such as "Medicare Advantage" or "Parte D", and match what the listener will see on their letter.
• Repeat the one thing. The last line should repeat the date and the number. Listeners cannot scroll back.

An example opening, for review by your bilingual checker rather than for copying as it stands:

• "La Inscripción Abierta de Medicare va del quince de octubre al siete de diciembre."
• "Si ya tiene Medicare, esta es la época para revisar su cobertura del próximo año."
• "Para ayuda gratis, llame al programa de asesoría de su estado o a Medicare."

For how to make numbers and dates read correctly, see our number and date normalization pass.

5. Choose and test the voice

Spanish is not one accent. A voice that suits listeners from one region may sound foreign to another. Pick for your community, not for the demo.

1. Listen to several Spanish voices in the voice library and ask two or three people from your community which sounds right.
2. Test hard words. Run the plan names, "Parte C", "Parte D", "deducible", "copago" and any English product names through the voice. Fix anything odd with spelling or spacing, as in our guide to pronunciation fixes for names and acronyms.
3. Keep the pace calm. Many listeners will be older or hearing a lot of new terms. Slightly slower and with clear pauses beats a brisk read.
4. Level the clips. Radio, phone and speaker systems all want a steady volume. The free audio normalizer evens out a set of clips.

6. The human review step

This step is not optional. A machine voice will read a mistake as confidently as it reads a correct sentence.

• Bilingual reviewer. Someone fluent in the variety of Spanish your listeners use should read the script and then listen to the audio.
• Compare with the source. Dates, dollar amounts, program names and phone numbers must match the CMS or plan document exactly.
• Check tone. Official translations can sound stiff. If you change wording for warmth, make sure the meaning stays the same, and ask your compliance contact if you are a plan or broker.
• Date it. Keep a note of the source and the date you checked it. Rules and figures can change from year to year.

7. Where to play it

• Local radio and community stations. Ask the station what length and file type it accepts, and whether it requires a sponsor line.
• Phone lines. A menu option that plays a 60-second clip lets people hear it without a smartphone. See our guide to pre-recorded multilingual voice messages for how organizations handle that.
• Messaging apps. A short audio file is easy to forward in a family group.
• Waiting rooms and events. Loop the date spot on a small speaker at your table.
• Your own site. Add a play button above the written explainer.

If you already made English explainers, our enrollment explainer playbook and the Annual Notice of Change guide for families show the structure that can be translated and checked in Spanish.

8. FAQ

Medicare's annual Open Enrollment Period runs from October 15 to December 7. Check Medicare.gov for the current details and any changes.

CMS's Spanish materials page lists printed items and two short videos. As of its September 29, 2026 update, it lists a Spanish radio script as coming soon and does not list a finished audio file. Check the page for updates.

Yes, as a way to deliver text that has been checked against official sources. Do not use it to generate new advice, and have a bilingual reviewer approve the script and the audio.

Rules vary by platform and situation, and plans and brokers have their own compliance requirements. Being open about it is the safer practice.

Thirty seconds for the main date spot, up to a minute for a topic, and two to three minutes for a full explainer. Short clips are easier to place and easier to remember.