New York regulates insurance through the same agency that regulates banks, which tells you something about how this market treats paperwork. For a call buyer it is simpler than it looks: one time zone, one-party recording consent, and a health exchange the state runs itself.
The Department of Financial Services
New York's insurance regulator is the Department of Financial Services, DFS for short, at dfs.ny.gov. It was created in 2011 by merging the old Insurance Department and Banking Department into a single agency, so a producer license and a bank charter now come out of the same place.
The practical note is a search term. There has been no New York Department of Insurance since 2011, and that name still circulates in agent forums and old training decks. Go to DFS. It handles producer licensing, company licensing, consumer complaints and market conduct, and you need an active New York license, resident or nonresident, with the right line of authority before you take calls on a product you plan to write here.
Working the New York market
Callmart runs national campaigns across health insurance, life insurance and final expense, including Final Expense, Final Expense CTV and Medicare Advantage. Screened inbound calls start at $25 and CTV calls start at $50, per connected call against your chosen buffer. Coverage is not sold by state. Your approved workspace lists the campaigns available to your account, with the price and connected-time threshold visible before you turn buying on.
New York is really two markets on one license. New York City is the largest city in the country by a wide margin, and then the profile changes completely upstate, where Buffalo, Yonkers and Rochester anchor the rest of the population. If your team is new to the state, split coaching by region rather than treating New York as one accent and one cost of living.
- New York City, Buffalo, Yonkers and Rochester are the largest cities in the state.
- Downstate and upstate are different cost of living conversations, so coach them separately.
- Individual health enrollment runs on NY State of Health, not the federal platform.
One clock, end to end
- Time zone
- Eastern statewide, from Montauk to the Pennsylvania line. No split zone to track.
- Daylight saving
- Observed, so New York moves with most of the country in March and November.
- Federal calling window
- 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the consumer's local time, which is simply your own clock if your desk is on Eastern.
- Working alongside Pacific states
- New York goes quiet at 9:00 p.m. Eastern while a California consumer stays callable until midnight Eastern, so your late shift usually belongs to the west.
That simplicity is the reason a lot of Eastern desks start here. There is no zone math, no county exceptions and no daylight saving carve out, so availability hours and daily limits can be set once and left alone.
Recording a New York call
New York is a one-party consent state. A participant in the conversation can record it. Recording a conversation you are not part of is a separate matter and is charged as a felony under state law, which is the line that matters for a call desk: your agent recording their own call is not the same thing as a manager quietly listening to someone else's.
Callmart records inbound calls and buyers can review and download available recordings for coaching and dispute review. There is no live listen in, barge or whisper on the platform, so New York supervision happens after the call rather than during it. If your agents sit in an all-party state, treat that stricter rule as the one to follow.
NY State of Health, ACA and Medicare
New York runs its own marketplace, NY State of Health, rather than sending consumers to healthcare.gov, and that is the arrangement for the 2026 plan year. State exchanges also set their own calendars, and New York has historically run a longer open enrollment window than the federal deadline. Check the NY State of Health calendar each year rather than assuming the federal dates apply, because a state exchange can move its own dates.
For an ACA conversation that means the enrollment path, the agent registration process and the consumer's login all live on the state platform. Medicare is federal, so Medicare Advantage calls work the same way here as anywhere, with plan availability and provider networks as the New York specific piece of the conversation.
General information for call buyers, not legal advice. Consent, telemarketing and licensing rules are enforced state by state and they change. Confirm your obligations with your own counsel and with the New York Department of Financial Services before acting on anything here.
Create your Callmart accountCommon questions
01Which agency licenses insurance producers in New York?
The Department of Financial Services at dfs.ny.gov. DFS was created in 2011 when the Insurance Department and the Banking Department merged, so there is no longer a New York Department of Insurance. DFS handles producer licensing, company licensing and consumer complaints.
02Can I record calls with New York consumers?
New York is a one-party consent state, so a party to the conversation may record it. Recording a conversation you are not part of is a felony under state law. If your agent sits in an all-party state, the stricter rule may apply to the call. Confirm with counsel.
03Does New York use healthcare.gov?
No. New York runs its own marketplace, NY State of Health, for the 2026 plan year. Enrollment and agent registration both happen on the state platform rather than on healthcare.gov. Its open enrollment calendar is set by the state and has historically run later than the federal deadline, so confirm the current dates on the exchange.
04How should an Eastern desk set availability for New York?
New York is Eastern time statewide and observes daylight saving, so the federal 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. called-party window is your own clock. Set availability once and leave it. The complication only appears when you add states in other zones alongside it.