Better Save Up for AEP

[WCMason]

It seems like there are a lot of communists on this site. Do you really like the amount of control CMS has over your commissions? I'll point it out again, the commissions were going to be over $600 at one point and CMS balked. You do know that commissions for 2015 are getting cut to $510 from $532 in 2014, don't you? And as far as advance commissions, here's how I view it: You pay for leads up front, then you have to get a sale. Without advancing, you'd have to have 6 to 9 months of lead money until the "as earned" equalized the expenses laid out. Advancing only helps with the cycle: leads, sales, commission, repeat. CMS does not want sales of MA because it hurts their organization - the more MA sold, the less CMS personnel you need. So the easiest way to slow down the sales is to monkey with the commission and the cash flow of the agent. Heck, CMS was even toying with the idea of doing the sales of all products themselves - MA, Medigap, PDP - probably so they could steer recipients into Medigap. Big government isn't good. And as for those complaining about the way the country is going - yes, you are right. And it hasn't been 50 years, it's been 75 years - when deficit spending was first introduced. The CBO recently came out with a report that in 25 years we can all put our heads between our knees and kiss our collective asses goodbye. So to all you idiots that voted for people who have continued the deficit spending ($8.5 trillion in the last 6 years) you need to apologize to the rest of us who wanted more fiscally responsible people in office. Keep voting for Obama, Reid, Pelosi and we are all doomed...

I lived in suburban DC for many years. There is a term for private companies with federal govt contracts in that area: Beltway Bandits. From Wikipedia:

Beltway bandit is a term for private companies located in or near Washington, D.C. whose major business is to provide consulting services to the US government. The phrase was originally a mild insult, implying that the companies preyed like bandits on the largesse of the federal government, but it has lost much of its pejorative nature and is now often used as a neutral, descriptive term.

Now we don't all live around the Capital Beltway, the freeway from which this term comes. And we don't provide consulting services to the govt., but for beneficiaries of government-contracted services. We do make our livings from the same source as these companies. Like these companies, we face lots of regulation on the services we provide.

But if done well and within those crazy-making regulations, it's a helluva profitable opportunity. So call it communism, call it a CMS conspiracy against us. I call it a great way to make a living.