Can't Discuss Value Added Services During AEP

[sman]

Def interested to see how Aetna/Coventry is this year

I did not recert yet with them

but last year Coventry gave me a hard time about reserts for over the phone
in some states

while Aetna is easy to work with

hopefully this merger will help

Interesting. I've had the opposite experience. Coventry has been great over the years, but Aetna hasn't. I personally hope it continues to be run more like Coventry than Aetna. Although they required a face to face training this year which Coventry hasn't ever required.

And just a heads up, you are required to have the face to face training for each market in which you sell. So if you sell in multiple states, you might have a little bit of a challenge. My rep did tell me they are working on trying to remedy that with maybe webinars or something along those lines.

And this face to face training requirement is an Aetna rule, not a Coventry rule.

 

[vic120]

Interesting. I've had the opposite experience. Coventry has been great over the years, but Aetna hasn't. I personally hope it continues to be run more like Coventry than Aetna. Although they required a face to face training this year which Coventry hasn't ever required.

And just a heads up, you are required to have the face to face training for each market in which you sell. So if you sell in multiple states, you might have a little bit of a challenge. My rep did tell me they are working on trying to remedy that with maybe webinars or something along those lines.

And this face to face training requirement is an Aetna rule, not a Coventry rule.

I have only needed to do a face to face training in my home sate with Aetna
have not had issue

I've sold Aetna NY NJ and FL

its Coventry that has had issue
and the face to face training wasn't the problem but I had to do an over the phone training for each state
and some states Coventry only allows face to face sales

the exception is fl and pa I don't know why


never had a problem with Aetna, AARP Anthem and empire BC Blue Shield of CA health net well care and several others

not even the slightest issue

Only issue has been with Coventry

 

[sman]

I have only needed to do a face to face training in my home sate with Aetna
have not had issue

I've sold Aetna NY NJ and FL

its Coventry that has had issue
and the face to face training wasn't the problem but I had to do an over the phone training for each state
and some states Coventry only allows face to face sales

the exception is fl and pa I don't know why


never had a problem with Aetna, AARP Anthem and empire BC Blue Shield of CA health net well care and several others

not even the slightest issue

Only issue has been with Coventry

I've sold Coventry in multiple states and never had to do any face to face or over the phone training. They must not like you.

 

[vic120]

I've sold Coventry in multiple states and never had to do any face to face or over the phone training. They must not like you.

Guess I don't know

1st year was no problem
but last year they told me I needed to contact each counties manager
and satisfy the local training

when I called I had no problems in Fl and pa

when I called Ill and some other states
I got you sell over the Phone??????

Huh I never heard of that do you know this is a Medicare advantage not a supplement
hu eh duh don't think that can be done Uh CMS uh duh

and such

 

[jbage007]

The issue here is Humana, if my memory serves me correctly, specifically listed SS in the training saying it can't be discussed as a VAB (I tried to go back and pull up the training material, but it won't allow me to do it). And in my Aetna/Coventry meeting, they listed Fitness, Dental, Hearing and Vision under the heading "Value Added Benefits". I don't disagree that the discounts to the other things are value added benefits. But this entire discussion began because Humana said things like Silver Sneakers couldn't be discussed.

Fellas, this ain't rocket science - just look and see which section silver sneakers is listed under in the benefits summary.

In our benefits summaries, silver sneakers is not listed in the rear section of the booklet entitled value-added items and services. perhaps that varies from state to state around the country.

I understood this issue as the ability to discuss value-added items and services, which is the rear section of the summaries booklet. If I understand the issue correctly, the simple solution seems to be to look in that section and see what is listed (stuff like dental discounts, hearing aid discounts, etc.)

As an aside, in our state, Humana made the egregious error of taking silver sneakers out of coverage for one year - to save plan funding money - and had such an uproar from members that they were forced to put it back in, as a benefit.

duh, who knew that members actually enjoy their free health club memberships?

posted from my iPad Air

 

[sman]

fellows, this ain't rocket science - just look and see which section silver sneakers is listed under in the benefits summary.
in our benefits summaries, silver sneakers is not listed in the rear section of the booklet entitled value-added items and services. perhaps that varies from state to state around the country.
I understood this issue as the ability to discuss value-added items and services, which is the rear section of the summaries booklet. if I understand the issue correctly, the simple solution seems to be to look in that section and see what is listed (stuff like dental discounts, hearing aid discounts, etc.)

as an aside, in our state, Humana made the egregious error of taking silver sneakers out of coverage for one year - to save plan funding money - and had such an uproar from members that they were forced to put it back in, as a benefit.

duh, who knew?

posted from my iPad Air

C'mon now, it's rocket surgery not rocket science.

The point here isn't what the benefits are, it's the fact that Humana is telling agents we aren't allowed to discuss them. They even have a response for when asked about them. It's ridiculous.

Client: Does this pan offer ........?

Agent: I'm not allowed to discuss that with you until you actually become a member.

It's asinine.

 

[jbage007]

C'mon now, it's rocket surgery not rocket science.

The point here isn't what the benefits are, it's the fact that Humana is telling agents we aren't allowed to discuss them. They even have a response for when asked about them. It's ridiculous.

Client: Does this pan offer ........?

Agent: I'm not allowed to discuss that with you until you actually become a member.

It's asinine.

It makes perfect sense to me. Too many agents are guilty of "stretching" those DISCOUNTS to make them sound like INSURANCE benefits.

And when someone asks "does this plan offer xx?" the actual answer is NO with respect to value added services. For example, if someone says "does this plan cover hearing aids?" The answer is a resounding NO - that's because the plan itself does NOT cover hearing aids.

There may be a discount available, but that discount can be discontinued at any time during the plan year. A true plan benefit CANNOT be discontinued during the plan year.

Makes total sense to me. Humana should have taken this approach years ago.

 

[sman]

It makes perfect sense to me. Too many agents are guilty of "stretching" those DISCOUNTS to make them sound like INSURANCE benefits. And when someone asks "does this plan offer xx?" the actual answer is NO with respect to value added services. For example, if someone says "does this plan cover hearing aids?" The answer is a resounding NO - that's because the plan itself does NOT cover hearing aids. There may be a discount available, but that discount can be discontinued at any time during the plan year. A true plan benefit CANNOT be discontinued during the plan year. Makes total sense to me. Humana should have taken this approach years ago.

Good to know we have a fan of Humana on the forum. We'll have to agree to disagree. If it's listed anywhere in the marketing materials, it should be able to be discussed. If a carrier doesn't want it discussed, don't put it in the material the consumer sees. And anyone who's selling a plan based on VAB's is an ***.

 

[WCMason]

And in my Aetna/Coventry meeting, they listed Fitness, Dental, Hearing and Vision under the heading "Value Added Benefits".

A bit off topic, but what's the Aetna Coventry local marketing meeting cover? And is there an exam one must pass to move on to the next module? Thanks.

 

[sman]

A bit off topic, but what's the Aetna Coventry local marketing meeting cover? And is there an exam one must pass to move on to the next module? Thanks.

Unless you are brand new it doesn't cover a whole lot that you haven't already seen. They do go over some of the preliminary benefits of the upcoming plans. Although we were told they just found out some of the benefits were changing compared to what they were reviewing in the meeting (i.e. - in network max out of pocket was going down a little, hospital copay might go down in dollar or number of days). Of course, this was based on my local market.

Once you complete the local market training and they get that entered into the system, you can then take the online test to finalize your certification.