If a prospect solicates you (the agent) via phone as they either found your number online or through some other marketing source what are the rules? Let's assume the caller calls in and says "I would like to get some information on Medicare Advantage plans". Are you allowed to talk about every plan you offer and help them narrow down the search? Does the call have to be recorded? What needs to be tracked? Etc. Any feedback would be appreciated.
You can give them general information over the phone, but anytime you present a MA plan you must go through all the material in the company sales kit, i.e. outline, disclosures, etc. You could not do that over the phone without first sending them the kit.
Whether you do a presentation by phone or in person, I believe you could compare different plans as long as you go through all sales kit materials from each plan.
If a prospect solicates you (the agent) via phone as they either found your number online or through some other marketing source what are the rules? Let's assume the caller calls in and says "I would like to get some information on Medicare Advantage plans". Are you allowed to talk about every plan you offer and help them narrow down the search? Does the call have to be recorded? What needs to be tracked? Etc. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Here is what one company, UHC, put out about that;
Situation; A beneficiary calls the agent in response to advertising, word-of-mouth or other information:
Acceptable Actions:
-Needs assessment
-Present any product
Acceptable Outcomes
-Immediate sale
-Schedule an in-home appointment {Requires scope of appointment documentation}
-Schedule attendance at a sales event
-Follow-up {send sales kit, schedule future activity or call}
Future permission to call
-For inbound calls, permission is automatically granted with no product restrictions as long as the inbound call is related to MA/PDP.
-Permission to call "duration" rules apply
-Caller may revoke permission to call
Here is what one company, UHC, put out about that;
Situation; A beneficiary calls the agent in response to advertising, word-of-mouth or other information:
Acceptable Actions:
-Needs assessment
-Present any product
Acceptable Outcomes
-Immediate sale
-Schedule an in-home appointment {Requires scope of appointment documentation}
-Schedule attendance at a sales event
-Follow-up {send sales kit, schedule future activity or call}
Future permission to call
-For inbound calls, permission is automatically granted with no product restrictions as long as the inbound call is related to MA/PDP.
-Permission to call "duration" rules apply
-Caller may revoke permission to call
Maybe we should all hire a fulltime, in-house compliance director to be certain we follow all of these ridiculous rules.
I intend to help my prospects and clients in the best way I know how. There isn't a chance in hell that any agent will be in compliance the majority of the time.
Rick
------------------------------------ ILIAA
Training, Community, Support, and Success Independent Life Insurance Agents Assn rick@iliaa.org
You can give them general information over the phone, but anytime you present a MA plan you must go through all the material in the company sales kit, i.e. outline, disclosures, etc. You could not do that over the phone without first sending them the kit.
Whether you do a presentation by phone or in person, I believe you could compare different plans as long as you go through all sales kit materials from each plan.
I believe you are correct. The only caveat I would add is, you must get a recording of the inbound permission to make the appointment.
If you are not making an appointment, but an inbound sale, I would still record a statement from the caller prior to beginning my presentation. CMS has not thought through how agents field sales, so they have not addressed this particular issue sufficiently. Another post describing UHC's take on this seems reasonably designed to appease CMS.
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To be truly independent, an agent should not be dependent on a government bureaucrat for contracts or commissions.
So, if callers call in to us and want information we can review plans and then do the enrollment all in one shot over the phone? Seems as though the compliance rules really only affect the people who sit with clients face to face and/or do traditional ways of marketing.
Maybe we should all hire a fulltime, in-house compliance director to be certain we follow all of these ridiculous rules.
I intend to help my prospects and clients in the best way I know how. There isn't a chance in hell that any agent will be in compliance the majority of the time.
Rick
I wonder how many complaints come from agents being dishonest vs. many old people's inability to comprehend new concepts.
I have learned the hard way that even if you go slow and repeatedly ask the old person if they understand some will say yes just to be polite even though they don't have a clue.
CMS started this fire they should be responsible for administering a standardized private Medicare maze aptitude test to all Medicare beneficeries so that we can be safe that we are dealing with seniors that are up to the challenge to begin with.
Isn't it nice to know they're cutting our commissions and we probably won't see any commissions deposited into our accounts until January because CMS and our politicians have absolutely ZERO consideration for us?
I wonder how many complaints come from agents being dishonest vs. many old people's inability to comprehend new concepts.
I have learned the hard way that even if you go slow and repeatedly ask the old person if they understand some will say yes just to be polite even though they don't have a clue.
CMS started this fire they should be responsible for administering a standardized private Medicare maze aptitude test to all Medicare beneficeries so that we can be safe that we are dealing with seniors that are up to the challenge to begin with.
That happens quite a bit. I had a situation earlier this year on a preset appointment for Wellcare for a medicare/medicaid person. When I got to the appointment, the lady wouldn't open the door, just kept hollering at me, "what do you want" thru the door. I finally got her crack open the door and told her that I was to see her at 2:00. She said she knew nothing about it. I told her the appointment was just set 24 hours ago. She still didn't remember, but, invited me in. When I sat down at the kitchen table, there was a Wellcare brochure and app sitting there. I asked her what that was for and she didn't know. I asked her if I could look at it and she gave me permission. It was a completed app for Wellcare Duet that she had enrolled in the day before. I asked her about and she had no clue about what she had done. I asked her about getting on the phone with Wellcare and completing the app with the agent present. She said she remembered a "little" about doing that. She would have enrolled again with me that day if I had not seen the other app.
I'm sure that when they did the verification call, the lady could not complete it. Is the agent the one to blame there? She may have been more lucid the day before when he was there. She certainly had to complete the enrollment call as this was in May and Wellcare had mandated only teleapps and there was a confirmation number on the app he left there.
Who knows? The lady may have scheduled an appointment with another agent after me as well.
That happens quite a bit. I had a situation earlier this year on a preset appointment for Wellcare for a medicare/medicaid person. When I got to the appointment, the lady wouldn't open the door, just kept hollering at me, "what do you want" thru the door. I finally got her crack open the door and told her that I was to see her at 2:00. She said she knew nothing about it. I told her the appointment was just set 24 hours ago. She still didn't remember, but, invited me in. When I sat down at the kitchen table, there was a Wellcare brochure and app sitting there. I asked her what that was for and she didn't know. I asked her if I could look at it and she gave me permission. It was a completed app for Wellcare Duet that she had enrolled in the day before. I asked her about and she had no clue about what she had done. I asked her about getting on the phone with Wellcare and completing the app with the agent present. She said she remembered a "little" about doing that. She would have enrolled again with me that day if I had not seen the other app.
I'm sure that when they did the verification call, the lady could not complete it. Is the agent the one to blame there? She may have been more lucid the day before when he was there. She certainly had to complete the enrollment call as this was in May and Wellcare had mandated only teleapps and there was a confirmation number on the app he left there.
Who knows? The lady may have scheduled an appointment with another agent after me as well.
That lady is exhibiting signs of dementia, and as an ethical agent, I would not begin to make a sales presentation. I would try to find a relative that would be the responsible party and make sure they know what is going on. I would then attempt to make an appointment with all parties present.
In your case, if it were me (and I have had similar experiences), I would jot down the agent's name off the material left behind, and keep it for future reference.
That lady is exhibiting signs of dementia, and as an ethical agent, I would not begin to make a sales presentation. I would try to find a relative that would be the responsible party and make sure they know what is going on. I would then attempt to make an appointment with all parties present.
In your case, if it were me (and I have had similar experiences), I would jot down the agent's name off the material left behind, and keep it for future reference.
On the hallowed walls of the US Air Force Academy are hung signs that remind cadets of the honor code:
"I will not lie, cheat, or steal,
Or tolerate among us those who do."
Line 1 most people will agree is honorable, but line 2 is where the rubber meets the road. If we don't insist that everyone cooperates in this endeavor, then the criminals will rule.
The only sensible solution is to ignore this bullshit.
Rick
Amen!
I chuckle at all the posts where agents are trying to guess what can and can't be done and still be in compliance with CMS.
We are all only guessing, some are making their "guess" sound more logical than others but at the very best it is still only a guess.
That wasn't meant to be a slam against anyone or their best guesses. The problem is that no one really knows, or if there is someone who does none of us know who that person is.
If any agents are really concerned about being in 100% compliance, both of you haha, should contact CMS and get an answer in writing specifically stating that it is either okay or not okay to use the interpretation asked about.
There will be agents who feel secure in their interpretation and will think they are in compliance but won't be. They will never get checked on by CMS. Then there are others who will also think they have found a loop hole only to get their ass nailed to the wall by CMS.
Since no one really knows how far CMS will go in checking on agents the whole thing is a crap shoot. It is obvious that CMS cannot check on everyone.
It wouldn't surprise me if CMS required the carrier to also send out a questioneer with every policy asking the client to fill it out and return it. The questions would be to make sure the original contact and the presentation were 100% as CMS has stated they should be.
The bottom line is that if an agents wants to deviate from the word by word interpretation handed down by CMS, that agent is putting his/her ass on the line regardless of what we all think and/or may say or post here.
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Medicare Supplement Sales Training and Coaching.
"The Perfect Contact Management Program (CMP) for the Insurance Professional" www.YourInsuranceOffice.com
877.633.0808
CMS compliance all depends on what day you have met with your client.
Today all you need is a reply card. Tomorrow who knows.
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"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." Ronald Reagan
Who knows what CMS will nail you for and what the penalty will be. Last year I got rebremanded by CMS . I received a letter informing me that I had 14 days to recertify thru my carrier or I could no longer be eligible to sale MA plans. I complied and never heard anything more about it but I was never given a reason or feed back on what I did wrong.
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