Adding Medicare to FE Sales

mbiallas

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How many full time FE guys are also active in Medicare sales? I have always avoided getting involved in the whole Medicare advantage circus but sometimes I do get questions about health plans. Since I don't carry any health plans I explain that I specialize in life sales but feel like I am walking away from business. I have heard that commissions in Medicare are quite small as compared to life and don't know if it is even worth messing with. Thoughts?
 
Medicare, including Medigap, is not a transactional sale. This is especially true for T65.

If you are looking at Medigap/MA as just another add-on cram sale you may be disappointed.

That being said, a number of FE guys apparently do a fair amount of cross-selling for a number of different products.
 
MA is the natural cross sell for FE. That's what most of our clients have. The comp is less if you're just switching them, $222 per year. But you get that same commission as long as they keep the policy. That's huge renewal income if you're willing to jump through CMS' hoops.

Usually you can only switch folks during AEP, but most of our clients qualify for a LIS SEP year round.
 
MA is the natural cross sell for FE. That's what most of our clients have. The comp is less if you're just switching them, $222 per year. But you get that same commission as long as they keep the policy. That's huge renewal income if you're willing to jump through CMS' hoops.

Usually you can only switch folks during AEP, but most of our clients qualify for a LIS SEP year round.

I know it will vary by agent and locale but what is a normal persistency for MA plans? I have heard they switch plans most every year and that the renewals don't really materialize. Granted - that was what I was told by a guy I used to refer MA business to...
 
How many full time FE guys are also active in Medicare sales? I have always avoided getting involved in the whole Medicare advantage circus but sometimes I do get questions about health plans. Since I don't carry any health plans I explain that I specialize in life sales but feel like I am walking away from business. I have heard that commissions in Medicare are quite small as compared to life and don't know if it is even worth messing with. Thoughts?

Very few opportunities to sell med sups when running FE leads. If you want to deal with MA plans it's a far different story.

I ask everyone I talk to who they have their med sup with. Of course they all have a "med sup". But it's almost always an MA plan.

I got out of the MA business 8 years ago and have no intentions of ever returning. But that business is there is you want to do it.

It seems the vast majority of our people are QMB, QI1, SLMB, LIS, etc. So they will have a continuous SEP. And many of the companies won't coordinate with them. Especially if they are QMB Plus. Gotta be careful on those. And some will coordinate but just not pay the agent for writing it.

Before Coventry completely took it away from agents here they stopped paying commissions. This was all pre MIPPA, of course.
 
Very few opportunities to sell med sups when running FE leads. If you want to deal with MA plans it's a far different story.

I ask everyone I talk to who they have their med sup with. Of course they all have a "med sup". But it's almost always an MA plan.

I got out of the MA business 8 years ago and have no intentions of ever returning. But that business is there is you want to do it.

It seems the vast majority of our people are QMB, QI1, SLMB, LIS, etc. So they will have a continuous SEP. And many of the companies won't coordinate with them. Especially if they are QMB Plus. Gotta be careful on those. And some will coordinate but just not pay the agent for writing it.

Before Coventry completely took it away from agents here they stopped paying commissions. This was all pre MIPPA, of course.

Ha ha. I don't have a clue what any of that means?
 
I know it will vary by agent and locale but what is a normal persistency for MA plans? I have heard they switch plans most every year and that the renewals don't really materialize. Granted - that was what I was told by a guy I used to refer MA business to...

I am not an agent, so this is not an experience based comment--but something to keep in mind while talking about changing plans.

In the Med Supp world, if one has a Med Supp, they also usually need a PDP (Prescription Drug Plan).

The system design creates a lot of turmoil with those because there are pricing changes in the plan each year and an open enrollment for them. With a Med Supp, once you have gone through your initial underwriting period, the Med Supp plan cannot be changed unless you pass underwriting-basic rule-I think there are some states-or carriers that offer some exceptions to that.

But the PDP can be freely changed during the annual change period if a different company offers your meds more cheaply. I assume, but do not know for sure, that the same concept applies to MAPD (Medicare advantage plans with drug coverage). That means that some level of the beneficiary changes in MAPD plans comes from annual drug pricing changes rather than issues with the health portion of the plan.

I'm sure there are lots of other reasons for MA plan changes.
 
I am not an agent, so this is not an experience based comment--but something to keep in mind while talking about changing plans.

In the Med Supp world, if one has a Med Supp, they also usually need a PDP (Prescription Drug Plan).

The system design creates a lot of turmoil with those because there are pricing changes in the plan each year and an open enrollment for them. With a Med Supp, once you have gone through your initial underwriting period, the Med Supp plan cannot be changed unless you pass underwriting-basic rule-I think there are some states-or carriers that offer some exceptions to that.

But the PDP can be freely changed during the annual change period if a different company offers your meds more cheaply. I assume, but do not know for sure, that the same concept applies to MAPD (Medicare advantage plans with drug coverage). That means that some level of the beneficiary changes in MAPD plans comes from annual drug pricing changes rather than issues with the health portion of the plan.

I'm sure there are lots of other reasons for MA plan changes.

That would make sense if they were changing out of logic. They don't.

When MAPD people change during annual enrollment it's stirred up by television advertising chumming the waters.

But most MAPD people do stay with the same plan year after year once they find one that their doctor takes. They don't flip every year.
 
Ok, thanks.

So in the MAPD world (general rule to which there will be exceptions), networks become the primary consideration factor and my vision of MAPD plan holders shopping their drugs each year like the PDP plan holders is not really a real life situation?
 
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