Insurance Agent Forum

[STIBROKER@AUSTIN.RR.COM]

word on the street is hitting people with big increases.....

[healthagent]

Filed for 19% in MD - filed for 27% in VA and dumping maternity in VA.

[BKrocko]

They just re - entered the CO market and are offering a good product with some of the best rates around for single people. Good small group rates as well. K-Dub is already appointed with them and has had success with the product offering. I will be looking into being appointed with them next week. They give a 12 mth lock on the premium but I wounder if it's a "teaser" rate.

World increase is 20% this year and Anthem is 25%.

[Peelerinsurance.com]

sti...... where the hell did u hear that at?

[healthagent]

Watch the potential "double-whammy" with Aetna regarding the age bands. Say you sell a client a family plan who's 44 years old. Yes, they now get a one year lock but at the end of that year it's the normal rate increase plus another steep increase since they went into next age group.

[K-Dub]

I need a link!! I don't want to believe it either! Sti is your source a Mega agent?

[STIBROKER@AUSTIN.RR.COM]

Originally Posted by K-Dub

I need a link!! I don't want to believe it either! Sti is your source a Mega agent?

there is no formal confirmation they are pulling out of any state.....just the rate increases ........but if they are now priced 20 to 30 % higher than the competition then the might as well pull......

[healthagent]

Aetna's actually going for it. By the end of next year they'll be in 30 states. They've also proposed a bonus program that I've been told is a done deal: 20 apps per quarter is $100 per app bonus and 10 apps per quarter is $50 per app.

Aetna also has enough money to buy and sell most of the other insurance companies five times over - market cap is 22 bill. Compare that to Assurant at 6 bill.

Not that they'll be competitive in all the states - no insurance company is. But they have the money to hang in there until they establish a foot hold.

I'd personally like to see a few changes:

1) Fixed family rates reward large families yet punish small families. For example, a family in MD age 44 pays $512 on the PPO 30. You could be a family of 3 and that rate is horrible. Or you could be a family of 6 and it's the deal of the century.

2) Aetna rates the entire policy even if only one person get rated. Take that family above; family of 4 for $512 a month. If just the husband gets a B rating the entire plan goes up 25%. Not true with Assurant who will only rate the husband.

[Peelerinsurance.com]

John... Split the family up b4 issuse, submit onlne as one, get letter from client requesting split policies... do the same for rated conditions. This not only helps for the cost of the policy, but gives you more app count

Just a thought, but I have been doing it like that for a year and had NO problems... the key is to get the letter to seperate B4 the policy is issued

[STIBROKER@AUSTIN.RR.COM]

Originally Posted by john_petrowski

Not true with Assurant who will only rate the husband.

I have seen them split a rated case at issue here in texas.....

[healthagent]

Originally Posted by Peelerinsurance.com

John... Split the family up b4 issuse, submit onlne as one, get letter from client requesting split policies... do the same for rated conditions. This not only helps for the cost of the policy, but gives you more app count

Just a thought, but I have been doing it like that for a year and had NO problems... the key is to get the letter to seperate B4 the policy is issued

That won't do the trick. Take a case I just had - $512 premium and a rating of 25% on the wife - family of 4. In this case the premium, if all left on the same plan, would have been $640.

Now, split the case. It's STILL the same family rate of $512 even though there's three members. Now the wife has her own premium of $186 + 25% = $232. So add the $232 to $512 and they're actually worse off by splitting.

The only way a split would work if it were a family of three. Then seperate the wife and you have "male/child" rates" plus the wife instead of still having a family rate.

[somarco]

Aetna rates the entire policy even if only one person get rated. Take that family above; family of 4 for $512 a month. If just the husband gets a B rating the entire plan goes up 25%.

Where did you get that?

One of the questions I asked the RSD (someone I have known for several years) when contracting is does Aetna apply the rate up to the individual or the entire family? He indicated the rate up was only on the individual.

I only have singles with Aetna, no families so I can't prove this one way or the other. I have asked them to pre-screen 2 or more individuals in a family and they have come back with "B" ratings for some family members & "C" for others.

If they are in fact applying the load to all family members, then submit the individual with a rate up as a single and put the other family members on a different contract, and possibly with a different carrier. I have done that where the family rate was not competitive with Aetna and the one with a pre-ex got a better deal from Aetna than other carriers. The pre-ex goes with Aetna, rest of the family goes with another carrier.

Aetna is not competitive in GA, only in a limited number of counties and only has one plan that is worthy of consideration (PPO Value). Even though they have the $$$ to do anything they wish, they are moving very slowly here and I do not think they will ever be a major force in the individual market.

[healthagent]

I think your RSD better contact underwriting. The rate applies to the entire family even if one person is increase. Here's one case - note that only the son was rated a "B" rating yet the entire policy was increased. I sold dental on this deal so the rating didn't effect dental which is why the $25% load on the initial $389 premium is off a bit.

"A" primary means A rating. "B" dependent means only the son got rated.

$389 initial premium finalized at $475 and only the son was rated. You do the math. The child alone would have been $78 per month of the $389 premium. That means the final rate should have been only $19 more if just the child was rated. Instead, as you can see below, a $86 rating was applied which, not including dental, is 25% of the entire premium.

(I obviouly blocked out the client name for HIPAA)


Application Status
***347 Approved with Rate Up
Key Dates
Requested Effective Date Actual Effective Date Signature Date App. Received Date
12/01/2006 12/01/2006 11/21/2006 11/21/2006
Plan Information
Primary Medical Product 1 Dental Optional Coverage 1 Quoted Rate Final Rate
PPO 30 Included $475.00
Applicant Information
Total Members Approved Members Declined Members
3 3 0
Applicant Name Rating Level Relationship Gender Date of Birth
******** A Primary F 9/14/1963
******** B Dependent M 7/9/1994
******** A Dependent F 11/11/1996


Policy Information

Policy Issued
Multiple Policies No.of Policies Monthly Premium
No 1 $475.00
Policy No. Applicant Name Relationship Risk
Category Premium Additional
Premium % Additional
Premium Amount Final
Premium
********* Primary A $389.00 25% $86.00 $475.00
********* Dependent A
*********Dependent B