Before I left Cornerstone the word around the office after all the DSL's got back from their annual commissar meeting in Arizona was that they were planning on changing their Mega Life and Health name to Chesapeake Life and Health. They are currently using this name for their new line of Medicare products and their life product. Look for the complete change sometime this year.
Before I left Cornerstone the word around the office after all the DSL's got back from their annual commissar meeting in Arizona was that they were planning on changing their Mega Life and Health name to Chesapeake Life and Health. They are currently using this name for their new line of Medicare products and their life product. Look for the complete change sometime this year.
Did Mega come out with any other new products in the last year? I'm curious to see how their Medicare plans are written...
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"Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will understand." Confucius
As of right now the agents are being trained by their Political Commissars to go by the name Health Markets and mention that you have several plans to show them. And then when you show up it's a policy thats from Mega which is owned by Health Markets etc.. their take on this approach until the name change is that it will make it sound more like a reputable brokerage firm...
Seeing me write this just makes me sick at my stomach.... Damn, I am glad I got out of there when I did
Did Mega come out with any other new products in the last year? I'm curious to see how their Medicare plans are written...
I got out just before their Medicare training. Truth be told that was a clincher for me. I was at a grocery store one day and saw a bus load of senior citizens get off and I thought to myself, "what if this medicare plan is just like everything else this company has done? After those questions to myself I went into the office and packed my stuff and never looked back.
I do know that they are paying agents $360 per application for the medicare. And they have even gone as far as recruiting Brokers to sell it for them.
I got out just before their Medicare training. Truth be told that was a clincher for me. I was at a grocery store one day and saw a bus load of senior citizens get off and I thought to myself, "what if this medicare plan is just like everything else this company has done? After those questions to myself I went into the office and packed my stuff and never looked back.
I do know that they are paying agents $360 per application for the medicare. And they have even gone as far as recruiting Brokers to sell it for them.
So you're saying that Mega is going after independent agents or brokers to have them market the plans? If that is the which are they targeting as those are two different animals depending upon the license type and state.
I can't speak for other regions but I do know that the Denver region has recruited outside agents to sell specifically their new medicare product. I have a feeling that things are done a bit differently in every region.
They have used the Cheseapeake name for life ins for years now, maybe they bought out Chesepeake or whatever? I got the recruiting letter for brokers for Chesepeake med supp.
So you're saying that Mega is going after independent agents or brokers to have them market the plans? If that is the which are they targeting as those are two different animals depending upon the license type and state.
Yes, they are contracting with independents to sell their MA plans. It is marketed under Chesapeake Life and isn't a very competitive product (at least not in Georgia). I had them send me the info just so I could see what I am competing with. I couldn't bring myself to contract with them. Not a name I want to be associated with.
Well is Mega wants to make the biggest mistake in their corporate history then they'll get into the senior market.
Right now they're used to paying fines as "the cost of doing business" but CMS isn't gonna put up with their cr**.
You're exactly right John. As poor a job as they do training their reps on their individual health plans, it's scary to think what will be happening out there with the MA plan. They've entered the market. Not with much of a splash though. According to the CMS report, they've enrolled 84 members. Of course, I don't know how up to date that information is, but they have definitely entered the market.
This could also be a situation where Mega ruins it for others. If they really try to grow their MA division and start generating complaints CMS could say "Ok, enough's enough" and start implementing all these new rules, verficiation and forms to sign.
That happened with the B to B gas/electric deregulation business. I was a regional manager for TG&E from 1997 through 2001 - we were in 7 states signing people up door to door. My job was to open offices, train everyone then go to another state.
We were doing fine then everyone started getting into the business and we grew too fast. All of sudden one day the public utility commissions started requiring more verification and what put almost everyone out of business literally overnight was phone verifications.
People who were enrolled now had to call into an 800 number and listen to a long message that explained basically everything - including their choices AND prompted them NOT to sign anything if they had any questions. Done, we were all out of business.
CMS could easily pull that. They could require all seniors to call into a central number and listen to a long daunting message about all of their options, then they have to voice verify that they agree to everything.
This could also be a situation where Mega ruins it for others. If they really try to grow their MA division and start generating complaints CMS could say "Ok, enough's enough" and start implementing all these new rules, verficiation and forms to sign.
That happened with the B to B gas/electric deregulation business. I was a regional manager for TG&E from 1997 through 2001 - we were in 7 states signing people up door to door. My job was to open offices, train everyone then go to another state.
We were doing fine then everyone started getting into the business and we grew too fast. All of sudden one day the public utility commissions started requiring more verification and what put almost everyone out of business literally overnight was phone verifications.
People who were enrolled now had to call into an 800 number and listen to a long message that explained basically everything - including their choices AND prompted them NOT to sign anything if they had any questions. Done, we were all out of business.
CMS could easily pull that. They could require all seniors to call into a central number and listen to a long daunting message about all of their options, then they have to voice verify that they agree to everything.
John,
That is already happening. There were several changes put in place for the 2008 enrollment year. A verification call has to be made to the Medicare Beneficiary by the carrier (or some third party they hire to do it). Some carriers are requiring this to be done at the time of enrollment and others are requiring it after the sale (usually 1 or 2 weeks after the fact).
The only thing Mega could do at this point is likely have their contract canceled. Assuming the problems are isolated to them of course. All the changes that came for the 2008 enrollment season were mainly due to unscrupulous reps out there making a quick buck last year. Many people were enrolled in a plan without their knowledge. Some reps were claiming to be from Medicare. The list probably goes on and on. You get the picture.
If the Mega reps sell the MA plans like they do the individual health plans, they won't be in the market long.
Actually, CMS pulled medicare advertising and promotion until just after Thanksgiving 2007.
HM was forced to eliminate all high complaint agents from marketing MA products. For example, in New England, there was dozens and dozens of agents who were not allowed to market or enroll. A good % of those not allowed were Districts.
I think healthmarkets realizes the value of MA and will go to great lengths to avoid fucking it up. At a manager's meeting in Dallas, they even stated that the MA product can't be sold the same way that the health plans are sold.
Actually, CMS pulled medicare advertising and promotion until just after Thanksgiving 2007.
HM was forced to eliminate all high complaint agents from marketing MA products. For example, in New England, there was dozens and dozens of agents who were not allowed to market or enroll. A good % of those not allowed were Districts.
I think healthmarkets realizes the value of MA and will go to great lengths to avoid fucking it up. At a manager's meeting in Dallas, they even stated that the MA product can't be sold the same way that the health plans are sold.
HaHa, that would have been an interesting meeting.
"Alright maggots, listen up. You cannot do any of the crap (wink) you normally do. We'll potentially lose this market and we won't be able to go public, which means all the stock you have now won't even buy you a roll of toilet paper. Now get out there and remember what I said."
I understand through an informant of mine that they're targeting the sales tactics of agents who have "unusual sales production" - meaning, Healthmarkets really wants to know how those "50K a week" agents are selling.
If you read the PDF file Healthmarkets is going to do a "secret shoppers" tactic and have Healthmarket employees pose as clients to ascertain the sales methods of certain agents.
Also, manager's paid (on all tiers) are now going to be tied to complaint ratios - not production. So if your division or district has "X" number of complaints then you're pay goes down.
Their original marketing strategy for MA was to get together large groups of seniors and do a powerpoint presentation that would hopefully answer any and all questions. This was very quickly was snuffed out due to combination CMS secret shoppers and poor agent training on the product. Gee, who would of thought that was going to happen?
Actually, CMS pulled medicare advertising and promotion until just after Thanksgiving 2007.
Are you speaking specifically of HealthMarkets? Because that is not the case with other carriers. CMS did end the Continuous Open Enrollment in the summer for PFFS plans. However, advertising began in October of 2007 for the AEP which started on 11/15/07.
Mega FYI
Gee, who would of thought that was going to happen?
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