Aetna Announces Lifetime Renewals on Medicare Advantage and PDP Policies

[sshafran]

Just got this e-mail...

AETNA INDIVIDUAL MEDICARE

Aetna Announces Lifetime Renewals on Medicare Advantage and PDP policies

Effective immediately, Aetna will pay producers lifetime renewal commission for Aetna Individual Medicare Advantage and PDP policies.

Aetna currently pays commission based on the 6-year compensation cycle outlined by CMS. Going forward, renewal commission will be paid after the 6-year cycle ends, for as long as the member remains continuously enrolled in their original Aetna MA or PDP product.

To qualify for your renewal payment, you must continue to be listed as the "broker of record" on the policy and you must pass Aetna’s annual broker certification training.

Watch for details about our new and improved 2013 broker certification process coming soon!

And in case you missed our other commissions-related announcement... Producer commission payments are now issued weekly rather than bi-weekly!

Click here to review the recent announcement. Please see our 2012 Individual Medicare Compensation Payment Schedule on Producer World for future commission payment dates.

As always, we appreciate your business and value the commitment and service you provide to Aetna Medicare members.

If you have any questions, please contact your Aetna Medicare Broker Sales Representative or call the Aetna Medicare Broker Support Unit at (888) 247-1050.

 

[jdeasy]

Considering that the "lifetime" of an MA plan is about 2 years that is very generous of them.

 

[torri]

Great!! .......Now all they have to do now in get a plan worth talking about to the client. (In Georgia)

 

[wehotex]

Considering that the "lifetime" of an MA plan is about 2 years that is very generous of them.

There are some members that stay on these plans for many years. Every health plan should step it up and give lifetime renewals.

 

[jdeasy]

There are some members that stay on these plans for many years. Every health plan should step it up and give lifetime renewals.

Right!! They were paying for 6 years. How many MA clients do you have that have been on the same MA plan for more than 6 years? The dsame plan with no changes?

This is a smoke and mirrors move to make agents get the warm fuzzies. In reality it won't mean a thing.

 

[Newby]

Right!! They were paying for 6 years. How many MA clients do you have that have been on the same MA plan for more than 6 years? The dsame plan with no changes?

This is a smoke and mirrors move to make agents get the warm fuzzies. In reality it won't mean a thing.

I don't agree. If they keep the plan competitive it could be very good.

We have clients on Anthem MAPD plans and they have been happy for 4-years and probably never expect to change. I've even run across people on Humana that have been with them for years and very happy. Many people don't like to change.

I'll take longer renewals any day of the week IF it's a competitive company.

 

[jdeasy]

I don't agree. If they keep the plan competitive it could be very good.

We have clients on Anthem MAPD plans and they have been happy for 4-years and probably never expect to change. I've even run across people on Humana that have been with them for years and very happy. Many people don't like to change.

I'll take longer renewals any day of the week IF it's a competitive company.

The people on Humana are not on the same plans. Those plans have changed almost every year. Yes, the people may stay with Humana, but not on the plan they originally got.

At every MA company meeting that I have attended they all say that they average life is 2 years. Now, I haven't ever gone to a Humana debil meeting or to an Anthem meeting, but I replaced enough Humana and plans when I was doing MA to even think that their's are lasting much longer.

Of course witll Wellcare and Coventry and basically Todays Options out of the picute here now people may stay with one company longer sim ply because of less options to change. The companies will still continue to change the plans at will.

 

[wehotex]

Right!! They were paying for 6 years. How many MA clients do you have that have been on the same MA plan for more than 6 years? The dsame plan with no changes?

This is a smoke and mirrors move to make agents get the warm fuzzies. In reality it won't mean a thing.

Actually, I have had many stay on for over 7 years. But, I also think that there are variables involved like
1) the stability of your market - my markets Los Angeles Cty and San Antonio, Tex have both been high capitation markets, making them stable with their benefits and not leaving the service area high and dry.

2) the stability of the companies that you place your business with- I put a lot of my SoCal ppl with Caremore (which has always given away the store with benefits) and SCAN, which had held unique status for many years as a "social HMO". The Secure Horizons mbs from the 2004-2005 enrollment period have long since scattered. I'm down to about 4 of those.

In my current market (San Antonio), there are ONLY 4 players. Secure Horizons is very dominant because it gets a ton of support from its powerful medical groups. They have excellent retention because the medical groups help so much. Most of my SH business would still be on SH if I hadn't switched them years ago.
Humana is constantly cutting down the docs' capitations and making the referral process tougher. As a result, it's getting harder to retain those members as doctors drop Humana left and right.
Aetna is really investing $$ and effort in the Texas markets. I like them a lot at this point. They recently added Hermann Memorial in Houston- a big coup.

3) the importance of serving your customer base (goes without saying)

If a company only pays for 6 years, it would be much harder to ask a client to switch simply because they will have been on a plan for too long and will not change because they don't like to switch plans. It's a trait that all ppl have, but espec the elderly.

Then again, anything could happen with Medicare Advantage. But I'd rather sell for one that offers lifetime renewals than 6 years "just in case".

 

[billyg]

Just got this e-mail...

AETNA INDIVIDUAL MEDICARE

Aetna Announces Lifetime Renewals on Medicare Advantage and PDP policies

Effective immediately, Aetna will pay producers lifetime renewal commission for Aetna Individual Medicare Advantage and PDP policies.

Aetna currently pays commission based on the 6-year compensation cycle outlined by CMS. Going forward, renewal commission will be paid after the 6-year cycle ends, for as long as the member remains continuously enrolled in their original Aetna MA or PDP product.

To qualify for your renewal payment, you must continue to be listed as the "broker of record" on the policy and you must pass Aetna’s annual broker certification training.

Watch for details about our new and improved 2013 broker certification process coming soon!

And in case you missed our other commissions-related announcement... Producer commission payments are now issued weekly rather than bi-weekly!

Click here to review the recent announcement. Please see our 2012 Individual Medicare Compensation Payment Schedule on Producer World for future commission payment dates.

As always, we appreciate your business and value the commitment and service you provide to Aetna Medicare members.

If you have any questions, please contact your Aetna Medicare Broker Sales Representative or call the Aetna Medicare Broker Support Unit at (888) 247-1050.

Reading between the lines, I suspect that they're having some difficulty getting back into the market. They're probably promoting this to generate interest again among brokers, as well as signal that they expect to be competitive for the long term.

I don't take this as a bad thing, but I wouldn't change my revenue projections either.

 

[wehotex]

Thank you sshfran!!
Here I am almost 8 years later, wondering if I will be paid on these AETNA contracts written years ago from 2011-14 since they didn’t pay me this last commission run for the first time ever. Barring a massive proportion of OEP disenrollments, I should get paid on most (or ALL) still ACTIVE policies per this memo.
I have
2011- (2). $42.50
2012- (2). 42.50
2013- (8). 170.00
2014- (11). 233.75
__________
488.75/mo x 12 mos = $5,865/yr.

lifetime Renewals matter to me.