Med Sup Pros---"is this True???"

[FLM2]

I am not understanding If you get a lead 6 months out don't you present both?

If they decide MA is right then you can set up to do app 3 months out and if they decide sup do app right away?

Why would you lose buis if you present both and if you do a good job in letting them know you offer both and have a follow up system in place if they change their minds they should contact you to make the change no?

I do send a welcome letter followed by a send out card campaign as well as email newsletter. This helps with staying in front of those customers to remain the goto guy,

I haven't had one change mind to go MA before But I have had a few the other way around sign up MA with me and call me back to do sup instead, I make sure any T65 or someone who drops Supp knows That I can change into sup any time in the 1st 12 months and I do make them fully aware of what is being traded away for those lower premiums

vic, I have lots of respect for the way you conduct business and know you do a great job for your clients.

The OP is a newbie who asked if he could write Med Supps 6 months out-as someone who deals with mostly Florida clients (where the OP is newly licensed) it strikes me as a good way to fail because he will write the Med Supp, take the advance, and not present anything else, either because he doesn't know enough to do so or isn't certified.

While I don't buy leads at all I do have the equivalent that are 6 months to 18 months out from my book of business who are aging into Medicare, I have about 20 of those who will reach Medicare eligibility in the next 18 months. Each of them knows I want to help them make the transition and I expect 100% success with them because I have been their health insurance agent for some time. Most of them wind up doing it 1-2 months from their effective date.

If I were to focus on those 6 months out my approach would not be enrollment, it would be education because of the possibility that they will want MAPD and nothing can be done until they have their Medicare card-I have helped many clients get their cards over the past few years through the online system so am proactive about it.

When I wrote that original response it was based on many comments I've heard from clients who complained about the way Bankers Life agents started calling them 6 months from their effective dates, that's different than someone filling out a reply card or an internet lead card.

I have no problem with established agents writing Med Supps six months out but still think it's a great way for a newbie to fail, particularly in states with MAPD penetration of 40%+. I see no reason to write an application unless the prospect is 100% convinced that is the way to go.

 

[vic120]

vic, I have lots of respect for the way you conduct business and know you do a great job for your clients.

The OP is a newbie who asked if he could write Med Supps 6 months out-as someone who deals with mostly Florida clients (where the OP is newly licensed) it strikes me as a good way to fail because he will write the Med Supp, take the advance, and not present anything else, either because he doesn't know enough to do so or isn't certified.

While I don't buy leads at all I do have the equivalent that are 6 months to 18 months out from my book of business who are aging into Medicare, I have about 20 of those who will reach Medicare eligibility in the next 18 months. Each of them knows I want to help them make the transition and I expect 100% success with them because I have been their health insurance agent for some time. Most of them wind up doing it 1-2 months from their effective date.

If I were to focus on those 6 months out my approach would not be enrollment, it would be education because of the possibility that they will want MAPD and nothing can be done until they have their Medicare card-I have helped many clients get their cards over the past few years through the online system so am proactive about it.

When I wrote that original response it was based on many comments I've heard from clients who complained about the way Bankers Life agents started calling them 6 months from their effective dates, that's different than someone filling out a reply card or an internet lead card.

I have no problem with established agents writing Med Supps six months out but still think it's a great way for a newbie to fail, particularly in states with MAPD penetration of 40%+. I see no reason to write an application unless the prospect is 100% convinced that is the way to go.

I guess maybe that's where I buy Internet leads ranging from 64 1.2 to 80 years old I don't focus on T65 and don't focas on signing 6 months out just if it comes my way I deal with it that way, and I do both MA and medsupp

I can see your point where it does not compare to someone selling Medsupp only and targeting T65, 6 Months out in a 40% penetration area. I would not be able to say what I do would compare in that situation

 

[rousemark]

My original comment was based on my own experiences, in Florida, with mostly Bankers Life agents and made the comment because the OP is in Florida, is a newbie, and most likely would be relying on the advance for the enrollment 6 months in advance to make a living, something that is a recipe for failure.

If the OP decides to go that route, in Florida (he lives in South Florida where MAPD penetration is near 50%) there is a likelihood he will lose lots of those enrollments to MAPD before the Medicare effective date. That is an undeniable fact, particularly since the lowest cost Plan F in South Florida is about $250 a month.

There is nothing wrong with an agent offering a competitively priced Medicare Supplement 6 months out to a client but there is also the risk that in the next 6 months that person will decide to go with an MAPD plan and the sale will be lost. If it's an area with very low MAPD penetration then that risk is minimized.

I had no intention of pissing off agents in other states that do this routinely, my point to a Florida newbie was that it probably isn't a very good idea.

Thanks for the explanation. I was truly curious as I specialized in med support but back when Select plans and MAs came out and all the CMS regs came into play, I quit selling them.

 

[TDFnCali]

I find it hilarious that you wrote this.

Only a couple months ago I met with a lady who'd already had an agent come to her door in response to a mailing, about four months before she turned 65, wanting to sell her a Med supp. She told him she didn't have her Medicare card yet and that the agent told her to call him back when she had it, and left.

I was working T65 leads and knocked on her door just a few days later, according to her. She let me in and I wrote the Med supp app and scoped her for a return visit during her IEP to do her PDP. She was delighted to have most of the process behind her.

This was in Rockwood TN. That wasn't one of your cases, was it?

Ok, maybe the answer to my question is in 1 of the replies, but there were so many & some were so long...just thought Id ask directly?

Ive seen apps say u can sign up 6mos prior to their 65th Bday, but I was confused as to how you would sign somone up without their Medicare card too?

Do u just put their SS# & the date of their Bday month as the eff dates? I thought they had to be in the medicare system though?

 

[somarco]

My personal experience, for what it's worth, someone looking 6 months out is a tire kicker. I don't spend much time with them and most of the time send them a "closing your file" email.

This week was an exception.

Guy hit my site on Monday. Opened my email 4x so I called him Tues AM. We talked for a few minutes. Asked if he could call back in 30 minutes.

Figured I would never hear from him.

Fooled me. Called 30 minutes later. About 10 minutes into the conversation he told me he had talked with another agent recommended by a couple of close friends. I was about ready to flush him when he said, "I have already learned more from you in 10 minutes than I learned on about 30 with him. When do we need to get together to finalize this for an August effective date?".

I set an appointment to call him back the last week of May.

He will buy and his wife 18 months later.

My preference is to talk to folks within 2 - 6 weeks of their effective date. They are the most receptive and easiest to write up. Those that call within 2 weeks of their effective date or after their coverage should go into effect are just checking rates.

I have no time for them at all and flush them within 48 hours of showing up in my system.

And I don't think I have ever taken an app 6 months out. No plans to start now.

That being said I have written a few that already bought and then after talking to me decided they made the wrong choice.

 

[kgmom219]

I went shopping today with all the money I didn't get paid on from BCBSTX. Should have stayed home and read this. Its more entertaining.

Everyone get a grip. WHO CARES when you take the app???

My sales cycle is almost always 7 months long. I like to talk to people BEFORE they are overwhelmed with the T65 calls and mailings. We do Medicare 101. They have to figure out if they are taking Social Security or Part B only. Whats the IRMAA situation. Then we set a date for the first Friday of 64 years, 9 months to talk again.

I don't write the app til they have their "Welcome to Medicare" letter and do both the supp and drug plan at the same time, usually 45-60 days out.

About 25% of the people I do Medicare 101 for aren't going to retire and have no interest in starting Medicare in the next 12 months, but they are overwhelmed with info. I always get them eventually. Had a guy call me Friday who I talked to 3 years ago.

Thats me.

Whatever works for YOU is fine. My sales cycle is longer than most peoples. So what? It works for me. I just think taking the app prior to the Part B enrollment causes way too many issues on the backend. If the OP wants to write 6 months out, great. If he wants to write 5 days out, great.

 

[goillini52]

Ok, maybe the answer to my question is in 1 of the replies, but there were so many & some were so long...just thought Id ask directly?

Ive seen apps say u can sign up 6mos prior to their 65th Bday, but I was confused as to how you would sign somone up without their Medicare card too?

Do u just put their SS# & the date of their Bday month as the eff dates? I thought they had to be in the medicare system though?

Just put "doesn't have yet" and as soon as they get there #, send it in. Aetna sends them a letter for them to fill out and send back in with their Medicare claim #.

 

[Ronnie Carter]

Ok, maybe the answer to my question is in 1 of the replies, but there were so many & some were so long...just thought Id ask directly?

Ive seen apps say u can sign up 6mos prior to their 65th Bday, but I was confused as to how you would sign somone up without their Medicare card too?

Do u just put their SS# & the date of their Bday month as the eff dates? I thought they had to be in the medicare system though?

I wait until it's closer to the IEP if it's an "unusual" situation. If the client worked or is piggybacking on husband's earnings, etc., I assume SSN plus letter A or B, and put in the future effective dates. The carriers just hold until the Medicare enrollment is showing. Haven't had problems with that, or with clients cancelling as they evidently must be doing down in FL.

As to FLM, I would have thought he'd recognize the question about hitting one of his clients was made in jest. Seems I touched a nerve with him! But I have had quite a few successful Med supp sales with clients who did not yet have their Medicare cards, and per the story I told, sometimes it can be costly for an agent to pass them up.

 

[kgmom219]

Just put "doesn't have yet" and as soon as they get there #, send it in. Aetna sends them a letter for them to fill out and send back in with their Medicare claim #.

Yuk. Pass

BTW...how happy are you with Aetna? They just came in with great rates in TX for 67 and above.

 

[goillini52]

Yuk. Pass

BTW...how happy are you with Aetna? They just came in with great rates in TX for 67 and above.

I'm not happy with them at all. They never were competitive here with Aetna Health and now they just announced an 11.5% increase on Plan F and 7% on Plan G. They seem to want to push Plan D. I haven't written a Med Supp with them since they closed the ACI block. I'm having to move that business, as they're getting too high.