Medicare Advantage 48 Hour Rule

[djs]

Nope. You have completed the requirements for Medicare Advantage SOA. Supplements are private insurance and not subject to the silliness of MA so you can take the application.

Although you are not allowed to cross-sell non-health products during a MA appointment so no life or annuities for example, but other health products like med supps or dental are ok.

My understanding (and I could be wrong) is that you can't sell Med Advantage and anything else (besides prescription) in the same appointment. At the same time, there is no waiting period for an appointment to sell a similar product, so you could wrap up the MA presentation, basically close that out, and then sell the med supp.

I've never really gotten a good clarification on this, though I know annuities and other non-health things are very taboo in the same sitting.

To me it has become a non-issue. Med-supps and MA's are almost totally different markets, and a bit of prescreening upfront, you know what you are going for. It helps when you have limited MA offerings left in your area (that are at all practical compared to a medsupp).

Dan

 

[Sal15]

My understanding is that if you are discussing Med supps, but then the prospect asks about something less expensive, that you could pull out the SOA immediately and then talk to them about MA.
But if discussing non-health related products (eg final expense) that the 48 hr rule would have to be observed.

This is correct.

Hopefully the OP did their own research. The inaccurate information given in this thread could have cost him/her some sales.

 

[djs]

For research, please refer to the bible:
https://www.cms.gov/ManagedCareMarketing/Downloads/R91MCM.pdf

You will find that the 48 hour rule does apply (I'm assuming Sal15 is implying otherwise) - page 79:

Sales of MA and PDP products are subject to our scope of appointment guidance, even if conducted during a sales appointment for a Medigap policy. This includes the requirement for a beneficiary-completed agreement form prior to the appointment and a 48-hour waiting period.

CMS is pretty clear that you cannot 'market' medigap and MA plans together. Ironically, it seems pretty silent on if you can sell them together, if scope of appointment rules are followed. I wouldn't push my luck a lot. If I was there for an MA appointment, I would finish the MA appointment then start a medigap appointment if appropriate. During the medigap portion of the appointment, you would be fine to answer customer initiated questions about the MA plan.

Dan

 

[Newby]

I'm proud to say that I haven't sold an MA or MAPD or PDP in over a year but...

The top paragraph of the Scope of Appointment form says (Please note that an agent may also discuss a Medicare Supplement policy with you.)

What do you suppose this means?

 

[VolAgent]

I'm proud to say that I haven't sold an MA or MAPD or PDP in over a year but...

The top paragraph of the Scope of Appointment form says (Please note that an agent may also discuss a Medicare Supplement policy with you.)

What do you suppose this means?

Pick me! Pick me! PICK ME!

Does that mean you can talk about MA versus Med Supp in the same appointment?

 

[Sal15]

For research, please refer to the bible:
https://www.cms.gov/ManagedCareMarketing/Downloads/R91MCM.pdf

You will find that the 48 hour rule does apply (I'm assuming Sal15 is implying otherwise) - page 79:

Thanks for posting this link. The exceptions to the 48 hour rule I was referring to can be found on page 94...

 

[Guest]

Just hire a mime to go to appointments with you. Then you speak once the mime determines which plan to discuss without saying a word.

 

[Josh]

Just hire a mime to go to appointments with you. Then you speak once the mime determines which plan to discuss without saying a word.

What do you mean by that?

 

[djs]

Thanks for posting this link. The exceptions to the 48 hour rule I was referring to can be found on page 94...

Correct, if you are in for a PDP appointment (who does those?), you can 'expand' the conversation by filling out a new scope and then talk about the MA.

This does not allow you to go from a medsupp to an MA without the 48 hour wait.

The top paragraph of the Scope of Appointment form says (Please note that an agent may also discuss a Medicare Supplement policy with you.)

But it doesn't say you can do it in the same appointment. It's an interesting point though. I guess once you are in for the MA appointment, you can talk about supps without much hinderence, though I would still do the MA presentation first.

Dan

 

[AllGold]

My understanding (and I could be wrong) is that you can't sell Med Advantage and anything else (besides prescription) in the same appointment. At the same time, there is no waiting period for an appointment to sell a similar product, so you could wrap up the MA presentation, basically close that out, and then sell the med supp.

I don't know for sure but that seems like semantics.

And could be wrong (I usually am) but I figure since you don't need a scope at all for med supps, there would have to be a specific CMS rule preventing you from discussing them in a MA appointment. I'm not aware of anything like that (but what do I know?) and as much as CMS likes to make rules, you'd think if that was their intent that it would be pretty prominent.