Medicare Agents - What to do during Lock-In??

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 01:59 pm Post Subject:

Chris, would you please tell me more about EmerConnect?

Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 06:23 pm Post Subject:

Due to HIPPA laws and regulations, a hospital or emergency worker is not legally allowed to contact family members in the event of an emergency without written authorization. For example, if you are involved in an automobile accident and are unconscious...emergency responders and the hospital cannot contact any relatives (even if you have ICE in your cell phone or a card with emergency contacts). HIPPA is designed to protect the privacy of the patient, but it also has some unwanted side effects (this being one of them).

EmerConnect is a subscription based program in which the members carry cards in their wallet and a keyring tag (similar to a bonus program keytag) that indicates they are emergency network members. The hospital, EMS, Police, or Fire departments can call the 800 number on the card and give the 5 digit membership id number to the operator. The operator immediately contacts the members family and friends and carries out an emergency plan that has been developed and created by the patient!

The process is completely HIPPA compliant due to the fact that no information is released (just the 5 digit id number) and EmerConnect has authorization in writing to carry out the emergency plan.

It provides a product that Insurance Agents can offer that is both easy to enroll a client in, and there are NO charge backs. The subscriptions range from 10/month - 24/month depending on how many people are covered (children, pets, etc.). The commissions are as follows:

Monthly Member - $15, plus $5/month
Annual Member - $75, plus $60/year after

While EmerConnect does have some full-time agents...most simply offer it along with their current product offerings. It's not likely going to make you rich, but it does allow you to develop a pretty solid base fairly quickly.

If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me. The website is emerconnect.com

Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:27 pm Post Subject:

Why would you not just do the medicare supplements? Why are there so many agents that think MA plans are the best thing for most seniors when in fact they are not!
I see this all the time anymore...the OEP comes to an end and some agents are stumped on what to do now. If they would learn the senior market and medicare supplements they wouldn't have a problem. As a matter of fact, if they knew more about medicare supplements they would be selling many more of these than the MA plans.

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 09:17 am Post Subject:

Listen, MA has been going downhill rapidly and has started really falling away since the election. The current powers that be want to do away with it totally with their new medicare reform proposals, which will end up leaving a lot of seniors enrolled in these plans hanging. I have written quite a few over the past couple of years and have proactively left the market. The writing is on the wall.

The great thing is that defensive investment products like annuities, funeral trust, life insurance, and supplements seem to be doing really well. These seem to offer seniors a sense of security in this troubled financial time.

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 03:40 pm Post Subject:

Most of the agents nowadays don't realize that the whole "MA" thing has been tried in the past under another guise called "Medicare + Choice". Didn't work then and isn't really working now. While there are some out there that benefit from this, IE; underage disability and seniors that are about $2 above the medicaid level, most do not need this type of insurance. They need a good medicare supplement. However, the trend has been that so many "new" agents were hired just to sell this product and really don't understand medicare and/or medicare supplements at all. They were taught to go around yelling..."it's free". :roll:

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 04:35 pm Post Subject:

I agree. When I was marketing MA plans, I quickly realized that there was just a select group that these plans actually helped (and for that specific group they really did help out a lot) but there was also widespread abuse going on in the market. It mad me mad when I came across someone who had unintentionally lost better retirement benefits because they did not understand that this type of plan replaced original medicare coverage and any type of supplement. Even though it did help those I enrolled, I came to see that this type of policy was too much of a liability for me as an agent and also for the client.

One rule of thumb when writing any type of policy is to give it the 6 o'clock news test.

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 04:44 pm Post Subject:

To my regular investment and insurance clients, I work mostly with Medicare Supplements. Most of the Medicare Advantage plans aren't widely accepted and don't really work...the theory behind them sounds good...but it's just that a theory.

That being said, I live in a fairly rural area where the access to health care isn't wonderful. Most of the MA's that I do sell are to people that simply cannot afford anything else. Unless they qualify for a special needs plan or are very low income, I direct them towards a supplement. The only other people that MA's seem to work for are those who have seen such a large increase in their premiums to where they would pay more for the supplement than their out of pocket maximum under an MA. (These are not common)

I cannot tell you how many people I have come across that have been pressured into enrolling in an MA. They are very easy to sell, and the senior market is mostly trusting...which has made fraud run rampant. There aren't many jobs that a relatively uneducated individual can work and make 300-500 in a day. I hate to see the people who have lost excellent coverage because they thought they were doing the right thing!

I was interested in seeing who on the forums focuses mainly on MA's, and it doesn't appear that many do.

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 08:05 pm Post Subject:

Yeah, focusing only on MA products is a poor business plan. Especially now when the legislation and regulation is rapidly changing.

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 11:18 am Post Subject:

Okay, so much about MA products in one day...but can someone explain about MA products to me in detail? Moreover, I'm curious to know that how can I best insure my father, who's about to turn 65 in 5 months? He would qualify for Medicare but, what else?

Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 01:58 am Post Subject:

He needs a medicare supplement. Don't buy into the "it's free" of medicare advantage plans.
At age 65, or otherwise known as "aging in", he qualifies for any medicare supplement regardless of health. He has 6 months to do this. After that, he'll have to answer all questions on the application with a "No" answer in order to qualify for it. Most companies questions are very similar.
What state is he in bandit?