11,000 Per Day!

[Frank Stastny]

The Baby Boomers are right around the corner, that "corner" is January 2011. They are people who were born starting in 1946 and going up to 1962. There is an estimated 78 million of them and their average income is over $70,000 per year. Around 4 million of them will be turning 65 each year or almost 11,000 per day.

Almost all of those 11,000 per day will qualify for Medicare. Every senior thinks they know and believe that Medicare by itself is not adequate coverage. They feel that they must have something in addition to Medicare.

With the direction the MA plans are taking I believe more and more seniors are going to opt for Medicare Supplement Insurance. It is still the best health insurance available to those who are 65 and older.

For grins let's assume that the average monthly commission is $25 when an agent sells a Med Supp. Let's also assume that the 4 million figure is accurate and that they all take a Med Supp. (We know that's not going to happen but let's assume it.) Four million Med Supps at $25 per month in commission equals $100,000,000 potential commission dollars to be made each month.

There is no question that we are on the brink of a huge explosion in Med Supp sales. The fuse will be lit at the beginning of October this year when agents can begin writing Med Supp apps with an effective date of 1/1/11. Not only will agents have the opportunity to begin writing the Boomers they will also be able to write Med Supp apps at that time for the millions who are going to be disenrolled from their current MA plans.

Agents who are not making preparations to take advantage of this landslide of people entering the Senior Market are going to be left in the dust. They will be shaking their heads saying, "What was I thinking?".

Supplemental insurance to Medicare is the easiest kind of insurance to sell. The agent doesn't have to convince the prospect that they need it. They all already know that. This means that the agent gets to bypass the most difficult part of the sales process, that is creating the need.

All the agent has to do is convince the prospect that he/she is a better person/agent to have their insurance with than the last guy they talked to.

When working the senior market one doesn't sell insurance. The agents who are the most successful are the ones who do the best job of selling themselves.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

11,000 per day is also the number of solicitations they get in the mail.

 

[Frank Stastny]

11,000 per day is also the number of solicitations they get in the mail.

That just makes the professional agent's job a lot easier and can work to his advantage.

They are getting the basic information at the expense of others. Those "others" are going to use hype, an emotional approach and for the most part a "canned" sales pitch. Only a small portion of them are really going to be experts on Medicare and Medicare Supplement Insurance.

When they have to opportunity to speak to a professional agent who knows how to educate them about Medicare and Medicare Supplement Insurance and not try to just "sell" them something they will immediately know who they want for an agent.

Those "others" are the agents who have made my job a lot easier and contributed greatly to my success in the senior market.

 

[sman]

Based on some recent figures I read, those on Medicare breakdown this way on coverage:

10% have original Medicare only
17% have Part C
32% have an employer plan
19% have a Med Supp
5% have an employer Med Supp
16% have Medicaid
1% other

So that's 36% who have an MA or Med Supp. Personally, I think the employer sponsored plans will decrease adding even more to the mix for those of us to market to. As all these baby boomers hit Medicare, we'll just have more and more opportunity.

Frank, the baby boomer generation is from 1946 to 1964 (not 1962). Not that it really matters all that much.

 

[houcoogster]

Ok, let's break it down a little bit further 36% of the 10,000 people turning 65 each day is 3600. Now the question is how many med supp agents are currently writing in the U.S? If it is 7 times 3600 = 25,200 that would equal about one app per week. Does anyone know about how many med supp agents there are?

 

[GreenSky]

Based on some recent figures I read, those on Medicare breakdown this way on coverage:

10% have original Medicare only
17% have Part C
32% have an employer plan
19% have a Med Supp
5% have an employer Med Supp
16% have Medicaid
1% other

Not questioning the numbers, but can you post the source?

Rick

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I can only find info for Mass:

http://www.mass.gov/Eoca/docs/doi/Managed_Care/Medsup/ComCounty_07.pdf

If I'm reading this right (which I'm probably not) 20% of all Medicare eligibles have a supp.

Stat page: 2007 Medicare Supplement Membership

 

[houcoogster]

Not questioning the numbers, but can you post the source?

Rick

I think he is questioning your numbers. ;-)

He probably got them from the Kaiser Foundation.

 

[sman]

They were actually in the UHC/AARP 2011 certification material.

I just went back in and looked at it again, it says the source of these numbers is from Medpac, June 2009.

Not questioning the numbers, but can you post the source?

Rick

 

[Frank Stastny]

Based on some recent figures I read, those on Medicare breakdown this way on coverage:

10% have original Medicare only
17% have Part C
32% have an employer plan
19% have a Med Supp
5% have an employer Med Supp
16% have Medicaid
1% other

So that's 36% who have an MA or Med Supp. Personally, I think the employer sponsored plans will decrease adding even more to the mix for those of us to market to. As all these baby boomers hit Medicare, we'll just have more and more opportunity.

Frank, the baby boomer generation is from 1946 to 1964 (not 1962). Not that it really matters all that much.

The percentages you posted are very close to those reported by AHIP in a 2008 publication and are from the 2004 "Medicare Current Beneficary Survey (MCBS)" results.

Dramatic changes have taken place since then.

In June of this year a report was released that showed, as of March 2010, only 24% of Medicare beneficiaries have MA plans. (SOURCE: MPR/Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of CMS Medicare Advantage enrollment files.)

The number of seniors on their former employers group health plans has also dramatically been reduced since 2004. All one has to do is look at what companies like GM has done in just the last few years. Every year fewer and fewer seniors are presented with the option of retaining their group health plan after they retire.

There is definitely more opportunity presenting itself in the senior market than ever before.