4 Years Later, You guys were right

[straightnochaser]

That's what her post says.

Nope

 

[KandKsmommy]

Some of your stuff doesn't make sense to me . Here you were a captive agent for 4 yrs i guess you said . And within 4-5 months of leaving you have several agents under you and giving out 401k's,vacation and sick days .Have an office and staff . I'm sure she didn't release you so that takes 6 months to get a release .

I wasn't truly captive. I was the principal on all of my books just under her agency. I bought the business in May of last year and immediately had control of my books. We had an agreement of her applying any payments that went to her towards my promissory. There were a few months with some payments ending up under her while they completed the transfer. She will be writing me a 1099 for anything paid to me under her agency.

I already had a staff member onboard and I kept her. She started studying for her license but was in an accident last summer so we postponed her taking the test till this year. My third staff member came on temp to hire for aep as a receptionist so my assistant was freed up to help with reaching out to clients, scheduling appointments and chart prep. My temp is now on full-time and has over 20 years experience in the tax industry. We received over 1200 calls in Nov alone so having the temp was essential. I don't have the exact number of new clients added but there was a lot. I have not had a chance to do a count.

I am not swimming in money, I live very basic. I am investing a lot into my business and staff as I want to continue to grow. I just set up the simple IRA to start this month. My assistant had to use her vacation time for the accident so at the start of this year I decided to offer unlimited sick time with doctors notes for more than 3 days. I personally have a ton of health issues as does my family so I know how stressful it can be to need time off for doctors and such. I also allows my assistant to bring in her son as needed if daycare is closed hes 7. I do vacation days accrued by pay period now.

I started out just expanding to two states last year and got a few clients in both of those states but my snow birds are sharing my business cards and some calls have started. I just jumped into the other 3 states this month as I have a few more clients moving and some others with family needing help. I initially will be able to cover the costs of licensing with the few accounts I have been getting in those states.

I am extremely motivated and pride myself on offering great customer service. I am still doing grants and patient assistance all though that job has been handed over to my assistant.

My newest staff already has a calendar filling up and has brought on one business client for book keeping. So we are going from my busy time into hers. Like me she has made a name for herself and many of her clients have migrated over to us. I also do ACA so having a tax person on staff is super helpful and many of my ACA will now also use us for their taxes.

I unfortunately had a lot of movement in my book because one of my biggest MAPD carriers lost the biggest hospital system in our state. This means great money for this month but a big dip in my renewals. Thankfully we grew a lot on the ACA side this year and that pays monthly.

I am bringing in a temp for her during tax season but I don't plan on bringing in any other additional staff for a bit after that.

 

[DonP]

I wasn't truly captive. I was the principal on all of my books just under her agency. I bought the business in May of last year and immediately had control of my books. We had an agreement of her applying any payments that went to her towards my promissory. There were a few months with some payments ending up under her while they completed the transfer. She will be writing me a 1099 for anything paid to me under her agency.

I already had a staff member onboard and I kept her. She started studying for her license but was in an accident last summer so we postponed her taking the test till this year. My third staff member came on temp to hire for aep as a receptionist so my assistant was freed up to help with reaching out to clients, scheduling appointments and chart prep. My temp is now on full-time and has over 20 years experience in the tax industry. We received over 1200 calls in Nov alone so having the temp was essential. I don't have the exact number of new clients added but there was a lot. I have not had a chance to do a count.

I am not swimming in money, I live very basic. I am investing a lot into my business and staff as I want to continue to grow. I just set up the simple IRA to start this month. My assistant had to use her vacation time for the accident so at the start of this year I decided to offer unlimited sick time with doctors notes for more than 3 days. I personally have a ton of health issues as does my family so I know how stressful it can be to need time off for doctors and such. I also allows my assistant to bring in her son as needed if daycare is closed hes 7. I do vacation days accrued by pay period now.

I started out just expanding to two states last year and got a few clients in both of those states but my snow birds are sharing my business cards and some calls have started. I just jumped into the other 3 states this month as I have a few more clients moving and some others with family needing help. I initially will be able to cover the costs of licensing with the few accounts I have been getting in those states.

I am extremely motivated and pride myself on offering great customer service. I am still doing grants and patient assistance all though that job has been handed over to my assistant.

My newest staff already has a calendar filling up and has brought on one business client for book keeping. So we are going from my busy time into hers. Like me she has made a name for herself and many of her clients have migrated over to us. I also do ACA so having a tax person on staff is super helpful and many of my ACA will now also use us for their taxes.

I unfortunately had a lot of movement in my book because one of my biggest MAPD carriers lost the biggest hospital system in our state. This means great money for this month but a big dip in my renewals. Thankfully we grew a lot on the ACA side this year and that pays monthly.

I am bringing in a temp for her during tax season but I don't plan on bringing in any other additional staff for a bit after that.

So it seems you do a lot of low income stuff . What will you do starting April 1st with no Lis sep to move plans after April 1st? Also dst sep gone . This is a problem for activity for most agents after April 1st

 

[KandKsmommy]

So it seems you do a lot of low income stuff . What will you do starting April 1st with no Lis sep to move plans after April 1st? Also dst sep gone . This is a problem for activity for most agents after April 1st

No I actually have a very diverse client base. I started on the hospital side so I have a built in referral system from the doctor's I worked with.

My book spans from super low income to third level IRMAA. My initial 5 year goal was to earn $100k by year 5 I did it by the end of year 3. My clients know they can trust that I have their best interest at heart. My book was solely built by word of mouth. The advertising I did included charitable giving, fundraising and giving back to my community.

The patient assistance piece we offer does mean extra work but it pays off ten fold in referrals.

When you live in a rural area your doctors tend to cycle out every few years. Almost every doctor who I've worked with has kept in touch in their new states.

If I could give someone just starting out a word of advice. Take the patient assistance training offered through needymeds.org. Help with things like grant applications, prescription assistance. Make friends with the local doctors and explain the service you offer. When their patient can get their much needed med or can afford their copay word gets around fast.

 

[DonP]

No I actually have a very diverse client base. I started on the hospital side so I have a built in referral system from the doctor's I worked with.

My book spans from super low income to third level IRMAA. My initial 5 year goal was to earn $100k by year 5 I did it by the end of year 3. My clients know they can trust that I have their best interest at heart. My book was solely built by word of mouth. The advertising I did included charitable giving, fundraising and giving back to my community.

The patient assistance piece we offer does mean extra work but it pays off ten fold in referrals.

When you live in a rural area your doctors tend to cycle out every few years. Almost every doctor who I've worked with has kept in touch in their new states.

If I could give someone just starting out a word of advice. Take the patient assistance training offered through needymeds.org. Help with things like grant applications, prescription assistance. Make friends with the local doctors and explain the service you offer. When their patient can get their much needed med or can afford their copay word gets around fast.

How is that has prevleant today when max out of pocket for all drugs is $2k? That's $167 a month even if you're taking 10 tier 3 drugs . I agree with your strategy approaching dr offices for referrals to people who can't afford meds or copays . Good job

 

[KandKsmommy]

How is that has prevleant today when max out of pocket for all drugs is $2k? That's $167 a month even if you're taking 10 tier 3 drugs . I agree with your strategy approaching dr offices for referrals to people who can't afford meds or copays . Good job

It's absolutely insane. We are fortunate to have Canada literally minutes away so getting things like Eliquis is easy. It's around $300 US for a years supply of the generic.

We have one small MAPD that took an amazing approach and after the $150 deductible the copay drops to $47 a month at a standard pharmacy.

I almost died because I could not afford my meds before Obamacare. I have cardiomyopathy and was in Lisinopril and Metoprolol Succ and at the time 14 years ago I had been off my meds for 2 years because they were $300 a month. I was struggling and made $10 too much for Medicaid but I had a child to support so I couldn't quite or work less. I also couldn't get on workplace coverage because of my cardiomyopathy.

An amazing patient financial advocated helped me apply for programs after I landed in the hospital and now I'm getting to pay it forward.

 

[DonP]

It's absolutely insane. We are fortunate to have Canada literally minutes away so getting things like Eliquis is easy. It's around $300 US for a years supply of the generic.

We have one small MAPD that took an amazing approach and after the $150 deductible the copay drops to $47 a month at a standard pharmacy.

I almost died because I could not afford my meds before Obamacare. I have cardiomyopathy and was in Lisinopril and Metoprolol Succ and at the time 14 years ago I had been off my meds for 2 years because they were $300 a month. I was struggling and made $10 too much for Medicaid but I had a child to support so I couldn't quite or work less. I also couldn't get on workplace coverage because of my cardiomyopathy.

An amazing patient financial advocated helped me apply for programs after I landed in the hospital and now I'm getting to pay it forward.

This yr Cigna has no dedcutibles and copays . So ozempic and Eliquis are $47 from day 1 .

 

[goillini52]

This yr Cigna has no dedcutibles and copays . So ozempic and Eliquis are $47 from day 1 .

Same with UHC.

 

[KandKsmommy]

This yr Cigna has no dedcutibles and copays . So ozempic and Eliquis are $47 from day 1 .

That's awesome. I see so much variation in the different states. My clients in FL have far better options than my ones in ME.

It has been fun learning about them because we have a ton of snow birds and my clients have family spread all over. That's why I decided to immediately get my non-res in a few states clients moved to after I took over.

Eventually I want to expand into LTC and financial planning so having knowledge of what areas with care/retirement communities offer the best plans will be a huge asset.