Aetna Commission Modification Letter

[Crabcake Johnny]

Just got the mail - letter from Aetna - relevant paragraphs:

"Modification of Aetna Producer Agreement

In light of the 80% Minimum Loss Ratio requirements that go into effect next year under the healthcare reform legislation, we may be making changes to the commissions structure for Aetna Advantage Plans for Individuals, Families and the Self-Employed.

For individual health insurance policies written on or after September 1, 2010, the commission schedule will remain the same through December 31, 2010. However, this letter serves as notice that we may be instituting a new commission schedule for these same policies that will be effective on January 1, 2011. These changes will be dependent on future healthcare reform legislation regulation, and we will communicate our new commission schedule to you no later than November 30, 2010. We will continue to evaluate our renewal commission schedule and how it may be affected in 2011 and beyond.

These modification change your existing Aetna Producer Agreement pursuant to Section F(13), including your current compensation schedule...."

 

[AllenChicago]

From the wording of that "diplomatic" letter, it sounds as if Aetna has already decided to cut commissions, even though there has been no final determination if the 80% MLR will include agent commissions.

I wonder how many agents in this country believe the executives when they tell us at the various conventions how important we are to the company's success and how they will always reward us commensurately?

 

[FLM]

anyone who thinks they can make any kind of living selling individual health insurance from now through the beginning of Guaranteed Issue in 2014 has to be taking some incredible drugs. The only agents who will be OK during that time are those with a healthy book of business as the insurance companies probably won't be able to retroactively cut commissions. All healthcare reform did to the insurance industry is give the insurance companies an opportunity to cut out the middleman, all for the sake of the 80% MLR mandate. By 2014 I'm guessing that there will be so few independent agents it will no longer matter anyway.