Aetna / Coventry Go to 0% on March 2nd

[Sherota1]

How does Aetna reducing its agent commission rate to 0% for 9 months out of the year provide "value, and viable options" to our clients? That's illogical and crazy. Also, any material change to our existing client's coverage after March 1st of this year will trigger a SEP and instantly lower the commission to 0%!

I asked this question to my contact at UHC. They SAID that the 0% commissions after 1-1-2016 refers to new business only. They said that current enrolled could make changes to their applications during the year and we would still receive our commission as usual. They said as long as they were enrolled for January 1st we the agent will not be affected. Any new clients after that date would be 0%. It remains to be seen what they will really do. Hopefully Aetna will do the same.

The bleeding isn't going to stop by not paying agents because the government does not respect the deadlines so no one really feels a need to follow the rules. We will just have more unhappy people with little understanding of their plans and no where to turn to.

I'm looking forward to the break so I can expand in other areas.

 

[AllenChicago]

I asked this question to my contact at UHC. They SAID that the 0% commissions after 1-1-2016 refers to new business only. They said that current enrolled could make changes to their applications during the year and we would still receive our commission as usual. They said as long as they were enrolled for January 1st we the agent will not be affected. Any new clients after that date would be 0%. It remains to be seen what they will really do. Hopefully Aetna will do the same.

The bleeding isn't going to stop by not paying agents because the government does not respect the deadlines so no one really feels a need to follow the rules. We will just have more unhappy people with little understanding of their plans and no where to turn to.

I'm looking forward to the break so I can expand in other areas.

Thank-you for sharing what you learned from UHC, Sherota1. Hopefully UHC will follow-through on this "promise", and like you said, Aetna-Coventry will follow suit.

Unfortunately these carriers will find is that SEP losses will not abate as long as Healthcare.gov continues to hand out SEP enrollments like Halloween candy. Maybe then, they'll do what they should do on 2.1.2016..remove their plans from all quote engines.

My biggest fear is that Blue Cross will eliminate SEP commissions. BC prefers group, and would like to get rid of IFP SEP enrollments as much as every other company. By continuing to pay us, the company will be a magnet for agent's business until the next Open Enrollment. BCBS knows this. The question is what, if any, action will they take action to deter us?

I think Government killing the taxpayer contribution to the health insurer bailout pool is what prompted all these commission reductions.

 

[somarco]

What happens if they all decide to just stop selling individual health care and we've only got BCBS left?

That has been anticipated since BO used his pen to make this turd into a law.

How is this not all over the news?

Because agents have been rendered irrelevant from the start. All of the Ocare puffery referenced going to the exchange (later called marketplace). Never any mention of agents.

DC used OUR tax dollars to promote and encourage people to go to goodluck.gov, not the agent.

Once the exchange went live (in a manner) agent involvement was doomed.

Agents should have been planning their exit strategy from the day this law was signed. If they didn't have one implemented by 1/1/14 it was almost too late. Ocare is a ticking time bomb that will eventually blow up but before that happens agents that want to use U65 health insurance as a business model need to plan on living on less money.

More states may eventually expand Medicaid which will further erode the IFP market. Health insurance in the near future will be two pronged.

About half the country will have employer health insurance, the balance some sort of govt plan (Medicare, Medicaid, VA).

Going forward there will be fewer IFP carriers, fewer plans, smaller networks and almost non-existent commissions.

SEP business which is evidently very expensive claims wise for the carriers

About 50% higher loss ratio than AEP

still want business, just not agent business. They'd rather an uniformed prospect pick a bronze plan on their own

Bingo

Government killing the taxpayer contribution to the health insurer bailout pool is what prompted all these commission reductions.

Indirectly.

What it did was lead to carriers bailing on all Ocare business. If they can't get Uncle Sugar to keep them afloat they pack up their ball and bat and go home.

This entire hope and change was destined to fail from day one.

 

[MedicareAgent]

Why pay agents when the idiots at the market place can do the work.

 

[G.Gordon]

What I love about this move is they were doing their best to "buy" loyalty with the "priority" level compensation and service is you kept a certain number of clients with them. Seems their inducements didn't work, the nightmare they created for us gets paid back by moving clients, period. We've told several that have wanted to stay and the new enrollees that we will help fix a Coventry problem one time and then it is on them.

 

[pbbaseball]

What's interesting is that UHC has cut off the agent, but they are still running online ads for direct sales and using online distributors like ehealth. So they still want business, just not agent business. They'd rather an uniformed prospect pick a bronze plan on their own.

And UHC was pumping out the ads for the Wild Card games last weekend

 

[houcoogster]

And UHC was pumping out the ads for the Wild Card games last weekend

What???

An Insurance Co talking out of both sides of their mouth??.......Never heard such!

 

[pahealthquotes]

Indy Agents no longer hold any value to the ins co's.

Moving closer and closer to Single payer

 

[AllenChicago]

Indy Agents no longer hold any value to the ins co's.

I noticed that the e-mail updates from our carrier representatives started to slow to a trickle last Fall. Nothing from any of them wishing Happy Holidays. I wonder what career the former agent support people are best suited for?

 

[cadylou]

I noticed that the e-mail updates from our carrier representatives started to slow to a trickle last Fall. Nothing from any of them wishing Happy Holidays. I wonder what career the former agent support people are best suited for?

I wonder how many livelihoods throughout the industry they've eliminated. First to go was the underwriters, now agents, agent support . . . .hmmmm . . . .