Did BCBS Declare No Comm in Tex

[SamIam]

here was a email that was forwarded to me.


LANTEX INSURANCE ALERT!!!
Client News (Sept 2016)
RE: Agent Commissions Eliminated
for Texas Individual/Family Plans
All Individual & Family policies effected

Dear Friends, This email is to all of LANTEX’s personal policy holders…
You may not know this, but all of the major health insurance companies in Texas (and other states, too) have essentially eliminated agents from representing them for their Individual/Family policies. To accomplish this they have lowered agent commissions to zero or next to zero. Most did it right after last year’s Open Enrollment Period; the rest made their announcements this week in advance of policies to be written during this year’s Open Enrollment for 1/1/17 and effects policies written for a 1/1/17 Effective Date. As follows…
Agent Commissions
Aetna...$1/person/month
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas…$0*
Humana…$0
Scott & White…1% Open Enrollment Period, 0% Special Enrollment Periods
United…$0

· BCBS currently allows 4% commissions on renewals if there are no changes.
However, we believe BCBS will shortly follow others and eliminate renewal commissions as well.

The health insurance companies are increasing their internal Gross Margins with the 5%-6% that agent commissions represented. Keep this in mind as you suffer the burden of the premium increases predicted to take effect January 1, 2017.
Back before 2010 some of you may recall our relating the health insurance premium levels of those days for a family of four to an auto lease; in the range of $200-$400 per month for a family of four. Today we make a similar analogy, but it now involves $1,800-$2,200 per month for a family of four and we now relate that to a 90%/30Yr mortgage on a $500,000 home ($2,010/mo @3.5%). Before ObamaCare we had to make a decision between a car and health insurance; bad enough, right? Apparently, not even close.
Yes, that is what ObamaCare has done “to make health insurance more affordable” for you since it passed in 2010. Now it has facilitated the demise of another private enterprise market, and a chunk of my family’s income.
So, this email is to give you a heads up…you will be on your own for your health insurance this coming renewal period...and beyond.
If your current insurance company asks for a big rate increase or radically changes the benefit packages for your 2017 renewal as Blue Cross did both last year, you will be able to go online to a carrier’s website and get quotes. We advise, unless you think you are eligible for an ObamaCare subsidy, stay off the so-called “Exchange” or “Marketplace” by ignoring or answering “No” to questions related to your finances. That way you will stay on the insurance company’s website and not be linked over to the ObamaCare Exchange. After you get proposals, if you want to call and get some advice, we would be glad to hear from you. We consider every one of you a friend and would do our best to help you make a good decision for yourself and your families, pro bono...
PS…We refer you back to our LANTEX email to you of August 13, 2015 as we prepared you for last year’s Open Enrollment, to refresh your memory as to how ObamaCare impacted your health insurance last year.

PPS. If you don’t like how health insurance has turned out for you and your family these past six years, this November 8th is the last and only opportunity you have to do anything about it.

 

[Yagents]

Well, here is confirmation that BX TX is playing in all counties next yr.


Blue Cross Blue Shield will offer Obamacare plans in Texas in 2017 | Health Care | Dallas News

 

[kgmom219]

No, they have not declared zero.

Stay tuned.............

 

[AllenChicago]

I wouldn't be surprised if all of the HCSC-owned Blue Crosses stopped paying commissions on IFP, Sam.

1. They're losing money every day on Individual Family Plans.

2. BCBS-IL started dismantling it's Agent Portal and Agent Support capabilities over a year ago..one piece at a time.

3. For 2017 HCSC is shipping 70% of its I.T. jobs overseas. (Which could actually be an improvement over the tech-challenged people there now.)

4. Even if the huge 50.2% 2017 increase is approved by the feds, BCBSIL says it will still lose money on Individual business.

5. Two million people in Illinois will have nothing but BCBSIL.

Bottom line: Under current rules of enrollment, they're losing money on ObamaScrew IFP business and don't want any more.

But, on a brighter note, I'm going to a BCBS hotel seminar next week where they're going to explain some positive changes with writing small-group business. All the way down to one-person "groups" will be commissionable at a decent percentage. We shall see!

 

[SamIam]

Hey Allen I saw that info but misplaced it can you pm me how I can go to that. Thanks

 

[Gulfman]

here was a email that was forwarded to me.


LANTEX INSURANCE ALERT!!!
Client News (Sept 2016)
RE: Agent Commissions Eliminated
for Texas Individual/Family Plans
All Individual & Family policies effected

Dear Friends, This email is to all of LANTEX’s personal policy holders…
You may not know this, but all of the major health insurance companies in Texas (and other states, too) have essentially eliminated agents from representing them for their Individual/Family policies. To accomplish this they have lowered agent commissions to zero or next to zero. Most did it right after last year’s Open Enrollment Period; the rest made their announcements this week in advance of policies to be written during this year’s Open Enrollment for 1/1/17 and effects policies written for a 1/1/17 Effective Date. As follows…
Agent Commissions
Aetna...$1/person/month
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas…$0*
Humana…$0
Scott & White…1% Open Enrollment Period, 0% Special Enrollment Periods
United…$0

· BCBS currently allows 4% commissions on renewals if there are no changes.
However, we believe BCBS will shortly follow others and eliminate renewal commissions as well.

The health insurance companies are increasing their internal Gross Margins with the 5%-6% that agent commissions represented. Keep this in mind as you suffer the burden of the premium increases predicted to take effect January 1, 2017.
Back before 2010 some of you may recall our relating the health insurance premium levels of those days for a family of four to an auto lease; in the range of $200-$400 per month for a family of four. Today we make a similar analogy, but it now involves $1,800-$2,200 per month for a family of four and we now relate that to a 90%/30Yr mortgage on a $500,000 home ($2,010/mo @3.5%). Before ObamaCare we had to make a decision between a car and health insurance; bad enough, right? Apparently, not even close.
Yes, that is what ObamaCare has done “to make health insurance more affordable” for you since it passed in 2010. Now it has facilitated the demise of another private enterprise market, and a chunk of my family’s income.
So, this email is to give you a heads up…you will be on your own for your health insurance this coming renewal period...and beyond.
If your current insurance company asks for a big rate increase or radically changes the benefit packages for your 2017 renewal as Blue Cross did both last year, you will be able to go online to a carrier’s website and get quotes. We advise, unless you think you are eligible for an ObamaCare subsidy, stay off the so-called “Exchange” or “Marketplace” by ignoring or answering “No” to questions related to your finances. That way you will stay on the insurance company’s website and not be linked over to the ObamaCare Exchange. After you get proposals, if you want to call and get some advice, we would be glad to hear from you. We consider every one of you a friend and would do our best to help you make a good decision for yourself and your families, pro bono...
PS…We refer you back to our LANTEX email to you of August 13, 2015 as we prepared you for last year’s Open Enrollment, to refresh your memory as to how ObamaCare impacted your health insurance last year.

PPS. If you don’t like how health insurance has turned out for you and your family these past six years, this November 8th is the last and only opportunity you have to do anything about it.

wOW....that's some letter. Click "no" for your finances.

 

[TwoLabs]

No they won't be paying zero. I was in a BCBS meeting earlier this week.

They said they recently got their applied for rates approved by TDI (close to 60%) and they did say that they would be paying commissions for OE 2017, but did not announce how much.

They did say that it's going to a tiered commission structure though. They are taking a snapspot of your book of business (number of policies) in 2015 and then you're commissions on NB going forward will be based upon these new tiers. It's designed so that their biggest producers get the largest commissions.

So who knows how much that will actually be. I have a feeling it won't be 6% like last year.

 

[kgmom219]

No they won't be paying zero. I was in a BCBS meeting earlier this week.

They said they recently got their applied for rates approved by TDI (close to 60%) and they did say that they would be paying commissions for OE 2017, but did not announce how much.

They did say that it's going to a tiered commission structure though. They are taking a snapspot of your book of business (number of policies) in 2015 and then you're commissions on NB going forward will be based upon these new tiers. It's designed so that their biggest producers get the largest commissions.

So who knows how much that will actually be. I have a feeling it won't be 6% like last year.

With a 60% increase, I'm happy with 4. I'm more worried about the renewal number with the constant references to "we are competing with the uninsured". They want the uninsured.

And since we are actually getting paid, compared to the rest of the country, I'm not complaining.

 

[TwoLabs]

With a 60% increase, I'm happy with 4. I'm more worried about the renewal number with the constant references to "we are competing with the uninsured". They want the uninsured.

And since we are actually getting paid, compared to the rest of the country, I'm not complaining.

I will be happy with 4. I'm just afraid it might be 2.

 

[SamIam]

It's one thing to lower or eliminate commissions but I don't see how they can change commission on business that has always been written already.