(Dis)appointed With Family Life Insurance Co.

[selfgen]

I had decided to start reccomending Family Life's Plan N to some of my healthy clients who did not go to the doctor very often and who had just been hit with a substantial rate increase from their current carrier. I thought that with the lower premiums and the additional cost-sharing, these seniors should be able to maintain reasonable premiums for at least a few years. And although they have to pay out of pocket for some Part B services, all the heavy lifting is still left to the insurance companies. Well, this product just came out, June 1st at the earliest, and it is fully underwritten. These two factors, along with the cost sharing, should help avoid big rate increases, wouldnt you think? What did Family Life do? They just aanounced a 13% rate increase across the board on ALL plans!! How can they justify raising Plan N the same as Plan F when you take into consideration how much less the insurance pays on N as compared to an F plan. It completely messed up my strategy. I thought that was the whole idea about PLAN N was to go outside the box, trying to help seniors and insurance companies avoid the rate increase trap that plagues our industry.
Of course I understand that rate increases are the sweetest gift to agents in many ways, giving us ample opportunity to pick up new customers or to refresh a loyal clients policy.

Anyway, just wanted to express my unhappiness with that situation and to forewarn others of you that sell Family Life elsewhere. Believe me, I feel blessed to have the career that I do. I can;t imagine a job that could be as enjoyable as this and so easy and successful. Once an independent agent builds up his or her client base, its cream of corn after that.
We've got it good. And it this forum is a great asset, wish I had discovered it before this year...but I was too busy!

 

[bourbonlegend]

One of the main reasons I am switching from supps to FE as my main product.

FLIC = 5 yr look back, cut agent commission 1% accross board, no advances on GI business. All in the name of keeping rates low for our policy holders (according to some desk jockey at AIMC).

I'm starting to think the AARP policies are better than the low priced supps. At least AARP will be in the "ballpark" for the lifetime of the client. Put somebody with united of omaha, ACI, FLIC etc... and they can't afford premiums in 3-5 years.

 

[Russ]

You get what you can get now in the Medicare supplement market. Kind of like marrying that hot chick you know you can't trust. You love it but you're always looking over your shoulder for fear of.

Med-supp market is about that dependable...long-term. People die...get on Medicaid...say screw a supplement and go with an MA plan....the company reduces commissions after X number of years...company pays nothing after X years....company has rate increase after rate increase....Medicare's going broke....Medicare's reducing the payment a doctor gets...company gets out of the market.....etc...

It's like a ferris wheel and you always have to keep it loaded with passengers/customers/prospects....for now. You can make good money at it, but you're always wondering what's going to happen next? Baby boomers anyone...masses getting into Medicare. How does it survive?

 

[captain94]

Use medsupps to get in the door. Sell F.E. If I pick up a medsupp I pick up a medsup great for Renewals I tell ALL my clients that they will prbly want to switch the medsupp every 36 months if healthy to save premiums.
If unhealthy and using the medsupp be happy you have it and pay the premium because the bills you would have without it would be 3x higher.

 

[G.Gordon]

I had decided to start reccomending Family Life's Plan N to some of my healthy clients who did not go to the doctor very often and who had just been hit with a substantial rate increase from their current carrier.. And although they have to pay out of pocket for some Part B services, all the heavy lifting is still left to the insurance companies. Well, I thought that with the lower premiums and the additional cost-sharing, these seniors should be able to maintain reasonable premiums for at least a few yearsthis product just came out, June 1st at the earliest, and it is fully underwritten. These two factors, along with the cost sharing, should help avoid big rate increases, wouldnt you think? What did Family Life do? They just aanounced a 13% rate increase across the board on ALL plans!! How can they justify raising Plan N the same as Plan F when you take into consideration how much less the insurance pays on N as compared to an F plan. It completely messed up my strategy. I thought that was the whole idea about PLAN N was to go outside the box, trying to help seniors and insurance companies avoid the rate increase trap that plagues our industry.
Of course I understand that rate increases are the sweetest gift to agents in many ways, giving us ample opportunity to pick up new customers or to refresh a loyal clients policy.

Anyway, just wanted to express my unhappiness with that situation and to forewarn others of you that sell Family Life elsewhere. Believe me, I feel blessed to have the career that I do. I can;t imagine a job that could be as enjoyable as this and so easy and successful. Once an independent agent builds up his or her client base, its cream of corn after that.
We've got it good. And it this forum is a great asset, wish I had discovered it before this year...but I was too busy!

That was your assumption wasn't it? It was wrong. One thing you didn't include was the size of the company you settled on. FamLife is small. Shallow pockets. They can't handle the claim experience of a MOO or UHC.

You haven't been watching or talking to your clients on N have you? There are very little differences between the claims on plans D, G, F, or N. Yea yea yea... the ded. and copay thing. But that ded is small and the copay is limited to only two codes so most of my clients are not paying the copay. They pay the ded., but not the copay very often. If a person goes to the doctor, gets xrays or test, those all still get paid at the full 20% by the insurer be it plan N or any other. Send a client to the doc for a medication review/check where blood test are needed and you've generated three to four claims taking into consideration the claims from the facility they visited, the doctor, the test, the lab, etc.

IMO plan N is one thing... a low price plan D with the "possibility" of a copay. I don't assume it will have lower rate increases.

Now I will agree that Plans D, G, N will increase lower than C or F for the most part. Every company with Wakley out of Clearwater, FL. is small and typically takes higher/faster increases than most others and from what I remember takes the same increase across the board.

 

[captain94]

"One thing you didn't include was the size of the company settled on. FamLife is small. Shallow pockets. They can't handle the claim experience of a MOO or UHC."

Family Life re-insures the medsupp business with Moo. Part of the problem is they introduce a product that they know they lowballed the premiums to make it attractive.

 

[G.Gordon]

"One thing you didn't include was the size of the company settled on. FamLife is small. Shallow pockets. They can't handle the claim experience of a MOO or UHC."

Family Life re-insures the medsupp business with Moo. Part of the problem is they introduce a product that they know they lowballed the premiums to make it attractive.

Exactly, but the fact that they re-insure is an indicator of shallow pockets. I actually had the VP at one of the smaller companies try to blame the re-insurer for their rate increases. Said it was a contractual agreement that a certain level of claims loses would require a rate reset at a certain percentage increase. He didn't understand that what he was saying is: "The re-insurer, upon looking at our financials and underwriting standards, put a requirement that we have to raise rates upon reaching certain claims lose levels."

In other words the reinsurer knows the business better than they do.