First Post Ever! MAPD Marketing Question!

[aaronduder]

Hello All!

I see a lot of posts are related to selling medsups as they are far less regulated and easier to market to. I however focus more on MAPD and was interested to know what others in this area are finding particularly effective in marketing. I have recently began working with a printer on a custom direct mail piece and approaching physicians groups to market to their members. Any info and help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Aaron

 

[Guest]

Be careful when making your own solicitation, it must be medicare approved.
You are also not allowed to work with physicians groups if you are selling UHC, they do not allow this.

 

[Bob_The_Insurance_Guy]

How to Market Effectively While Being CMS Compliant:

Go visit other Insurance Agents, Financial Planners, and Accountants - all who don't want to market Medicare Advantage Plans - and let them know that you can be the "go to" guy for all their clients, who are in need of Medicare Insurance options. Let them know, like other specialties, there are procedures that must be followed, in order to be compliant when working with Medicare Beneficiaries. They will understand, because they know what it's like to work with an over-reaching government agency.

Here is how the process MUST happen:

1. The Medicare Beneficiary must write/email you first. They must state that while talking with (trusted adviser) they were told to contact you, for assistance with what to do with their Medicare insurance situation. The correspondence must be dated, and signed/have a signature at the bottom of the email, to include their name, address, phone number and email address. There must also be a line stating, "Oh, by the way, just so you know, below is a list of the doctors I see, and the medications I take. I hope this helps."

2. You will email/write a letter to the Medicare Beneficiary thanking them for allowing you the opportunity to assist them. Enclosed they will find a form they must authorize, and date, allowing you to mention Medicare Advantage Plans to them. This is for their protection. Similar to the disclosure forms their Financial Planners use, when discussing investment vehicles with them. They should INITIAL each block on the form, except for the last block, entitled EXCEPTION. They need to email/mail this back to you.

3. Once you receive the mailed SOA form, call them, make the appointment, and proceed as you must. When getting referrals from them, make them aware of the process the referrals they give you must follow as well. It is put in place as a safety net for the Medicare Beneficiary, to stem the abuse they have received at the hands of unscrupulous agents in the past.

Don't wait until the AEP to visit these trusted advisers. Do it now and on a regular basis. This keeps you CMS compliant, and makes it easier for you to work with those that are referred to you.

Good luck,

 

[Josh]

Before I read anything, my advice is to not do it.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Yup, I was right.

You're going to run into a list of problems with that approach:
-Doctors won't care
-Doctors can't use their client lists for this
-Doctors have to represent all the carriers they work with if they do mention any
-Doctors won't care
-Doctors are having the carriers try to talk to them about this at contracting times and
-Doctors don't care

Not meaning to be a downer, but before you invest time in marketing something like this, that's probably information you wanted.

Group presentations were usually what worked best for me. It stopped being as productive when we had to file them with CMS, but still worked. If you took that time and energy to find a way to get a bunch of seniors in a room and were compliant with CMS about it, that would probably yield a much greater return.

 

[jerry176]

Josh you forgot one....You will never get a chance to speak with a doctor....

 

[Midlevel]

Referrals, referrals, referrals..... Wrote 75 MAPD's last AEP and over half were referrals that called me from current client's passing my name along to them.

 

[aaronduder]

Thank you to the community for your input.

Bob - that sounds like a pretty elaborate process for working referrals. Is it really necessary to go through all of that?

Josh - I dont seek to talk to the doctor, just the office manager or billing specialists. The people that tell the doctor what to do. Part of the direct mail peice I'm working on is an invitation to community meetings though from my understanding attendance is starting to dwindle.

Thank you all again!

 

[Bob_The_Insurance_Guy]

Thank you to the community for your input.

Bob - that sounds like a pretty elaborate process for working referrals. Is it really necessary to go through all of that?

Yes. If you really care about this market, and want to serve them to the best of your ability.

 

[aaronduder]

And I do! Thank you for those tips! Are you doing any direct mail Bob?

 

[Bob_The_Insurance_Guy]

No, I don't do direct mail. I do direct contact. Eliminates any grey area concerning CMS regulations. Makes life easier.