My guess is he never will. As a matter of fact, when they are under 65, I have a feeling he always refers them back to you when they turn 65 for the Med Supp if they want to go that route.
Former CMS Administrator Weighs in on Advantage Plans
- Thread starter somarco
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My guess is he never will. As a matter of fact, when they are under 65, I have a feeling he always refers them back to you when they turn 65 for the Med Supp if they want to go that route.
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- #22
@Ashmeade not much argument from me. Seems like we share a similar philosophy but probably approach prospect from different angles.
I tell folks that Medicare is not complicated . . . however the government and carriers make it confusing . . . perhaps on purpose(?).
I don't talk about Parts, copayment's, deductibles, etc. Do that and you can see their eyes glass over . . . even in phone conversation.
What I will do is take a snapshot of where they are in the understanding Medicare part, and then another snapshot of personal and family medical history.
My first question is "Tell me what you know about Medicare" and then I turn them loose. That usually takes about 2 minutes and then I go back and tweak their knowledge . . . what they got right, what they missed by a little bit and where they ran off the rails.
Personal and family medical history lets me know what they have been exposed to in terms of large medical bills and recovery time.
Then I tell them they have two choices. Continue into retirement with a PPO managed care plan where the carrier tells you which doctors to use, which tests you may have and how little control your doc actually has in deciding your care.
Or you can take the path where you and your doctor make all your medical decisions without outside interference. "You know, the way health insurance used to be before all the 3 letter plans took over".
I never ask what they can afford (but I do ask about their current premiums), or how much they have in savings. I don't really care but I want them to care.
I also mention that every agent has the same plans and rates. They will not get a better rate going direct to a carrier and if they want to buy from a large telemarketing firm they will never talk to the same person twice.
The agent that takes their application will never speak to them again.
But they can call or email me anytime. They will never be asked to presss 1 for English, if they get my voicemail I will call them back no later than the next business day. If I have their email address I will probably respond that way before I call.
They are also told I will not pressure them to buy anything. They are given every opportunity to ask questions and time to think it over. I even suggest they talk to other agents and then let me know what they want to do.
They can buy the product anywhere for the same price but they only get me by letting me be their agent.
I tell folks that Medicare is not complicated . . . however the government and carriers make it confusing . . . perhaps on purpose(?).
I don't talk about Parts, copayment's, deductibles, etc. Do that and you can see their eyes glass over . . . even in phone conversation.
What I will do is take a snapshot of where they are in the understanding Medicare part, and then another snapshot of personal and family medical history.
My first question is "Tell me what you know about Medicare" and then I turn them loose. That usually takes about 2 minutes and then I go back and tweak their knowledge . . . what they got right, what they missed by a little bit and where they ran off the rails.
Personal and family medical history lets me know what they have been exposed to in terms of large medical bills and recovery time.
Then I tell them they have two choices. Continue into retirement with a PPO managed care plan where the carrier tells you which doctors to use, which tests you may have and how little control your doc actually has in deciding your care.
Or you can take the path where you and your doctor make all your medical decisions without outside interference. "You know, the way health insurance used to be before all the 3 letter plans took over".
I never ask what they can afford (but I do ask about their current premiums), or how much they have in savings. I don't really care but I want them to care.
I also mention that every agent has the same plans and rates. They will not get a better rate going direct to a carrier and if they want to buy from a large telemarketing firm they will never talk to the same person twice.
The agent that takes their application will never speak to them again.
But they can call or email me anytime. They will never be asked to presss 1 for English, if they get my voicemail I will call them back no later than the next business day. If I have their email address I will probably respond that way before I call.
They are also told I will not pressure them to buy anything. They are given every opportunity to ask questions and time to think it over. I even suggest they talk to other agents and then let me know what they want to do.
They can buy the product anywhere for the same price but they only get me by letting me be their agent.
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- #23
Where does one find someone like that? Knowledgeable, honest agents actually exist?
I've heard unicorns actually exist
- Thread starter
- #25
My March newsletter featured a redacted recap of the story by DR WHO. I hesitated about retelling his story, but decided to run with it anyway.
So far no one has complained and I did get this response from a client I have had for about a year.
Bob, this is a timely story. I am so glad we went with straight Medicare because my wife was just diagnosed with multiple myeloma. It seemed to go very fast. We just started treatment yesterday, and today we are in the waiting room for a back surgery called kyphoplasty to help with some of her fractured vertebrae plus a marrow biopsy to see what kind of MM it is. So far all bills have seemed to be handled ok.
So far, the drugs have also been mostly covered. For about 12 drugs we are at less than 200 oop. There is one called Revlimid that had a big oop cost but the provider put in for a grant of 12k which was approved and covered all the oop,.
Thank you
So far no one has complained and I did get this response from a client I have had for about a year.
Bob, this is a timely story. I am so glad we went with straight Medicare because my wife was just diagnosed with multiple myeloma. It seemed to go very fast. We just started treatment yesterday, and today we are in the waiting room for a back surgery called kyphoplasty to help with some of her fractured vertebrae plus a marrow biopsy to see what kind of MM it is. So far all bills have seemed to be handled ok.
So far, the drugs have also been mostly covered. For about 12 drugs we are at less than 200 oop. There is one called Revlimid that had a big oop cost but the provider put in for a grant of 12k which was approved and covered all the oop,.
Thank you
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