How do I begin as a Independent Agent in CA

[Guest]

And you will run into those people who just have to have a a Kaiser plan.

Not as many anymore up here in Sac. I've heard they now have a PPO plan of some kind? KP is more popular with younger people with children. My clients are older with hemorrhoids!

UHC/Pacificare has an ugly contract,

Dave is right. I don't sell anything that UHC is involved in. They don't bring anything to the table and they are so disorganized up here (especially in their senior marketing.) They have a huge staff of very nice, well-meaning people... none of whom know what their colleagues are doing! I do thank them for sending me an electronic signature pad that I never asked for and for a laptop I don't have. I offered to give it back and they said "Please... just keep it and save us the work!"

I think KP just changed the way they pay commissions to be equal to Choice Admin since likely agents were complaining.

It is now a flat 7% instead of the $14.xx PMPM.

Choice Admin runs the CalChoice program, a pooled plan with multiple carriers available to groups 2+. I have never sold one, most of my groups are spousal. They are owned by Word and Brown.

I love CalChoice. I write it (or try to) all the time. It has great intrinsic appeal to many small companies. The problem is that it cost about 12% more. I go direct because ChoiceAdmin has a terrific rep in this area who works hard and does a great job. But most of the GAs are also pretty good with Choice... Choice does all the work anyway so it's just "gravy" for the average GA rep.

One more thing, you can add Aetna into your mix as well. They have full agent portal for IFP business.

Aetna has the most "liberal" underwriting as of today, in my opinion. I only send my bad risks to them because I'm peeved that they cut my commish from 20 points to 15 until I write 15 apps (or is it 11?) I forget. On the plus side, Aetna has excellent reps up here... one for Medicare and one for IFP. I've never looked at Aetna group.... they go after the really big brokers who have clients with 100+ lives.


The Jackass

 

[Franz Kafka]

Thanks Dave. Thanks al. I understand how valuable these helps are.

I also want to eventually get into Medicare Supplement and MA (for my older clients who ask about them). Will I need a separate GA to write them or will I be able to handle them direct (I don't expect to write too many of them)? I understand each carrier has their own training requirement for them.

Who's LISI? Is it a group GA you recommend?

 

[Dave020]

Med Supps and MA/MAPD write direct with the carriers. Same deal as IFP, no GA overrides. Here is a breakdown for you:

Anthem BC - one support center for IFP, Small Group and Senior

Blue Shield CA - each group is separate with a separate RSM. Senior products are lame with Shield, no RSM for those and they only offer one MA plan which is an old-school regional HMO offered in about 5 counties.

Health Net - IFP and Small Group together under one RSM, Senior is handled in-hosue for you so there is no RSM. You deal direct with them.

Aetna - Not sure yet, I assume IFP and Senior are one person's responsibility. Al3 would know more about this carrier

Kaiser - forget it. You can't sell it and won't get paid on any referrals.

LISI is a very large brokerage/GA in northern CA.

LISI, Premier California General Agency for Group Health Insurance

 

[Guest]

Aetna - Not sure yet, I assume IFP and Senior are one person's responsibility. Al3 would know more about this carrier

I just came from an Aetna seminar on Medicare held this week.

They have a separate rep for IFP and for Medicare... both are top notch women who really know their products, especially the Medicare gal.

Aetna only writes a PFFS MA. I won't write PFFS plans so I didnt pay attention to that part of the program (playing with my iPhone instead!) They claim they have the lowest rates of any carrier on Med Supps. But in my zip code a Plan F for a 66 year old is $119 with Aetna and $112 with Health Net, so I don't know what they are crowing about.

Now listen to this! The Medicare gal said that both Aetna and Anthem are going to use an outside service for 2009 MA certification. I may have the numbers wrong but as I remember, the class and exam cost $200. After a certain number of apps (I think 20) Aetna will reimburse $100. So you are still out $100.

The gal said that Anthem Blue Cross is only going to charge $40 and that the certification for them is "good" at Aetna. So she said if you plan to write any Anthem MA that it would be a better deal to get your certification with them.

I'm sure we will hear a lot more about all of this in Sept. and October.

I don't know about the rest of you but I don't see myself right now paying any carrier for the privilege of selling their products, but its not carved in stone with me.

I don't sell much MA... because so many of my clients WANT Med Supps, even if (as in the case of my under-age disabled wife) the cost of a Med Supp will not return as much value as a zero or very low prem. MA. I have some healthy and wealthy clients who "want the best" even when I tell them they are just throwing out money. Many of them (like my wife) have high drug costs, not high medical costs and an MAPD would work just fine for them (as it does for her.)

The rep said that Aetna was paying about $600+ for MA but she expects CMS to put a lid on that and will dictate the commissions for 2009. Can they do that? She said they can. What do I know?

As for Med Supps Aetna pays 18% FY and 8% renewal which is lower than other carriers who pay 20 and 10.

Anyway, Aetna says they want to be a "player" in the senior market this year.

The Jackass

 

[Dave020]

Sounds interesting.

Hey, Al, can you ask your two ladies from Aetna who in the heck is the RSM (or RSMs) for south Santa Clara County? I called Aetna but they gave me some person in Texas. I assume we would have local RSM support here as well?

 

[GreenSky]

Here's the correct information on Aetna.

They offer PFFS in some counties and HMO plans in others. The certification does not include the their plan benefits but are for CMS and product types. It's thru a company called AHIP.

If you did business in 2008 (how much?) you get the $100 fee waived in the form of a coupon code. They waived the fee for me but not for my son.

Aetna is changing the way the RSMs work and USUALLY there is only one who handles all individual plans, including IFP and Medicare (MA and Supp). I guess some areas split this. At one time, all areas were split.

As far as what they will pay for next year, CMS has required that all carriers pay the same new and renewal. If they currently pay $600/100, it's easy to see that they will have to pay maybe 1/2 of that - and on a monthly basis. My guess is that agents will get $25 a month for selling an MA plan, both new and renewal.

I would have no problem paying $100 because that certification will be valid with a number of carriers. The time saved certifying with mulitiple carriers is worth it. Time is money for some of us.

I wrote a bunch of Aetna plans in one county for 2008 because they have no managed care. Either you pay for a supplement, that really crappy Anthem Blue Cross PPO, or a PFFS. Of all the carriers in the area, Aetna was the one that was the most widely accepted. I never had a doctor's office say anything other than 'yes' when asked if they would accpet the plan.

Here's the best contact for Aetna:

Renee Brown
Broker Recruitment California
Aetna Individual Markets
toll free 1-888-54-AETNA
direct 817-417-2135
fax 1-866-530-8157

Rick

 

[Franz Kafka]

Med Supps and MA/MAPD write direct with the carriers. Same deal as IFP, no GA overrides. Here is a breakdown for you:

Anthem BC - one support center for IFP, Small Group and Senior

Blue Shield CA - each group is separate with a separate RSM. Senior products are lame with Shield, no RSM for those and they only offer one MA plan which is an old-school regional HMO offered in about 5 counties.

Health Net - IFP and Small Group together under one RSM, Senior is handled in-hosue for you so there is no RSM. You deal direct with them.

Aetna - Not sure yet, I assume IFP and Senior are one person's responsibility. Al3 would know more about this carrier

Kaiser - forget it. You can't sell it and won't get paid on any referrals.

LISI is a very large brokerage/GA in northern CA.

LISI, Premier California General Agency for Group Health Insurance

Thanks Dave. I have learned so much so quickly.

 

[termchoice]

spam

 

[Franz Kafka]

About Blue Shield CA - Producer Service didn't want to give me RSM number. He said call the Service Center for future questions and if they require RSM help then I can call him. Very different from BC (which is very supportive).

 

[Dave020]

About Blue Shield CA - Producer Service didn't want to give me RSM number. He said call the Service Center for future questions and if they require RSM help then I can call him. Very different from BC (which is very supportive).

I called Blue Shield about this and they of course are not sure if this was mis-information or how you asked so they told me to have you call back and let them know that you talked to me (my call in at 4:13 PM Friday 8/22 is logged) and that you want the contact number for your area Sales Representative.

Try that and let me know if they are more forthcoming.

Dave