Lasso MSA

[sshafran]

Per Medicare and You, for my state, the cash out of pocket amounts don't change much from the "norms" with other MA plans. They just shift to the right, after some "free" money.

This smacks to me of a pyramid scheme fiasco of epic proportions, to be paid for by those of us remaining on original Medicare. One has to look no further than comments in a thread on site earlier this month to see what is coming.

Additional welfare dollars for the poor and extra money for the wealthy, all coming out of Medicare funds. The people in the middle will continue to get the squeeze play if they have serious medical conditions while on the MA plan.

Maybe we can start a gofundme for LD - we'll all chip in and buy him an Amazon Echo Silver.

He can talk to it all. day. long.

 

[craig_ritter]

I just recorded a "long form" podcast for agents who are interested in learning more about this beyond the glossy brochure, etc. It's about a 2 hour conversation between me and the President of Lasso, Jim Handlin, where we talk about our 3 year journey in getting this to market. Lots of conversation about why it hasn't worked in the past and how we've built this to address the fundamental challenges of putting out a product like this on a larger scale. Anyone interested can PM me and I'll share it. We're also going to push it out to our certified agents, as well, once ready to release next week.

 

[craig_ritter]

Craig - will it be available in July 2049?

Hopefully, I'll be retired by then!

 

[LostDollar]

I have been selling MSA's for the last 3 years .. we have two MSA's in our state ..while a good option you need to educate your clients if they do have expenses the paperwork is tricky... confusing to many seniors . I have had to move some to MAPD's or MedSupp

Question for you.
Have you ever had anyone maintain Med Supp membership during an MSA (ie Medicare Advantage) enrollment year or years?

Edit:
I have found the answer to my basic underlying question. Last paragraph here:
Medicare Advantage FMO
End edit:

 

[GreenSky]

Question for you.
Have you ever had anyone maintain Med Supp membership during an MSA (ie Medicare Advantage) enrollment year or years?

What do you think?

How about any of your clients?

Rick

 

[sshafran]

Question for you.
When you awake in the morning, do you breathe air?

Hm, LD - seems like the answer would be kinda obvious.

 

[LostDollar]

Hm, LD - seems like the answer would be kinda obvious.

This is an interesting product. It raises some issues, starting with paternalism and age discrimination on the part of the government.

I have asked one question that I have, of a person who has been selling MSA plans in one of the few states where they have been currently offered prior to the 2019 plan year.

 

[sshafran]

This is an interesting product. It raises some issues, starting with paternalism and age discrimination on the part of the government.

I have asked one question that I have, of a person who has been selling MSA plans in one of the few states where they have been currently offered prior to the 2019 plan year.

My point was that the obvious answer to your question is yes.

There is no way that every single Med Supp member is going to suddenly leave it for an MSA.

You could offer people an MSA plan, with $3,000 funded, and a $4,500 deductible (way better than anything on the market to my knowledge), and people will still pay $150/mo for Plan F - people buy peace of mind.

 

[LostDollar]

My point was that the obvious answer to your question is yes.

There is no way that every single Med Supp member is going to suddenly leave it for an MSA.

You could offer people an MSA plan, with $3,000 funded, and a $4,500 deductible (way better than anything on the market to my knowledge), and people will still pay $150/mo for Plan F - people buy peace of mind.

I asked because the answer is not obvious to me in looking at the CMS documents.

There seems to be an implication that it is ok to have both at the same time, if, a you had the med sup first and b) you understand you can process no claims through the med sup while the MA is in force.

The CMS documents also do not tell me if the Med Sup companies will automatically boot you off the Med Sup plan when they see you have an MA plan (MSA or otherwise) in force.

Peace of mind in knowing you can get back to using a Med Sup without underwriting on Jan 1 of the next year is exactly the issue I was looking at as a backstop against a 2 year back to back hit for a high MA oop.

 

[sshafran]

I asked because the answer is not obvious to me in looking at the CMS documents.

There seems to be an implication that it is ok to have both at the same time, if, a you had the med sup first and b) you understand you can process no claims through the med sup while the MA is in force.

The CMS documents also do not tell me if the Med Sup companies will automatically boot you off the Med Sup plan when they see you have an MA plan (MSA or otherwise) in force.

Peace of mind in knowing you can get back to using a Med Sup without underwriting on Jan 1 of the next year is exactly the issue I was looking at as a backstop against a 2 year back to back hit for a high MA oop.

Why on earth would someone (intentionally) pay for a med supp which will process no claims?

At first I thought, "maybe LD doesn't know this." But LD knows this.

Some of your questions are valid. Others, are just crazy.

Today, you picked the crazy train. It'll do you well to just move on and not try to justify the question.