Marketing Medicare Advantages

[justsayinisall]

I'm wondering how the company I'm with gets away with selling MAPD/PD plans then. We call them, I do have to get a verbal SOA. Basically I have to ask if it's ok to talk about any plans that could help them. If they say yes, that is the SOA and every carrier (Aetna, Humana etc) has ok'd it.

I'm assuming, if I go out on my own, I could do the same?

 

[keese]

I'm wondering how the company I'm with gets away with selling MAPD/PD plans then. We call them, I do have to get a verbal SOA. Basically I have to ask if it's ok to talk about any plans that could help them. If they say yes, that is the SOA and every carrier (Aetna, Humana etc) has ok'd it.

I'm assuming, if I go out on my own, I could do the same?

Unless there's a permission to contact then you cannot cold call for MAPD or PDP. It sounds like the company you're working for is running a bait and switch. Cold calling prospects for Med Supp or for some other reason (which is allowed), and then offering to talk about MAPD or PDP (which is not allowed unless the prospect brings it up). This tactic does work really well usually, that is, until you catch the attention of CMS.

 

[justsayinisall]

The leads are internet based. People actually have to fill out the information (name number, address, dob, etc) and agree to be called. From there I get the verbal SOA and off I go.

I'm assuming a list of leads that an agent can purchase from a company is different than the leads my company gets?

Can an agent purchase leads like my company gets? Leads that agree to be contacted.

I'm just in my 'starting to research' phase so excuse the dumbness of my thinking lol

 

[keese]

If you're getting a lead then it's a whole different ballgame. All leads are going to have a permission to contact in the lead, otherwise what would be the point of a lead? If you have a permission to contact then you can call for MAPD, PDP, Med Supp, etc.

 

[Chazm]

Just make sure if you go Indy, not to confuse a contact with a lead.

 

[123insure1900]

Ask the insurance carriers. If they give you permission then you should be good to go.

 

[bill3173]

I know this is an old discussion, but in my calls to and from current clients aging into Medicare this year, there seem to be a lot of agents totally disregarding the contact rules. In fact, some are door knocking with the intention of selling MA.

The stories are too consistent to think it's a fluke. A lady I spoke with yesterday (fully subsidized Ocare) told me that an agent came by to talk to her about a Medicare plan for $22/mo..yada yada yada..there was no bait and switch. The agent was targeting low income seniors.

It's hard to go by the rules, when there are so many that don't, and something like this is hard to catch. I can't afford to get appts snatched for this sort of thing, but those that ignore the prescribed policy, are going to make $$ and most likely not get caught.

I can tell from reading this thread that there are way more agents ignoring this stuff than I previously thought. My question is who actually gets in trouble? I mean in many of these cases, as long as a scope is signed, the agent can claim the bene's memory is hazy.

 

[RunnerDude]

I was recently investigated by UHC due a client complaint. It was bogus - but nonetheless I was put through the ringer with a 45 questionnaire asking me to detail every step of how I contacted the client, present the information, completed the sell and followed up. In the process I had to send in the actual lead I used to gain permission to contact - among other stuff- even though the complaint had nothing to do with the reason I was there. If I had not been able to produce a lead card- I would definitely have been thrown under the bus. That experience taught me a lot- including never to cold call or try to “bait and switch” anybody- not worth it.

 

[Chazm]

Plenty of people go D2D with the idea of just offering Med supps and when they can’t afford it, they pivot to MAPD. Too many people (including people on this forum) think that’s ok. It’s not.
You cannot get a MAPD sale from a cold call/knock. Even if you start with Med supp.

No one follows the rules it seems

 

[bill3173]

Plenty of people go D2D with the idea of just offering Med supps and when they can’t afford it, they pivot to MAPD. Too many people (including people on this forum) think that’s ok. It’s not.
You cannot get a MAPD sale from a cold call/knock. Even if you start with Med supp.

No one follows the rules it seems

Thank you for noticing. It seems to be worse than in the past. The lady that I spoke with is actually a current client aging into Medicare. She would not be a Med Supp prospect, and the agent coming to see her wasn't there to sell finex.

The agents doing this know that complaints are typically very specific and they only need to briefly address how they got there, which is easy to lie about. They can say the client called them, the client probably won't remember anyway. I asked my client if the lady just showed up or if she called her, and she said yes, no, I don't know. Next I asked her if she mailed something back asking to be contacted, same response. These agents know their audience.

It's not like anybody is going to admit they were door knocking for MA plans, and as long as they have everything else they need to address the complaint, and aren't stupid about it, they'll be okay, and they know it.