Medicare Part D... It Ain't All Duff.

Medicare Part D for 2010
Starting NOW you can review your 2009 drug plan to see if a plan change will improve your position for 2010. What do you need to do? Get a detailed list of your PRESCRIPTION medications together and call, fax, email, hand deliver, or mail them to us or you can also use other sources for the same assistance. Here in Butler for example the local Senior Center and Medical Lodge will run your drugs through the plan finder to see what the best plan for you will be in 2010. Another great source is your own pharmacy. Basically what we will do with that list of drugs is enter it in the Medicare Plan finder on the Medicare.gov website. That tool compares your particular drug situation to all drug plans available in your state. It scores each of the drug plans by FULL YEAR COST. This full year cost includes the plan premium, deductibles, and your cost share for your drugs all year. This is a real easy way to see if you can improve your current position.
Be sure to give the exact name and quantity of the drug. If you take a generic give the generic name. If you give someone Lasix when you really take the generic furosemide then you won't get an accurate comparison.
We will not be making outbound phone calls this year. We will depend on you to contact us if you want us to review your Part D.


That is what I put in my last newsletter. Simple. I called it Mickey Mouse because that is what Yoda called it before.

There is other stuff in the newsletter, but that is all I said about Part D. If they want to change it is up to them. I'd rather they all stayed put, but a change could mean hundreds of $$$ in savings.

Have you seen that pile of crap they send? I'd doubt 10% of the seniors find the really important information in that mess. What they should be made to do is put a colored page on top... ATTENTION: Below is a brief outline of how your coverage has changed. See pages 3-7 of our outline of coverage for more detail.

Then on that colored page have a 2009 vs 2010 comparison. Premium, copays, deductibles etc. Real easy and up front.
 
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Have you seen that pile of crap they send? I'd doubt 10% of the seniors find the really important information in that mess. What they should be made to do is put a colored page on top... ATTENTION: Below is a brief outline of how your coverage has changed. See pages 3-7 of our outline of coverage for more detail.

Then on that colored page have a 2009 vs 2010 comparison. Premium, copays, deductibles etc. Real easy and up front.

I agree...they do a lousy job of putting the most important information in the literature they send and I would bet 80-90% of the PDP policyholders I've got aren't aware of their benefits and premiums for 2010. It's like companies are hiding what's most important to the insureds, on purpose. If I never touched base with them, by the time they knew of their 2010 benefits and premiums, it would be too late to switch. Most have it deducted from their SS check.

Looks like a good newsletter you send out. If their coming to your office on a daily basis, you're getting more out of folks then I get out of 99% of the people I deal with.

I'm actually shocked at how few people get up with me. I work out of my house. I don't have folks come to me. I go to them. I've been working for myself since 1987 and have been quite successful at it...writing med-supps...FE...other life products...cancer...LTC...etc. But mostly med-supps and PDP's.

I'm not fabricating when I say this...there are days I get zero job related calls. I've had weeks where I might get as few as 5 calls for the week!

Oh...I didn't know you were using Yoda's reference to your newsletter...sorry.
 
GORDON SAID ABOUT ME- "Maybe your clients aren't comfortable calling you for help. Maybe you come across to them the way you act in here. Maybe they don't want to deal with your conspiracy theory drama riden self."
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My clients like me alot. As any good salesman knows they bought me not the insurance. I think they find me for the most part refreshing from the aspect that I tell it like it is and dont try to sugar coat it. And yea that is a good idea to send out a letter like that warning them of changes. That being said I'm tired of doing the annual dosey doe with those drug plans and theres no way Im going to sit around for the next month going to Medicare.gov. I will put a bullet in my skull if I have to do that any more! My plan is to tell them in January when they call and complain that I agree with them that it sucks dog biscuits but we dont make the rules we are just along for the ride. I will tell them I would advise them to stick with it another year and if they feel like they got no benefit out of it then drop it, I will also tell them I think it has become crystal clear that changing these drug plans around every year is a crap game that you cant win, And if they bitch about their med supp I will then look into helping them into a cheaper plan at that time. Im not lazy but damn my ass is sore from getting bent over hard by these drug plan companies for the past 5 years. I was told by coventry I would get the thousands they have owed me since last year sometime here in late November and Im not holding by breath on that. I can make more selling a couple of LTC plans in the next month and a half then all those PDP sales and supps put together did I say that yet. Like some guys siggy says in this forum "We go into business for two reasons to make money and have fun and when Im not making much money In not having much fun"
 
I use the Part D's to get in the door to Med Supps, MA's etc.

Yoda, if you were in my neck of the woods, and, one of YOUR Med Supp clients called me, here is how the conversation would script,

DS4: How can I help you?
Yoda client: I need help selecting a Part D card.
DS4: I can certainly help you with that. I need you to provide me with a list of your current meds, including strength, quantity & the pharmacy you use. Once I enter your meds into the Medicare Find/Compare program, I will know which plan is best for you. If the best plan for you isn't a company I represent, I can still electronically enroll directly. I would need your written permission and a copy of your Medicare Id card.
DS4: Can I ask you a question? Do you currently have a Medicare supplement??
Yoda client: Yes, I'm with XXX company.
DS4: Won't your agent help you in selecting a Part D Rx card?
Yoda client: No. He gets very upset if I even mention Part D cards.
DS4: I now let out an audible <sigh>. I'm very sorry to hear this. The Part D cards are very time consuming, and, usually pay very low commissions. Regardless, I will help you.

I now have a prospect for a Med supp! Here in Cali, you get a birthday open enrollment each year on your birthday. It's like shooting fish in a barrel.
 
D I P S H I T 4 S A I D- "I now have a prospect for a Med supp! Here in Cali, you get a birthday open enrollment each year on your birthday. It's like shooting fish in a barrel."
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Well god bless those Medicare Advantage companies little hearts for creating situations like this so scrub salesman like you can drum up a few sales er I mean orders..... Is that what you wanted to hear?
 
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Mar-tard - a mentally challenged Islamic fanatic who believes that somewhere in the universe there exist 70 purty muslim virgins just waiting for there goatcheese breath smelling asses just because they were stupid enough to stick a pipe bomb up there butt and take one for the team.


Now that is funny............LOL
 
GORDON SAID ABOUT ME- "Maybe your clients aren't comfortable calling you for help. Maybe you come across to them the way you act in here. Maybe they don't want to deal with your conspiracy theory drama riden self."
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My clients like me alot. As any good salesman knows they bought me not the insurance.

Im not lazy but damn my ass is sore from getting bent over hard by these drug plan companies for the past 5 years.

I've heard that in some areas of this country agents sell a good product and focus on what's doing best for the customer rather then emotionally abusing seniors into doing whatever they're told, but that could just be a myth. I also do think your decision to advise clients that all "part d plans suck dog biscuits" and wont be of an advantage to them is a display of laziness, incompetence, and is exactly the type of behavior that an agent in the senior market shouldn't engage in. If you're not interested in helping your clients the LEAST you could do is refer them to someone who does care about the hundreds or thousands of dollars they could save by being on the right PDP rather than turning the conversation your client is having with you into a bitchfest about why you don't like what you allegedly do for a living and ignoring your professional responsibility to help them.
Something to think about: Not that I believe it's the most financially efficient way of doing it, but PDP plans help seniors be able to afford to take diabetic (and other) medicine they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford. Along with diabetic medicine, they're able to get many other drugs to live healthier and longer lives. Again, I don't think the government is doing it the best way, but the idea of discounting an entire program because you're too lazy to do it yourself and disgruntled about not getting paid AND can't even be bothered to point them in the right direction for help adds shame to the entire profession. Seriously, you can't even refer them to a buddy or office for the aging to help them with that? That's lame.
 
MEDICARE SOLUTIONS SAID "the idea of discounting an entire program because you're too lazy to do it yourself and disgruntled about not getting paid AND can't even be bothered to point them in the right direction for help adds shame to the entire profession. Seriously, you can't even refer them to a buddy or office for the aging to help them with that? That's lame."
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Its lazy agents like yourself who would rather give away those MA plans for a living then sell insurance that are lame. Did I say that enough yet. You twisted my words and you talked out your ass which you do quite fluently I might add. The facts are those drug plans are on a downhill slide and are backed by shady insurance companies who are backed by shady politicians who could not give a tinkers damn about what is best for my clients. At the current rapid rate of decline those drug plans will not benefit anyone in a couple of years unless they are using a ton of drugs. Therefore people will leave the drug plans in droves and the whole concept of them being insurance anymore will be shot. I realize you cant read sign very well or you wouldnt still be selling er I mean taking orders for those MA plans which is a waste of your clients and your own time.Now put that in your pipe and smoke it.
 
MEDICARE SOLUTIONS SAID "the idea of discounting an entire program because you're too lazy to do it yourself and disgruntled about not getting paid AND can't even be bothered to point them in the right direction for help adds shame to the entire profession. Seriously, you can't even refer them to a buddy or office for the aging to help them with that? That's lame."
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Its lazy agents like yourself who would rather give away those MA plans for a living then sell insurance that are lame. Did I say that enough yet. You twisted my words and you talked out your ass which you do quite fluently I might add. The facts are those drug plans are on a downhill slide and are backed by shady insurance companies who are backed by shady politicians who could not give a tinkers damn about what is best for my clients. At the current rapid rate of decline those drug plans will not benefit anyone in a couple of years unless they are using a ton of drugs. Therefore people will leave the drug plans in droves and the whole concept of them being insurance anymore will be shot. I realize you cant read sign very well or you wouldnt still be selling er I mean taking orders for those MA plans which is a waste of your clients and your own time.Now put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Alright ignorant old man, let's do this. Selling someone a $0/month MAPD that includes drug coverage and has a $0 copay on primary, $5 on specialist, $0 inpatient and hospitalization instead of a $163/month med sup and telling them to pay full retail on their drugs is just doing what's right for the client. Maybe I'm lazy for wanting to help them understand what's best for them and help them make educated decision, but sometimes doing the right thing is easy. That's just one of many examples of situations where MAPD plans don't give a med sup a chance. That being said, in some areas an MAPD doesn't make nearly as much sense as med supp, so an agent should be able to offer (or at least recommend) both.

Let's take a look at the math on the PDP program. If someone is on drugs that cost more than $100/month and has a $30/month PDP plan that covers the drugs at a $35 in copays that's still $35 in savings AND with no cost of living increase (yet an increase in part b premiums) every little bit helps. Let's also take note that usually seniors who are on drugs take more than $100/month in drugs and odds are they'll save much more than $35/month and closer to at least $1k/year. Maybe in a few years or even next year the plans wont make any more sense then a PFFS plan in a rural area, but for now they help seniors. Again, I realize that this is quite possibly the least efficient way the government can be using tax dollars to help seniors with the cost of their prescription drugs, but since it's either that or nothing they might as well use it. With all the experience and intelligence you've gathered in 49 years, in your professional opinion, you think seniors should not take advantage of programs that are available for them? MA is probably one of the easiest lines of insurance to sell in the right area and with the right product, but that doesn't mean it's a bad product or it's a sale that only lazy agents are making. You're discounting the programs (ma and pdp) in their entirety says infinitely more about your incompetency as an insurance agent working with seniors then it does about the programs or agents that do sell them.
 
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