MedSupps in Crosshairs

[yabadabadoo1026]

I agree. Knowing this market it will kill sales of MedSupp's and increase sales of MA's. (this statement should produce a firestorm of anger...)

Look if my client has to pay say $100/month for a partial MedSupp with a max payout of $5,250 vs. a MA plan with zero premium, predictable copays, and a MOoP of $3,000. -- Dah!!!

And for all you doubters here's an example:​

I have a client who paid $250. / month for her American Republic policy. She wanted the MA plan that her sister had for $16.00 per month. She was in perfect health. Was...

She goes to a restaurant and gets a bad case of C-dif. Ends up in a comma for 3 months in the hospital and months of rehab center (nursing home). This past week she sent me one of her bills for one of her 3 hospital stays. It has got to be one of the best examples of MA performance I've ever seen.

Total charges for just about every known test and treatment known to man was $ 27,000.00. Her portion due: $350.

I know that all of her charges thus far is in the $280,000.00 range. With her MOop of $3,000. she still smells like a rose.

even now pre-such changes I have a hard time justifying Med Sups where its going to cost a senior to include Part D in the $2400 range when a MAPD has a $3000 OOP.---thats a lot of upside possibility given up with very little down side

I would like to start selling Supp since so easier to market without CMS tying of the hands but I have a hard time conciously selling them and MAPD----I dont know how one can believe in/ sell both except in those cases where its a given the OOP will be reached every year.

The Suppers seem much more vocal in their belief in Sups than the MAPDers are in this product but I dont get it when an OOP isnt much higher than a Supp/Part D fixed expense

I dont know if I can in good conscience sell a Sup to most seniors when low/no cost MAPDs with low OOPs exist----I wish I could be convinced that such is in the best interests of the fixed income Senior and not just the agent

 

[magagent]

speaking of Frank.. I am sure he will pass along his thoughts very shortly. Cash For Nukes... Nice!

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

I see big changes coming to both Medicare Advantage and supplements.

Of course it was about a year ago when many posters on this board opined that there would never be healthcare "reform"...

 

[MedSuppPro]

What if there was Health Insurance Reform and nobody showed up?

​

 

[Winter_123]

They can call it overutilization and that does come into play when we talk about emergency rooms visits etc. Otherwise we are talking about patients getting treatment under the care and advice of a physician and the government is saying it wants to dampen that by creating some upfront costs as a hoop that they need to jump through. Implicit in the issue is the idea that docs are ordering stuff in consultation with patients that the government thinks they can do without. Some folks think this is the government coming between you and your doctor, even though I understand the push back to this argument.

Everyone agrees that there is a lot of fraud and overutilation but everyone thinks that it is someone else who is doing it. If you asked a hundred seniors how many of them think they asked for unnecessary care in the last couple years, I think not many hands would go up.

Ironically, the government seems to be chastizing the insurance system for making it too easy and affordable for seniors to get care when they intended to design a system that was only semi-affordable.

I am not agreeing or disagreeing with either side. I am just saying that seniors smell a rat about the rationing of care on the horizon, and they also smell a rat about the governments plans to cut medicare back and shift any savings to the non-medicare plans. If neither of those is true, then fine. Obama will get plenty of opportunity to explain it before it is all over. As I have said several times over the last few months, if Obama thinks we should be talking with our enemies he will have plenty of opportunity to do so with senior citizens in the upcoming months. They will make N. Korea and Iran look like marshmellows.

There is also an equal likelihood that things will go in the oppostie direction. Big Brother will pick out the procedures that he thinks you don't need or only need once every five years and will lower the medicare share from 80% to 50% and reduce the number of times you can have them done. Thus Seniors will demand some type of enhanced supp or indemnity plan to pay for them. Don't know.

 

[Frank Stastny]

The one thing I learned during the time I spent working in the "political area" is that the media and public have no idea what is really going on "behind closed doors".

It is way to early to get in any kind of political debate on this issue or try to predict the outcome. It is all speculation and conjecture at this point.

I have been in contact with both my representative and senator on this issue. If you all are really concerned about this issue then you must contact your representative and senator and share your concerns with them.

It will do very little good to contact anyone except the people you can vote for. They do check.

I can't stay on here too long, the Homeland Security people are looking for me.

 

[Guest]

I can't stay on here too long, the Homeland Security people are looking for me.

Witness Protection... with my complements, Frank.

 

[Frank Stastny]

Witness Protection... with my complements, Frank.

Finally, I can start going on appointments again. Thanks!

 

[MedSuppPro]

...I have been in contact with both my representative and senator on this issue. If you all are really concerned about this issue then you must contact your representative and senator and share your concerns with them.

Frank,

Can you share with us what exactly you said or wrote to your representatives and senator on this issue?

What were your talking-points on this "change"?

​

 

[Winter_123]

It is way to early to get in any kind of political debate on this issue

Unfortunately Congress and the CBO do not share that view. Even though one cannot know outcomes, as with the under-medicare plans, I think it is good to monitor and participate in discussions about trends or proposed solutions in any industry that one works in. Certainly it is no right for everyone because some just want to wait to see what happens. That is fine. It is also highly appropiate to make sure that the government is not the only one talking about things sometimes and believe me they are talking about changes to medicare.

As with the rest of health reform, some people want to review and discuss as they see changes on the horizon and some want to freeze like a birddog and just say we cannot know anything until it happens so it is a complete waste of time. Different approaches for different folks. In addition one must keep in mind that this is an administration where someone might flop a bill before congress right out of the blue and try to ram it through. Again, some people's ears cock up a little when they hear the hammer being pulled back on the shotgun pointed at them and others are more comfortable seeing what happens.