- 9,744
"Dream on, dream on, dream on, dream until your dreams come true." - Steven Tyler
MLR Discussions
- Thread starter stuy119
- Start date
"Dream on, dream on, dream on, dream until your dreams come true." - Steven Tyler
- 1,459
Let's say commissions are excluded from MLR and in this pipe dream world, we get 10% level comp including being able to sell within the exchange. What are the odds of it staying that way for the next 5 years after 2014? 10 years? This is now a political issue, if you make your income primarily from the sale of health products and even if you survive the next 3 years, your ability to make a living will always be contested going forward. No thank you.
The carriers have an obligation to their shareholders to maximize their sales for the least amount of marketing dollars as possible. I guarantee there are all sorts of discussions going on right now about the least they can pay out and still give brokers enough incentive to sell, regardless of the MLR ruling. If you think the carriers are looking out for you, think otherwise (as it should be, their obligation is to the shareholders). Given the 80/20 rule that's impossible to ignore, I'll think you'll see much more of a sliding commission scale adjusted for production levels.
Translation: small producers will be out. Big producers will have to do massive volume until we have a universal, government run health care system within 10 years. The medicare and P&C business will be flooded with new agents.
The carriers have an obligation to their shareholders to maximize their sales for the least amount of marketing dollars as possible. I guarantee there are all sorts of discussions going on right now about the least they can pay out and still give brokers enough incentive to sell, regardless of the MLR ruling. If you think the carriers are looking out for you, think otherwise (as it should be, their obligation is to the shareholders). Given the 80/20 rule that's impossible to ignore, I'll think you'll see much more of a sliding commission scale adjusted for production levels.
Translation: small producers will be out. Big producers will have to do massive volume until we have a universal, government run health care system within 10 years. The medicare and P&C business will be flooded with new agents.
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- 3,352
Full Throttle is dead nuts on. As usual.
- 10,830
That is what I was told by folks at GR.
If they offered maternity on plans issued after Obamacrap became law it had to be covered as any illness.
As I was told, only those issued after Obamacrap went into effect.
I have not bothered to check this, no reason to, since GR and Time were the only ones (for the most part) that I used for maternity. KP will soon be discontinuing maternity on all plans in GA.
No word yet from Blue.
- 14,808
None of it matters without GI and subsidies. Agents have a hard time making it at 20% comp. Failure rate is nothing less than stunning.
You could take comp down to 10% and with fully underwritten plans, you'll blow out over 75% of the current sales force.
Leads, although much maligned on this board, are the sole source for most health insurance agents. Not too many doing any kind of cold calling. You take comp down to 10% and those agents can't get any ROI on leads which puts them out of the game.
I hear a lot of bush shaking about offsetting with CI and accident. Ok, let me know how that goes.
You could take comp down to 10% and with fully underwritten plans, you'll blow out over 75% of the current sales force.
Leads, although much maligned on this board, are the sole source for most health insurance agents. Not too many doing any kind of cold calling. You take comp down to 10% and those agents can't get any ROI on leads which puts them out of the game.
I hear a lot of bush shaking about offsetting with CI and accident. Ok, let me know how that goes.
- 1,459
Talk is talk. When the bills start coming due and the cash reserves get low, those agents will be gone or focusing somewhere else. If they aren't actually implementing a Plan B NOW, Plan B will be "do you want fries with that?"
Others may disagree, but I've always said that if you aren't generating your own leads, you will never have complete freedom in this business. The good news: for anyone focused solely on internet leads, there are many other profitable ways to generate the leads. The bad news: most won't be willing to do the work or have the time (ie money) to let it work.
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- 4,096
Its not a pipe dream. PPACA: Lawmakers Tell HHS to Let Agents In - Regulatory,Legislative and Tax Issues - Life and Health Insurance News
I would not mix the privates plans operating outside the exchange with the exchange plans. I think there will be two different markets. The exchange and then private plans.
So if the MLR is in our favor we make close to the same comp on the Individual plan and small group. Then in 2014 if we can sell the exchange I think on those plans will be a flat comp. Right now estimates are about 24 million people to go onto some type of exchange type plan.
Now if our comp falls into the MLR admin portion of 15%-20% its going to be grim. We will see comp cut the first year by at 1/3 on indy,small group, & large group. At that point most agencies will cut staff in half if not more. I actually think the agent that does not have any over head could actually survive if they have prospecting skills.
Everything right now depends on the interpretation of the MLR. The clarification was suppose to be released at the end of July and know they are saying Dec.
My entire block of business is going to be impacted by the ruling.
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I would not mix the privates plans operating outside the exchange with the exchange plans. I think there will be two different markets. The exchange and then private plans.
So if the MLR is in our favor we make close to the same comp on the Individual plan and small group. Then in 2014 if we can sell the exchange I think on those plans will be a flat comp. Right now estimates are about 24 million people to go onto some type of exchange type plan.
Now if our comp falls into the MLR admin portion of 15%-20% its going to be grim. We will see comp cut the first year by at 1/3 on indy,small group, & large group. At that point most agencies will cut staff in half if not more. I actually think the agent that does not have any over head could actually survive if they have prospecting skills.
Everything right now depends on the interpretation of the MLR. The clarification was suppose to be released at the end of July and know they are saying Dec.
My entire block of business is going to be impacted by the ruling.
[
- 1,459
Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
- 14,808
Not a more true statement written. If a significant amount of your business is health insurance, and you don't have a solid "implementable" plan B then you'd better polish up your Monster.com resume.
This doesn't mean to "plan on" getting into, for example, the senior market. Unless you have significant savings or can live off your spouse's income you'll be a day late and a dollar short. The time to learn other lines is now.
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