Navigators Wanted - $48 Per Hour

[taterpeeler]

The easiest way to calculate full time pay is to just take the hourly wage and double it or x by 2. So if you make $48 per hour, 48+48=96 (one less mathematical calculation/step)

This comes in handy especially when you are racing somebody to solve annual salary OR if you want to look like you can do math super quick in you head.

geez.... my brain hurts..... that's to confusing...

 

[Yagents]

So, navigators are basically useless:
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Navigators cannot select a plan for their clients and are not in charge of determining whether customers are eligible for federal subsidies,

Read more: HHS sets rules for ObamaCare 'navigators' - The Hill's Healthwatch
Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook
​

 

[Cornelius]

I think at some point once this thing gets rocking agents will need to be involved along with helping people choose a plan. Consider the car insurance commercials where they mostly mention price and not coverage. What happens when many people just choose a plan because of price and something isn't covered or cost more out of pocket than another plan which may have been a better fit?

 

[Ann H]

You know, I don't think we have much to fear about Navigators. I think the role was created to "get the word out", particularly to the uninsured segment who may not trust agents, and who possibly don't even know that agents exist. That segment is not our client base anyway. Dave020 says that in CA an agent can even hire a Navigator to do some tasks, or do mutual referrals. So, say you give the Navigator all your Medicaid accounts, and he/she gives you all the insured referrals.

I think what we have to fear is the Exchange. Someone said earlier that it's the Exchange that can put us out of business, and that's true. The govt set up an Exchange to overtake an agent's role. There was really no reason for it. Agents/Brokers are not the cause of spiraling prices, and eliminating us won't help. The Exchange is overkill anyway. In AZ we have a small business credit that works SIMPLY. The client has a 1 page application for the credit. It goes to the AZ Dept. of Revenue for review, and the client gets a 1 page certificate back quickly. The client sends that cert to the insurance company, and the funds are credited on the client's monthly bill. It's easy. It's simple. I've never had a problem with it. Any issues were handled promptly, courteously and in a simple and straightforward manner.

So, why do we need an exchange anyway? It's massive overkill. Just submit an app for a tax credit, get a certificate, send it to the insurance company, and let the insurance company get monthly funds from the IRS.

Some say the exchange must compare all plans apples-to-apples. Well, their Summary of Benefits & Coverage kind of took care of that. Some say the exchange must make sure govt subsidies are not spent on non-qualified plans. That's a no-brainer, too. The insurance companies can make clear distinctions between qualified and non-qualified plans. They do so right now with HSA's.

Exchanges are an illegal intrusion of the government into a private market segment that was working just fine - the agent/broker role. The sooner they fall on their faces the better.

My rant is over. I need less coffee.

 

[toddoxley]

Ann, I could not agree with you more. The exchanges are a independent agents mortal enemy. They are designed to eliminate us. We should all be very careful how we help the exchanges succeed.

 

[Yagents]

If exchanges were meant to eliminate the agent, Ehealth (an exchange) would have done so a long time ago. The new exchanges, are much more complex, and will need personal advice even more so.

Bring it on!

 

[Norwayguy]

So, navigators are basically useless:
-------------------
Navigators cannot select a plan for their clients and are not in charge of determining whether customers are eligible for federal subsidies,
Read more: HHS sets rules for ObamaCare 'navigators' - The Hill's Healthwatch
Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook

And for that they get 96k per year....Damn must be a government job.

 

[toddoxley]

The exchanges as they are designed are nothing like e-health.
The exchanges are a infrastructure so that the federal government can enroll its citizens into the single payor system that will be implemented when ObamaCare fails. Remember how quickly they gave up on the "Public Option". The only option in a couple of years is going to be the " Public Option".

I have been a broker for 26 years and I can understand how many of us see this as a potential financial windfall. But as Ann has pointed out we already have a premium tax credit for health insurance in Arizona. I have enrolled many groups into this and it was a seamless transition. The exchanges in 2014 are not meant to help the independent agent make money. The ACA exchanges are meant to replace us. The subsidy calculation for individuals could have been easily determined in a manner similar to the way the premium tax credit has worked in Arizona.

 

[cadylou]

So true - even if companies continue to pay agents for production outside of the exchanges, it won't be long before they won't have the money to do that. Once the Federal Government stops 'subsidizing' the cost of operating the exchanges, the insurance carriers participating in the exchanges will be required to pay a percentage 'fee' for utilizing the exchange. That $$ they'll have to spend on that will be part of the MLR calculation - so - doubtful there will be anything left to pay any independent agents.

 

[HealthGuy]

I love it how everybody here is an exchange expert and can read the future. I really only put stock in what Ann and people like YAgents, Peeler, and a few select others say. Really everybody else, admit it, you know jack. Reading the PPACA tea leaves is like saying you know the day and the hour of the second coming of Christ. Everybody shut up already, its nauseating. Either the sky is falling or it isn't (I tend to think it is most of the time) but at this point who really gives a crap. Obamacare sucks either way.