Northern CA Kaiser Medicare Questions for a Guru

CALTCAgent

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Hello,

I am in Santa Clara County in Northern CA. I mainly do LTC/annuties and life. I am considering doing some medicare marketing, preferably as a "door opener" for cross selling, probably a mail piece (I know people on here say it doesn't work, but I won't telemarket unless its real easy, lol)

It seems half the seniors I talk to have Kaiser (maybe I'm wrong though) and I am concerned that maybe it won't work well because of Kaiser appearing to dominate the market.

Is there a way of telling what percentage of seniors have Kaiser in the county?

If not does anybody have an estimate of the percentage of seniors with Kaiser in Santa Clara County based on their experiences?

Or should I stay away from this county as far as medicare marketing as its going to not be profitable and work in counties near by that don't have Kaiser?

If you would like to talk on e-mail that is fine too.

PS: I know I have asked similar questions before and asked marketers about these subjects and so far I have not found definitive answers. So I would appreciate anything someone could share with me.

Thanks!
 
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OK, nobody knows anything about Kaiser?

The Marketers in other states get real quiet too about this subject. I am assuming its a bad subject for med supp marketers.
 
Nobody but Kaiser can answer your question, and they won't tell you. You'll have to get past the question, since it doesn't really matter. The question should be 'Are there enough opportunites in Santa Clara county to support me?'. That answer is probably yes.

Other counties? Stay out of Alameda, that's where I am. Contra Costa is pretty close to me, along with San Joaquin. In fact, you should stay in Santa Clara. Oops, I forgot, I don't do medicare marketing.... I guess you can do the entire bay area.

Dan
 
Thanks!

I like your "probably", much better than the questions I am asking, lol.
 
I don't work much in the senior health market so I'm no expert. But here is the link to the KP MA in Santa Clara. Frank S. can do a better analysis than I can but I think that original Medicare with a Plan F Supp can compete favorably with what KP is offering.

I suggest you crunch some numbers and compare KP's MA (which is only valid at KP hospitals and clinics) with Medicare, A Plan F, and a Part D where you can go anywhere (a selling point.) No doubt the premiums will be higher, but what would the out-of-pocket expenses be on a hospital stay, surgery, with a lot of necessary drugs. (Again, I'll bet one of our experts in senior plans, like Frank, can whip up a comparison in a few minutes since they work this field full-time.)

Doing this kind of homework is about the only way to tell if you will have something competitive to sell to current KP clients.

InsuranceSolutions123 Agency
 
Your observations are on target.
Kaiser has 53,218 in MA as of 6/1.
There are 75,041 in MA total as of 6/1, so Kaiser has over 2/3 of the Medicare Advantage Market in Santa Clara.
There are 210,233 Medicare Beneficiaries there. So, they have about 25% of the total Medicare market.
That's pretty huge.
Source: http://www.cms.gov/MCRAdvPartDEnrolData/
 
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Your observations are on target.
Kaiser has 53,218 in MA as of 6/1.
There are 75,041 in MA total as of 6/1, so Kaiser has over 2/3 of the Medicare Advantage Market in Santa Clara.
There are 210,233 Medicare Beneficiaries there. So, they have about 25% of the total Medicare market.
That's pretty huge.
Source: Overview Medicare Advantage/Part D Contract and Enrollment Data

Does that likely mean I should market medicare in nearby areas rather than in this county?

Or just go about things differently in this area?

Thanks!
 
Does that likely mean I should market medicare in nearby areas rather than in this county?

Or just go about things differently in this area?

Thanks!

Let's look at your options:

1) You can beat your head against the Kaiser wall in Santa Clara until you pass out or,

2) You can market in nearby counties where you have a much better chance, and/or

3) You can market elsewhere (see #2), get a couple of MA contracts so you can help that population, and earn a living.

Your choice.

Rick
 
Now we are getting to some useful information!

"Your observations are on target.
Kaiser has 53,218 in MA as of 6/1."

Where do you find this number on that web site?

I see all the other numbers but can't seem to find this Kaiser number.

I am thinking now even more importantly than Kaiser is here is the fact that 36% of the medicare beneficiaries have a MA plan of some sort in this county.

My next thought is that even if they like my med supp or MA plan, I can only move those 36% MA people during the AEP.

Wouldn't it be better to market in this area closer to that time period because of the fact that 36% have a MA? (I am assuming direct mail/cold calling marketing has no way to target non MA people)

The surrounding areas can market all year long since MA market penetration is low.

Is my thinking correct here?

Thanks again!
 
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