Obamacare & Selling Individual Health Insurance in 2013 & 2014

Yes, I realized it was a rhetorical question. I just thought confirmation of your message (be it cryptic or not) would help those who don't realize that there is business to be had no matter how the government decides to manipulate this.


well... more to this point.... mapd plans are for the most part what we are going to with obamacare.... they are GI and have the EXACT same enrollent period as the ACA... people have been saying for years that we will be gone.... you are not needed.... they can enroll online via medicare.gov.... insurance companies spend millions running hour long info mercials and guess what.... I sell the chit out of them.....

medicare supplement plans... same premise under certain situations... all plans the same.... not one stick of difference from one company to the next....... I also sell the pig snot out of them too.....


bottom line........ phooy on you scaredy cats
 
Great point Ann, I completely agree. Especially with the cross-selling, we've been pushing everything from life and DI, to DBL and payroll processing. "Clients" have 3 or more products through you.

Do keep in mind, NY is also broker driven. Last number we were fed (NY Benefits Exchange seminar, 3/23/13) said 88% of small group insurance was written through brokers, I don't have an indy number. That may not change over night, but I'd wager my male anatomy that your compensation will by this time next year.
 
Ray what is DBL ? If there is no comp on biz written thru brokers in NY why is 88% written thru a broker? I'm confused.
 
DBL is New York State's Disability Benefits Law, which provides benefits for disabilities due to non-occupational injury or illness (opposed to workers comp, for occupation related injuries and illness).

Comp started getting cut last year (headed by our local colored shield carrier) when they set the precedent of a $5 flat fee PCPM. That made for quite an interesting NYAHU seminar...

Another big carrier announced (in March, eff 5/1) a cut to 0% commission for new and renewal business on a suite of their most popular products, approx 50% of their business. The rest was cut from 4% to 3%. This was supposed to go into effect regardless of anniversary date. There was an uproar, and NAIFA/NAHU ended up getting them to switch to anniversary date. We now have a bit more time to move business, but to be honest, this was the carrier we were moving to less than a year ago.

We don't have a lot of viable options left.
 
Ann, do you have an exit strategy in that you think we have a 3-5 yr window?
Sprint til maybe second open enrollment then sell at its high perhaps?
I can see comp going to zero in your 3-5 yr window, but what is your guess for commissions on cases on the books at that time?

I'm sorry, Kahlestyle, I didn't see your post until now. I'm not sure I have an answer for you. I'm trying to figure out my best entrance strategy much less my exit strategy! This market is a roller coaster, and most of us have more marketing ideas than one human could follow. This may not be MY exit strategy, but here are some good ones.

Sell your book of business a couple of years before you expect commissions to drop or disappear

Cross-sell life, annuities, dental, Medicare supps, P&C, financial products, etc.

Go into consulting and help businesses deal with the ever-increasing load of regulations (for those of us in group insurance)

Work hard for 3 more years and retire happy (my favorite)

Stay in the field, but morph again for the inevitable result that any nation's "one-payer" system will cut benefits and then need supplements to be sold.

Now, that's 3-5 years away. I'm still sorting through marketing ideas for my best entrance strategy!
 
yeah, me too on the entrance
something like this though
Get all systems churning to protect the current book (70-30 group vs indiv)
then decide which indiv demographic to go after, subsidy or not
leaning towards subsidy (bigger volume but know ill be dealing with uninformed)
Hire a backup for sales and admin and train almost exclusively ACA
then several spigots to turn on the flow, probably tinker with all of the above
flyers, uninsured leads, working with or hiring navigators (not sure quite how to do this yet), targeting industries likely to drop or not have group coverage, targeting groups working with an agent who didnt keep up with ACA, brick and mortar presence, swapmeets, farmers markets, etc
i think im going to invest alot of capital

or how about this, take a select few from this forum, form a company, target agent gatherings, and sell consulting services on how to "not survive but thrive in the ACA environment"

ok im out there now, your turn
 
yeah, me too on the entrance
something like this though
Get all systems churning to protect the current book (70-30 group vs indiv)
then decide which indiv demographic to go after, subsidy or not
leaning towards subsidy (bigger volume but know ill be dealing with uninformed)
Hire a backup for sales and admin and train almost exclusively ACA
then several spigots to turn on the flow, probably tinker with all of the above
flyers, uninsured leads, working with or hiring navigators (not sure quite how to do this yet), targeting industries likely to drop or not have group coverage, targeting groups working with an agent who didnt keep up with ACA, brick and mortar presence, swapmeets, farmers markets, etc
i think im going to invest alot of capital

or how about this, take a select few from this forum, form a company, target agent gatherings, and sell consulting services on how to "not survive but thrive in the ACA environment"

ok im out there now, your turn




Good plan, Kahlestyle! I had written the following plan on another thread (before you came to the forum...)
Like ABC and TaterPeeler said, keep selling!

Here are the cards I will play:
  1. Continue to diversify and establish multiple sources of income
  2. Learn, learn, learn - become an EXPERT in the rules
  3. Dig out the contact information of all clients, old & new, all prospects, everyone who ever contacted you regarding insurance. Include all employees of your groups, all their spouses, every email address that you can see on the carrier's website for those insureds.
  4. Put those contacts in a crm or database. Include dates of birth and social security numbers, because you will need it later, but don't put that info on the cloud.
  5. Begin communicating via newsletters, blogs, etc. Establish yourself as the go-to person.
  6. Upgrade your websites, pay attention to SEO, get some great domain names.
  7. Pre-screen your clients early, by finding out if they are likely to qualify for a subsidy or not, what are their needs, their prescription usage, their favorite doctors, their group insurance options. This will cut out time at open enrollment time, but also establishes you as the person who is interested in every detail of their health care choices. Make sure you talk to the WIFE - she makes the decision about health care, you know.
  8. Attend webinars, only attend seminars when necessary, learn the new products when they arrive (probably June to September 2013). Learn everything you can about the exchange and how it works.
  9. Have options for people who will pay the tax (if there are GOOD options available - not limited benefit). Cross-sell when you can fill a need.
  10. Jump on open enrollment early, plan to work your tail off from October to January, and then just work your legs off from January to March.
  11. Count the money later.
  12. Go on vacation
  13. Work April to August on some other source of income.
  14. Plan for 3 years of this
  15. Get out. Agents will be kicked out anyway - this is headed for nationalized healthcare.

Of course, a little of this has changed now that renewals will be staggered throughout 2014.
 
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