PDP telesales by carriers

[retread]

The "bottom line" is that everyone posting is guessing what CMS is requiring. Any agent who comes here to find out "exactly" what is or isn't "legal" is going to "hang their hat" on the explanation that best suits their needs.

Each agent needs to read the CMS guidelines and decide for themselves how they are going to market MA plans. Grow a pair and make the best decision you can and stand by it. By design even CMS cannot tell us precisly what we can and can't do.

Personally I'm going to act in the best interest of the prospect I'm trying to help. I am giving them all the facts and doing everything I can to help them make a well informed, intelligent decision regarding what is the best option for them.

In my humble opinion that is all that I need to be concerned about. As an agent the only thing I have going for me is my credibility. I'm sure not going to put that in jeopardy because some pencil-neck at CMS thinks that seniors are not entitled to have all of the information available to make an intelligent decision regarding the best investment of their premium dollar.

Agreed.

The flap over commissions, SOAs, and other MIPPA implementation shows us how poor CMS is at communicating. It is systemic to the way bureaucrats think... too many are lawyers who can't relate to people so can't make a living dealing with people face to face... that's why they find a job behind a desk making remote directives. Unable to communicate clearly only makes for more job security, because they have to issue more and more directives to clarify the last one, and so on ad infinitum. Couple this with the lack of ability to make a decision and stick to it, is appalling.

Another example in the news recently, is Sec. Paulson's switch on buying the toxic loans that was part of the original "bailout" plan. This has undone what had been a turnaround in the economic free-fall. Expect more insanity from government officials.

 

[Frank Stastny]

Everything that is going on now is very reminiscent of what was happening in the senior market prior to 1993. Until then, insurance companies were at liberty to design any kind of plan that they felt would supplement Medicare. Most of the plans were full of crap that looked good on paper but left lots of holes, co-pays and deductibles.

To fill those "holes" agents would sell multiple policies to their prospect. Commissions were high and agents made a lot of money, not unlike the kind of commissions that have been paid the last two years for MA plans.

Back then we apparently had intelligent, responsible, compassionate people handling Medicare. They saw that the system was not working to the benefit of the senior population. Only putting lots of money in the hands of insurance companies and their agents.

Guess what? The government actually did "right thing", stepped in and put a stop to everything that was going on.

That is when the Standardized Medicare Supplement plans were released, 1993, requiring all companies that had been selling policies to supplement Medicare to stop marketing those plans. From that point forward Medicare said that companies could only offer the Standard Plans.

It is very interesting that Medicare really did come up with plans offering very good coverage. At that time no one, I repeat NO ONE, attempted to tell agents how they could sell them or what the commission would be.

Medicare Supplement sales have been going very smoothly since then. Agents have been able to actually help seniors understand Medicare and the supplement options available to them.

One would think that someone at CMS would remember what a cluster mess things were prior to 1993. Obviously insurance companies cannot be trusted to design a plan to supplement Medicare. All one has to do is look at some of the crappy Part C plans that are out there.

There is a place for Part C plans and they can help a certain percentage of the senior population. However, I see the same problems occurring today with them that existed in 1992 and before. The only difference is that they are much worse today than they were then.

Back then only the seniors were getting "screwed". Now CMS has decided that they have become so "horny" that there aren't enough seniors to satisfy their "hunger" so they have decided to "screw" us also.

 

[policy doctor]

LOL
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sorry folks...that was a laugh of exasperation!

Thought you might like to read this if it hasn't been posted already.

Top Medicare Drug Plan Premium Hikes - The Best Life (usnews.com)