People are absolutely clueless about Medicare

JJ2713

Guru
274
Has it been your experience that most people have no idea how Medicare works, what their options are, etc.

These are some of things I'm talking about...

- Have a MAPD and think it's a Supp
- Have a MAPD and call it a supplement (as in an add-on, not knowing that there are actual Medicare Supplements)
- Think their Part B premium is part of the cost of their MAPD Plan and don't know it's a Medicare cost
- Don't know what the 2 Medicare options are for additional coverage (Supps/Part D or MAPD)
- Don't know their MOOP on their MAPD Plan
- Think their MAPD Plan is regular Medicare
- Don't know the agent gets paid after the first year
- Have no idea what a MAPD Plan is, even though they are on one
- Don't even know you could get a Supp/Part D plan instead of a MAPD
- Thinking they can only get Medicare during AEP
- Confusing all enrollment periods
- Just completely clueless about everything having to do with Medicare
- Etc.

The agent does have to do quite a bit of explaining so the consumer understand everything.

It just seems incredible to me that people don't do basic homework to learn about something so important.

I'm also not really shocked though because this is a microcosm of a much bigger problem, in that most people simply don't plan financially for anything.

Most people don't have enough life insurance (if they have any at all), disability insurance, save enough money, etc.). Most people don't know what their car insurance covers, etc.

Also...

Some of these people are already on a MAPD and still don't know anything. I find this to be outrageous and could be considered malpractice on the part of their agent. Their agent didn't do their job and just had the consumer sign the paperwork for a MAPD, not explaining anything to the consumer.
 
The way I look at it is the members have a very basic understanding. They generally only skim the Medicare and you handbook for a few days at most, while agents work with the products daily and have annually certification requirements as well as CE credits. There is definitely a responsibility on the part of the agent to thoroughly and honestly explain how everything will work.
 
Has it been your experience that most people have no idea how Medicare works, what their options are, etc.

These are some of things I'm talking about...

- Have a MAPD and think it's a Supp
- Have a MAPD and call it a supplement (as in an add-on, not knowing that there are actual Medicare Supplements)
- Think their Part B premium is part of the cost of their MAPD Plan and don't know it's a Medicare cost
- Don't know what the 2 Medicare options are for additional coverage (Supps/Part D or MAPD)
- Don't know their MOOP on their MAPD Plan
- Think their MAPD Plan is regular Medicare
- Don't know the agent gets paid after the first year
- Have no idea what a MAPD Plan is, even though they are on one
- Don't even know you could get a Supp/Part D plan instead of a MAPD
- Thinking they can only get Medicare during AEP
- Confusing all enrollment periods
- Just completely clueless about everything having to do with Medicare
- Etc.

The agent does have to do quite a bit of explaining so the consumer understand everything.

It just seems incredible to me that people don't do basic homework to learn about something so important.

I'm also not really shocked though because this is a microcosm of a much bigger problem, in that most people simply don't plan financially for anything.

Most people don't have enough life insurance (if they have any at all), disability insurance, save enough money, etc.). Most people don't know what their car insurance covers, etc.

Also...

Some of these people are already on a MAPD and still don't know anything. I find this to be outrageous and could be considered malpractice on the part of their agent. Their agent didn't do their job and just had the consumer sign the paperwork for a MAPD, not explaining anything to the consumer.

we dont know the future
we do know they stole from social security and set bak the age to 67

there is no money w 21 trillion in debt

hard times coming for govt funded “programs” at some point MAPD bye bye

mark this post
 
Has it been your experience that most people have no idea how Medicare works, what their options are, etc.

These are some of things I'm talking about...

- Have a MAPD and think it's a Supp
- Have a MAPD and call it a supplement (as in an add-on, not knowing that there are actual Medicare Supplements)
- Think their Part B premium is part of the cost of their MAPD Plan and don't know it's a Medicare cost
- Don't know what the 2 Medicare options are for additional coverage (Supps/Part D or MAPD)
- Don't know their MOOP on their MAPD Plan
- Think their MAPD Plan is regular Medicare
- Don't know the agent gets paid after the first year
- Have no idea what a MAPD Plan is, even though they are on one
- Don't even know you could get a Supp/Part D plan instead of a MAPD
- Thinking they can only get Medicare during AEP
- Confusing all enrollment periods
- Just completely clueless about everything having to do with Medicare
- Etc.

The agent does have to do quite a bit of explaining so the consumer understand everything.

It just seems incredible to me that people don't do basic homework to learn about something so important.

I'm also not really shocked though because this is a microcosm of a much bigger problem, in that most people simply don't plan financially for anything.

Most people don't have enough life insurance (if they have any at all), disability insurance, save enough money, etc.). Most people don't know what their car insurance covers, etc.

Also...

Some of these people are already on a MAPD and still don't know anything. I find this to be outrageous and could be considered malpractice on the part of their agent. Their agent didn't do their job and just had the consumer sign the paperwork for a MAPD, not explaining anything to the consumer.

I put on Medicare educational seminars once a month for the local hospital for seven years. The hospital would usually have around 25 to 40 people in attendance at each one of them.

I would always start off by explaining that there are two totally different paths to choose from when you are Medicare eligible. The first one is to stay on original Medicare A&B and with that you would usually buy a supplemental insurance plan to pay the deductibles and co-pays. The other one is where you opt out of original Medicare coverage and replace it with a privatized health plan through an insurance company.

Then I would say I’m going to explain both in detail but to get a feel for the room I’m going to ask for a show of hands for those who know they have a supplement and then a show of hands of those on Medicare Advantage. And a third show of hands for anyone who is not certain.

Every time almost everyone in the room thought they had original Medicare and a supplement. After all the shows of hands I would tell them that approximately 50% of you are incorrect. But by the end of my presentation today you will all understand exactly what you have. And you will understand both options.

A couple of times each year that room would be full of doctors, nurses and other hospital staff. They had no more knowledge of it than the general public did.

So yes, I 100% agree with your observation. I’m pretty sure all insurance agents do.
 
Most of us on this site that sell Medicare are experts.
We have certifications State CE credits carrier specific training Etc. and that is a huge advantage we have.

But I would venture to say that the majority of us that focus on Medicare cannot and do not know the specifics of P&C insurance, life insurance Etc.

Take a lawyer that specializes in bankruptcies he would have no idea how to try a criminal case. We can take the example of a doctor that specialize in Cardiac Care and we can't expect him to do brain surgery.

I find the same thing that people do not understand all the ins and outs about Medicare but that's a good thing because each of us can now educate our clients. I get the majority of my business when I started through educational seminars.

If your clients knew everything that you knew then why would they even need to go through an agent they could just sign up online.
 
Most of us on this site that sell Medicare are experts.
We have certifications State CE credits carrier specific training Etc. and that is a huge advantage we have.

But I would venture to say that the majority of us that focus on Medicare cannot and do not know the specifics of P&C insurance, life insurance Etc.

Take a lawyer that specializes in bankruptcies he would have no idea how to try a criminal case. We can take the example of a doctor that specialize in Cardiac Care and we can't expect him to do brain surgery.

I find the same thing that people do not understand all the ins and outs about Medicare but that's a good thing because each of us can now educate our clients. I get the majority of my business when I started through educational seminars.

If your clients knew everything that you knew then why would they even need to go through an agent they could just sign up online.

Baby boomer wont need agents. We are all about to see agent MAPD put to the side when inhouse agents can do it right over the phone. The marketing from carriers will win in long run for inhouse sales.

My advise is get ur peanuts now because shells are left over once they migrate to online enrollments ad the trend.

Its already happeninf
 
I put on Medicare educational seminars once a month for the local hospital for seven years. The hospital would usually have around 25 to 40 people in attendance at each one of them.

I would always start off by explaining that there are two totally different paths to choose from when you are Medicare eligible. The first one is to stay on original Medicare A&B and with that you would usually buy a supplemental insurance plan to pay the deductibles and co-pays. The other one is where you opt out of original Medicare coverage and replace it with a privatized health plan through an insurance company.

Then I would say I’m going to explain both in detail but to get a feel for the room I’m going to ask for a show of hands for those who know they have a supplement and then a show of hands of those on Medicare Advantage. And a third show of hands for anyone who is not certain.

Every time almost everyone in the room thought they had original Medicare and a supplement. After all the shows of hands I would tell them that approximately 50% of you are incorrect. But by the end of my presentation today you will all understand exactly what you have. And you will understand both options.

A couple of times each year that room would be full of doctors, nurses and other hospital staff. They had no more knowledge of it than the general public did.

So yes, I 100% agree with your observation. I’m pretty sure all insurance agents do.

Did you use visual aids in your seminars? Flip charts, projector slides, something else?

And were handouts allowed with the presentations you did-and if so-did you (or the hospital) provide any?

Thanks.
 
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