InsuranceGuy29
Guru
- 718
Now that the dust has settled somewhat, we can finally see what the fallout of this act is. I think it's important to discuss how to counter it. I'm a strategic kind of guy, and my wheels are always spinning. There is now absolutely no doubt that us agents are heavily paying for this act. Everyone is, but especially us.
Many existing plans were cut, commission amounts were cut, future non-commissionable plans were enacted, a certain company has LITERALLY RESORTED TO STEALING OUR RENEWAL MONEY. Yea, safe to say we are paying.
Our commissions are basically being redirected to big pharma and their racket. Over the past few years, I have noticed (and I'm sure many of you have too) that RX companies have HEAVILY started to market prescriptions that have a super high monthly cost, and these drugs have no generics available. Make no mistake, that is no coincidence.
Drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Jardiance have become a trend. Commercials for these drugs have saturated the televisions across America. They knew how this act was gonna play out, and they saw an opportunity and pounced.......
Big Pharma Executive: "Only a $2,000 MOOP and insurance is gonna then gonna be forced to pick up the cost for everything??? GET THE ADS READY FOR OUR HIGHEST PRICED CRAP!!!! Get these high-priced drugs in all of our reps' hands and get them in those doctor's offices!!"
This whole thing is a giant circle jerk to big pharma. So, how can we counter? Obviously I, and we, are no medical experts, BUT what we can do is simply point out very similar drugs that are much cheaper.
Big Pharma's entire goal is to run crazy amounts of ads for these super high-priced drugs, in an attempt to brainwash people to ask their doctor about them. While simultaneously flooding doctor's offices with their pharmaceutical reps with samples and backdoor deals to push these specific drugs.
Over the past few years, I have encountered so many people on these drugs, and I had never even heard of them before. That's all by design. They went wild marketing and pushing these.
If a client mentions one of them, simply mention that there are other lower-priced alternatives that will save them money and will essentially do the same thing.
I think also studying and gaining knowledge about natural vitamins and supplements is also a good strategy. Again, we are not doctors or medical professionals, so we can't go recommending someone take something, but we can simply have adult discussions and plant seeds.
For instance....someone is taking Ozempic to lose weight. Well, what does Ozempic do? It simply suppresses appetite. There are many natural supplements that will do that. Go ahead and mention one. They might give it a try, they might not. If they try it and it works, you just saved the insurance company (and us, as a proxy) about $1,200/month.
Another strategy is to try and utilize the discount programs that the drug manufacturers themselves have. Research every high-priced drug and find out if they have one. For instance, Novo Nordisk has one for Ozempic and many other drugs.
If your clients rattle off that drug, or any other one on that list, then get them on that program. It makes the Ozempic free for them. It saves them money, and it saves the insurance company (and again, us, as a proxy) money.
Another strategy is to push GoodRx and other discounter cards more (obviously not for people that will hit their MOOP). Many times, people will pay less money with those than the insurance card. If it's a $7 copay for insurance and a $7 copay with GoodRx, then tell them to use GoodRx. There's no point in the insurance company (again..us) paying for this if GoodRx covers it at equal or better dollar amounts. Let them pay.
Money in the Medicare program is not infinite. I know some people think insurance companies are just an infinite money glitch, but they are not. Money is very real, and as we are now seeing, when a lot of money is taken out and/or redirected, we suffer, along with all of our clients.
We have to start looking at this money as our money, too, and being extremely fiscally responsible in what we are recommending, because all of us are paying for this big pharma blow job. If anyone else has any other good ideas, please feel free to share. Again.....we have to stick together and work as a united frontline. SOLIDARITY!
Many existing plans were cut, commission amounts were cut, future non-commissionable plans were enacted, a certain company has LITERALLY RESORTED TO STEALING OUR RENEWAL MONEY. Yea, safe to say we are paying.
Our commissions are basically being redirected to big pharma and their racket. Over the past few years, I have noticed (and I'm sure many of you have too) that RX companies have HEAVILY started to market prescriptions that have a super high monthly cost, and these drugs have no generics available. Make no mistake, that is no coincidence.
Drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Jardiance have become a trend. Commercials for these drugs have saturated the televisions across America. They knew how this act was gonna play out, and they saw an opportunity and pounced.......
Big Pharma Executive: "Only a $2,000 MOOP and insurance is gonna then gonna be forced to pick up the cost for everything??? GET THE ADS READY FOR OUR HIGHEST PRICED CRAP!!!! Get these high-priced drugs in all of our reps' hands and get them in those doctor's offices!!"
This whole thing is a giant circle jerk to big pharma. So, how can we counter? Obviously I, and we, are no medical experts, BUT what we can do is simply point out very similar drugs that are much cheaper.
Big Pharma's entire goal is to run crazy amounts of ads for these super high-priced drugs, in an attempt to brainwash people to ask their doctor about them. While simultaneously flooding doctor's offices with their pharmaceutical reps with samples and backdoor deals to push these specific drugs.
Over the past few years, I have encountered so many people on these drugs, and I had never even heard of them before. That's all by design. They went wild marketing and pushing these.
If a client mentions one of them, simply mention that there are other lower-priced alternatives that will save them money and will essentially do the same thing.
I think also studying and gaining knowledge about natural vitamins and supplements is also a good strategy. Again, we are not doctors or medical professionals, so we can't go recommending someone take something, but we can simply have adult discussions and plant seeds.
For instance....someone is taking Ozempic to lose weight. Well, what does Ozempic do? It simply suppresses appetite. There are many natural supplements that will do that. Go ahead and mention one. They might give it a try, they might not. If they try it and it works, you just saved the insurance company (and us, as a proxy) about $1,200/month.
Another strategy is to try and utilize the discount programs that the drug manufacturers themselves have. Research every high-priced drug and find out if they have one. For instance, Novo Nordisk has one for Ozempic and many other drugs.
If your clients rattle off that drug, or any other one on that list, then get them on that program. It makes the Ozempic free for them. It saves them money, and it saves the insurance company (and again, us, as a proxy) money.
Another strategy is to push GoodRx and other discounter cards more (obviously not for people that will hit their MOOP). Many times, people will pay less money with those than the insurance card. If it's a $7 copay for insurance and a $7 copay with GoodRx, then tell them to use GoodRx. There's no point in the insurance company (again..us) paying for this if GoodRx covers it at equal or better dollar amounts. Let them pay.
Money in the Medicare program is not infinite. I know some people think insurance companies are just an infinite money glitch, but they are not. Money is very real, and as we are now seeing, when a lot of money is taken out and/or redirected, we suffer, along with all of our clients.
We have to start looking at this money as our money, too, and being extremely fiscally responsible in what we are recommending, because all of us are paying for this big pharma blow job. If anyone else has any other good ideas, please feel free to share. Again.....we have to stick together and work as a united frontline. SOLIDARITY!
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