They Want Enrollers, Not Agents

[Lakshmi]

I agree, I'm seeing the same path forward as you are.

However, we can't forget all of the extra value we can provide. We may be delegated to "enroller" when it comes to health, but we are insurance brokers not "health brokers".

The value in coming to us is our high-level view of a clients current and future needs, and our foresight and knowledge into products that can help them reach their goals. Whether it's protecting their wife and kids with a term life policy, protecting their business with a DI or BOE plan, planning for the worse with buy-sells, or planning for the best with cash value whole life with an LTD rider, our knowledge and skill in planning is invaluable.

Even if our role in health is diminished, it still becomes a valuable tool for prospecting. We're seeing new clients, people who would never have sought out insurance in general before, and it's up to us to ensure they're protected on all levels-not just when they need medical care.

Ray, I agree 100% with you here. I've been moving away slowly from a predominant health insurance market/book since 2010. I'm all the way away now for the most part---it was like a divorce in some ways...lol...As soon as carriers like Assurant started dropping my commission levels from 22%, 12 month advances, down to 15% and on down to 7%, as eaned, to now nothing...along with Golden rule who already had a not so good commission plan... then American Community and World going completely out of business....I once wrote a massive amount of health insurance--miss those days and was happy it was what it once was...it helped me raise my family in a nice way.

Now, I am an insurance agent who ONLY "consults" or "assists" with health insurance, will gladly help with filling out an application or doing off marketplace application when I could still help with claims and that (I had one company this past year that was still great for off market, but as of a month ago, that one is now in financial dire straights). But, I now tell them I am only able to assist or consult, and regrettably due to the massive changes in the landscape of health insurance, I am no longer able to effectively help with claims and such. I now really just show them, or assist over the phone with what to do...stressing all of the pitfalls that could happen along the way. I only did about 20 on Market and 20 off Market this past season, just out of pity and long term clients who are also LI, CI, etc clients.

By slowly transitioning to primarily helping clients with life insurance, critical illness, accident, WL, and anything else I can help with (which was always secondary to health anyway), I've been able to sustain and still help with adding value to a clients life/lifestyle/comfort level of security/etc.

Truly, this has been one crazy wild ride, but it's getting easier everyday. I feel like the transition is complete now after talking to many of my health insurance clients over the past five years...it's going pretty good now.

What I find has worked for me, is to just be very honest. It's a reality that we can no longer truly service and help clients the best way possible...I tell them that in an honest way. As much as I miss helping with health insurance and making a good, clean, honest living doing so, while helping the client, for me it was just too hard, knowing that the possibility of being able to service the claims and such were going to be a HUGE problem.

The Government to me has been just as nasty as the single welfare mother who has more and more kids just to get more and more foodstamps....sadly, using her kids to get more freebies...only I felt like the Government (and somewhat the insurance companies themselves) just wanted to keep us around to get all enrollments up and running...."allowing" us to hang in there for the sole purpose of what the end goal is...to enroll as many people as possible in the messed up Marketplace.

Just thought I'd share this with you...at least my thought process about continuing to do health insurance. It is a personal preference. I didn't want to sell it much after the Marketplace started falling into place (albeit a very rough place). I have colleagues who still do and still make a good amount of money with one other company...Priority..., but they are writing 200 plus clients...I couldn't imagine having to try to navigate that mess when subsidies problems and that came up...and really, it seems like it's just supplementing their incomes and their new found way of doing things...LI, CI and that...the commissions to me these days, what's left anyway, isn't worth ANY of the headache, but I do not knock those who continue to hang in there with it....

The agents left standing in my area, this was a necessary transition. You're right, the value in what we have to offer is still there, just have to keep moving forward in a different way--for many of us anyway.

For those that continue to do well with primarily health insurance, I raise my glass to you in admiration.

 

[russelltw]

I plan to continue ACA during AEP, but continue building my medicare book outside of AEP. I don't prospect for SEP business at all. That business is more likely to drop 90-120 days down the road (in between jobs, married, divorced, etc).

My major carrier believes ACA will eventually be like MAPDs. It will be a flat amount per year per person. Since CMS runs this, it will slowly morph into something like MAPD. If that's the case, I can handle the change.

If ACA falls apart, my worry is the type of clients that enroll now tend to be low income, which will make it more difficult to cross sale. If they are having trouble affording their new subsidized rates, what else is there to offer them. I had a number of clients complain that their rate increase this year was significant (ex. $15 increased to $50). It reinforces the need to diversify my income streams.

My motto to anyone who will listen is:
"make as much as you can, pay off any debt, save as much as you can, don't inflate your lifestyle, work on Plan B and Plan C outside AEP."

 

[scagnt83]

Final expense king of SoCal?

After they create tax payer subsidies for medsups and 80% of the nation is dirt poor; the final expense demographic will grow to be so large he could make a killing!

 

[somarco]

if "most" had such a massive increase in income (as you suggest)

Some made money, including some that made more than before.

But most agents, at least the ones that stayed, made about the same or less for a lot more work. Oh, and lets not forget that commissions are now paid on the come.

BC/BS turned down over 60% of applications turned in

Maybe that was a BX thing. In all the years I was writing health insurance I doubt I ever had more than 5% rejected. It was probably more like 2 - 3% but I didn't think anyone would believe that.

I wrote cases most agents either walked away from or submitted them to one carrier and when it was declined, they told the individual no one would take them. There was more than one occasion where I turned around and placed that app with the carrier that had rejected it.

They will still be our clients no matter what

Will they still be your clients at 1% or $10/month?

Even if you replaced lost health insurance comp with another line, how much time can you afford to invest for little or no compensation?

 

[MaryDallas]

Some made money, including some that made more than before.

But most agents, at least the ones that stayed, made about the same or less for a lot more work. Oh, and lets not forget that commissions are now paid on the come.




Maybe that was a BX thing. In all the years I was writing health insurance I doubt I ever had more than 5% rejected. It was probably more like 2 - 3% but I didn't think anyone would believe that.

I wrote cases most agents either walked away from or submitted them to one carrier and when it was declined, they told the individual no one would take them. There was more than one occasion where I turned around and placed that app with the carrier that had rejected it.



Will they still be your clients at 1% or $10/month?

Even if you replaced lost health insurance comp with another line, how much time can you afford to invest for little or no compensation?

This is true: zero time for zero percent.

 

[taterpeeler]

Some made money, including some that made more than before.

But most agents, at least the ones that stayed, made about the same or less for a lot more work. Oh, and lets not forget that commissions are now paid on the come.

incorrect... the ones that stayed that were worth a chit made a hell of allot more money than before, if they worked hard... course the lazy ones are pissed cause they didn't make it...

 

[kgmom219]

Some made money, including some that made more than before.

But most agents, at least the ones that stayed, made about the same or less for a lot more work. Oh, and lets not forget that commissions are now paid on the come.

Maybe that was a BX thing. In all the years I was writing health insurance I doubt I ever had more than 5% rejected. It was probably more like 2 - 3% but I didn't think anyone would believe that.

I wrote cases most agents either walked away from or submitted them to one carrier and when it was declined, they told the individual no one would take them. There was more than one occasion where I turned around and placed that app with the carrier that had rejected it.

?

It wasn't a BX thing. My decline rate wasn't that high, but my "counseling" clients they were going to get declined and/or what they needed wasn't covered was at least 60%, if not higher.

Any agent selling indy health that stayed in the game and didn't see a serious increase in comp is lazy. Dumb. Whatever. I didn't change a damn thing for 2014. What changed was the number of people I was able to help. With zero marketing effort, I increased my indy by 100% in 10 weeks. That's ridiculous.

 

[Lakshmi]

Nice. Another agent calling other agents dumb and lazy because they choose to not make health their primary agenda. Roflmao.

Not offended. In fact, Im laughing about that because something tells me only unhappy people call other people offensive names. I'm very happy for those who are making it with health insurance. A lot of us made a conscious choice to change it up. Out of approximately 40 agents out of our past main company left and did their own thing. Some do Medicare and make a killing, some do FE now, some do life and CI, DI, and whatever. A few still do health, one of whom is my best friend who also made a lot. When I don't want to do it, I send them to the people who do, or directly send an affiliated agent over there, or they help over the phone. Or I assist. But if they ever called me dumb or lazy i would not send them their way.

People sharing ideas about their own Personal preferences of how they choose to work now in an ever changing landscape aren't dumb or lazy. Very happy for those making a killing on ACA plans. I just see it as signing up people for health when I could be doing something else That would suit me better--and in my case make me more money with less headache of dealing with all the activities that come from servicing problems with subsidies, claims that are hard to deal with with a few companies now,

Just saying. It's rather presumptuous to be so biased as to call people dumb and lazy, especially when it's based on your own preconceived notions. I'm not even sure who that was directed toward, and don't care...but what is dumb are remarks like that.

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Btw. What good is health insurance when they can't pay their premiums. Over the years, I've had a few clients use the CI or other supps I've sold them, when they couldn't work because of cancer or other health issue to pay those health insurance premiums. What do you think happens when they can't work bc of an illness and don't have much savings. They can't pay the health premiums in some cases, they lose that coverage in some cases, then they have to start liquidating assets, etc etc.

If they have no assets they would eventually qualify for Medicaid if not working. But anyway....there is a HUGE value in what other agents do...esp when working with small business owners who actually have many assets to protect. Ok. Rant over.

 

[FLM2]

Nice. Another agent calling other agents dumb and lazy because they choose to not make health their primary agenda. Roflmao.

Not offended. In fact, Im laughing about that because something tells me only unhappy people call other people offensive names. I'm very happy for those who are making it with health insurance. A lot of us made a conscious choice to change it up. Out of approximately 40 agents out of our past main company left and did their own thing. Some do Medicare and make a killing, some do FE now, some do life and CI, DI, and whatever. A few still do health, one of whom is my best friend who also made a lot. When I don't want to do it, I send them to the people who do, or directly send an affiliated agent over there, or they help over the phone. Or I assist. But if they ever called me dumb or lazy i would not send them their way.

People sharing ideas about their own Personal preferences of how they choose to work now in an ever changing landscape aren't dumb or lazy. Very happy for those making a killing on ACA plans. I just see it as signing up people for health when I could be doing something else That would suit me better--and in my case make me more money with less headache of dealing with all the activities that come from servicing problems with subsidies, claims that are hard to deal with with a few companies now,

Just saying. It's rather presumptuous to be so biased as to call people dumb and lazy, especially when it's based on your own preconceived notions. I'm not even sure who that was directed toward, and don't care...but what is dumb are remarks like that.

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Btw. What good is health insurance when they can't pay their premiums. Over the years, I've had a few clients use the CI or other supps I've sold them, when they couldn't work because of cancer or other health issue to pay those health insurance premiums. What do you think happens when they can't work bc of an illness and don't have much savings. They can't pay the health premiums in some cases, they lose that coverage in some cases, then they have to start liquidating assets, etc etc.

If they have no assets they would eventually qualify for Medicaid if not working. But anyway....there is a HUGE value in what other agents do...esp when working with small business owners who actually have many assets to protect. Ok. Rant over.

Very well said.

Those of us who chose to continue to focus on health insurance did so with the knowledge that things would change, it was our free choice to do so. It was the free choice of other agents, like yourself, to focus on other products. What makes no sense to me is the apparent need of some former health agents to continue to repeat how dumb we were to not get out.

The issue for us isn't so much the diminished compensation, that was expected in exchange for GI and higher premiums; what was unexpected was that the system being created would be so far removed, in terms of efficiency, from the existing Medicare system.

Both ACA and Medicare are administered by CMS, it continues to amaze me how they can be so much different. I can't imagine that this was the intent, it is just the result of really bad, substandard design and implementation.

 

[kgmom219]

Nice. Another agent calling other agents dumb and lazy because they choose to not make health their primary agenda. Roflmao.


.

I apologize. I didn't mean that towards people who chose not to do it or chose to go another route.

I directed it towards people who are saying "those who chose to stay" aren't making any more money than we were prior to 2014. Those of us who stayed are seeing a significant increase. IF you stayed AND you didn't see a significant an increase THEN its lazy.

If you chose to get out, that's not lazy. That's your business plan. And that's OK. I certainly have a Plan B, in case commissions crash.

Again, I apologize.