WalMart Medicare Advantage Marketing Coming Very Soon

[Bob_The_Insurance_Guy]

Am I the only one here who has a problem with this, ethically?



I could see, and have no problem with, the Girl Scouts having a table at the front of the store. I buy some cookies and give to a wonderful organization. Getting involved with something that has to do with my health coverage, and with only certain times a year I can change, I have a problem.

The fact that CMS approves it, Walmart condones it, and agents/agencies do it, makes me sick!



Perhaps I am the lone wolf in the forest here, but I believe that Medicare Beneficiaries who are approached in this manner 1) should sign a waiver - they get what they deserve 2) are being taken advantage of, and 3) if they have a bad experience with the plan, will probably blame Walmart, and not the agent or Insurance Company.

This makes us just like "ambulance chasing" attorneys, who have set up shop in Emergency Rooms.

Anybody here ever buy Long Term Care, Life, Disability, or Health at Walmart? Ever buy Cancer Insurance at Eckerds or Walgreens?
Ever open up a 401(k) at Pep Boys, or buy a Variable Annuity while waiting for your pancakes at IHOP?



THIS IS WHY THERE ARE SO MANY REGULATIONS. YOU ARE EITHER PART OF THE SOLUTION OR PART OF THE PROBLEM.

 

[MedSuppPro]

IHOP!
​

Now that the MA carriers are currently working on CMS to end your renewals if you don't recertify -- there goes our security. A friend of mine got in a major car accident and with his brain injury he could never pass the AHIP recertification exams. He and his family would get screwed by this new so called MIPPA consumer protection. No, I think we all are starting to turn on this.

Any one want my stinken Walsmart table?
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[lacy_amy]

Am I the only one here who has a problem with this, ethically?



I could see, and have no problem with, the Girl Scouts having a table at the front of the store. I buy some cookies and give to a wonderful organization. Getting involved with something that has to do with my health coverage, and with only certain times a year I can change, I have a problem.

The fact that CMS approves it, Walmart condones it, and agents/agencies do it, makes me sick!



Perhaps I am the lone wolf in the forest here, but I believe that Medicare Beneficiaries who are approached in this manner 1) should sign a waiver - they get what they deserve 2) are being taken advantage of, and 3) if they have a bad experience with the plan, will probably blame Walmart, and not the agent or Insurance Company.

This makes us just like "ambulance chasing" attorneys, who have set up shop in Emergency Rooms.

Anybody here ever buy Long Term Care, Life, Disability, or Health at Walmart? Ever buy Cancer Insurance at Eckerds or Walgreens?
Ever open up a 401(k) at Pep Boys, or buy a Variable Annuity while waiting for your pancakes at IHOP?



THIS IS WHY THERE ARE SO MANY REGULATIONS. YOU ARE EITHER PART OF THE SOLUTION OR PART OF THE PROBLEM.

H&R Block has kiosks during tax season at my local Walart-don't really see what te difference is......

 

[Joe Moore]

Am I the only one here who has a problem with this, ethically?

I would much rather have a trained professional agent explaining the workings of these plans, than I would have a "hired last week" Kelly Girl on the phones explaining how to do brain surgery, and last week was the first time she ever heard of brain surgery. Call CMS 10 times with the same question, bet you won't get the same answer twice. To me, this is where the ethics question gets into the picture.

I see no difference in allowing a car dealer with honest, knowledgeable representatives explaining their products at a mall or WalMart.

Sales people sometimes need an honest, tactful, practical way to talk to prospects. It is not always a referral from mama or daddy. Ethics can be a problem in any industry, if not done correctly



I could see, and have no problem with, the Girl Scouts having a table at the front of the store. I buy some cookies and give to a wonderful organization. Getting involved with something that has to do with my health coverage, and with only certain times a year I can change, I have a problem.

The fact that CMS approves it, Walmart condones it, and agents/agencies do it, makes me sick!

Sometimes products need more explanation that buying a box of Girl Scout Cookies.

At one time, I saw what I considered a serious ethics violation, by a Home Health Care Agency. They had set up shop beside a booth promoting a MAPD plan, preaching against the plan because of the Home Health benefit. They were under no violation. They could say anything they wanted about the plan, but the plan could not criticize the Home Health Benefit. Is this fair? I don't think so. The rules are slanted against the company and agents in this manner.


Perhaps I am the lone wolf in the forest here, but I believe that Medicare Beneficiaries who are approached in this manner 1) should sign a waiver - they get what they deserve 2) are being taken advantage of, and 3) if they have a bad experience with the plan, will probably blame Walmart, and not the agent or Insurance Company.

This makes us just like "ambulance chasing" attorneys, who have set up shop in Emergency Rooms.

Anybody here ever buy Long Term Care, Life, Disability, or Health at Walmart? Ever buy Cancer Insurance at Eckerds or Walgreens?
Ever open up a 401(k) at Pep Boys, or buy a Variable Annuity while waiting for your pancakes at IHOP?



THIS IS WHY THERE ARE SO MANY REGULATIONS. YOU ARE EITHER PART OF THE SOLUTION OR PART OF THE PROBLEM.

I (and a lot of our agents) have personally spent many hours with clients trying to correct mis-information that suddenly becomes gospel when Medicare or CMS tells a client their wrong version of the answer to the problem.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with this method of getting these products in front of the public. Most of the time the client can relate with a live person better than some stranger on the phone that could care less about the problems of the client.
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[MrMack]

Am I the only one here who has a problem with this, ethically?



I could see, and have no problem with, the Girl Scouts having a table at the front of the store. I buy some cookies and give to a wonderful organization. Getting involved with something that has to do with my health coverage, and with only certain times a year I can change, I have a problem.

The fact that CMS approves it, Walmart condones it, and agents/agencies do it, makes me sick!



Perhaps I am the lone wolf in the forest here, but I believe that Medicare Beneficiaries who are approached in this manner 1) should sign a waiver - they get what they deserve 2) are being taken advantage of, and 3) if they have a bad experience with the plan, will probably blame Walmart, and not the agent or Insurance Company.

This makes us just like "ambulance chasing" attorneys, who have set up shop in Emergency Rooms.

Anybody here ever buy Long Term Care, Life, Disability, or Health at Walmart? Ever buy Cancer Insurance at Eckerds or Walgreens?
Ever open up a 401(k) at Pep Boys, or buy a Variable Annuity while waiting for your pancakes at IHOP?



With Obamacare you will go to the WalMart Doctor who will order you to the WalMart Pharmacy, who will send you to the WalMart tax guy, who will send your dog to the WalMart Vet. See how things are going.................

 

[Cenla Agent]

I agree with Joe Moore that being in Wal-Mart is not unethical, provided that agents aren't cold calling i.e. accosting prospects and that the people are approaching them. While it is an unusual method of selling insurance in this day and age, that doesn't necessarily make it unethical.

How is it really any different than holding seminars, particularly back in the days when meals were served?

 

[Bob_The_Insurance_Guy]

I agree with Joe Moore that being in Wal-Mart is not unethical, provided that agents aren't cold calling i.e. accosting prospects and that the people are approaching them. While it is an unusual method of selling insurance in this day and age, that doesn't necessarily make it unethical.

How is it really any different than holding seminars, particularly back in the days when meals were served?

Because at a seminar, you have a flyer that states what the topic is. No one says their going to Walmart to purchase Life, LTC, Health or Medicare coverage.

Also, I would rather have their undivided attention on Medicare when we are speaking. Better the chances they will grasp the concept and details.

Listen, I know I'm the only one who has trouble with this. I will repeat my question - the only part of my post no one has responded to - How many of you go out to Walmart, Kmart, Walgreens, Costco, JCPenney to purchase Life, LTC or Health Insurance? How many of you would, if given the opportunity.

I becomes a commodity, just like buying a DVD, or a pair of jeans.

 

[JasonR]

Unbelievable! Walmart has it all

 

[The Hunter]

Allstate sold Insurance at a kiosk in Sears and Roebuck for many,many years. It worked pretty well for them.

 

[Cenla Agent]

Because at a seminar, you have a flyer that states what the topic is. No one says their going to Walmart to purchase Life, LTC, Health or Medicare coverage.

Also, I would rather have their undivided attention on Medicare when we are speaking. Better the chances they will grasp the concept and details.

Listen, I know I'm the only one who has trouble with this. I will repeat my question - the only part of my post no one has responded to - How many of you go out to Walmart, Kmart, Walgreens, Costco, JCPenney to purchase Life, LTC or Health Insurance? How many of you would, if given the opportunity.

I becomes a commodity, just like buying a DVD, or a pair of jeans.

Well, people go to Sears and Wal-Mart to talk taxes. When I was in Wal-Mart Jackson Hewitt was right next door.

Seriously though, I understand your point, although I don't agree with it 100%.

I likely wouldn't purchase insurance there unless there wasn't any other option, but some prefer to meet face to face in a neutral environment like that. I also agree about the difficulty of selling in that environment with the different distractions you can have. I sold many PDP's there, but could probably count on both hands (if not one) the number of MA's I sold there.

A lot of the reason for us being there was to be a source of information about a very confusing product and process and also to publicize our seminars, which were usually held as close to the store as possible. With the vast majority of MA prospects I met there that I eventually sold, they either came to the seminar or I followed up with them in their home, or in some cases both. Even if the environment wasn't that distracting (and my kiosk placement was better in that regard than many others) few people had the time or inclination to sit there for 60-90 minutes to hear an MA presentation. Most of those I did write MA's for in store were probably people that I had already had contact with and had an idea about the time involved, etc.

When I was with Humana I did have many people come in to Wal-Mart specifically to talk about Part D or MA, especially after I had been there for a month or two and word spread that you could get information as well as enroll there. We would even occasionally have appointments set by Humana's telemarketers to meet people in the store. (Those were hit or miss, as you might imagine, with appointments sometimes being set for times or days in which we wouldn't be in the store, and often not finding out about the appointment until some time later. Sometimes I would set an appointment only to have others show up who had set an appt. with TM that I was unaware of and be upset because I wasn't available.)

The kiosk was also clearly marked so there was no mistake about what was being offered, and there was a video that played as well that gave some information. We had brochures there that people could pick up when the agent was away as well. I have no idea whether UHC and its related marketers are doing all this. If someone is just setting up a table and chairs, I would think that it would be much less effective and in some stores would likely be frowned upon by store management.

As I noted earlier, when I was in the store was when Part D was first introduced and there was tremendous publicity about it, both from W telling people to enroll and from our direct mail and TV ads. Much of the reason for being there was because of the pharmacy, which was (and is) a magnet for people asking about Part D. Other pharmacy chains had relationships with other carriers as well, although typically they didn't have the presence that we had.

I also noted that in most cases based on my experience that this kind of marketing really isn't as viable an option at this point, unless perhaps the kiosk has been there for years and people therefore know they can come there for information and/or there is a big publicity campaign in the local area advising people an agent will be in the store who can help discuss Medicare options. You aren't going to have that many people switching or enrolling in PDP's now, and that was the big draw that we had. (Perhaps this year there will be more interest in the areas in which plans have pulled out.)

I do know that a lot of the MA companies are looking to do this kind of marketing given the tighter restrictions today on how prospects can be contacted by phone, etc. Some of them (as of last year anyway) try to get their captive sales force to set up a table and chairs outside of stores and similar public places. Again the idea there with most is to talk to as many people as possible, gain their consent to call them and follow up with an appointment with those who are interested.
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Also keep in mind that in many cases the MA market is a different market than the LTC, Variable Annuity, and DI markets.