Wellcare PDP Class Action Suit

[somarco]

"Class action" suits are almost impossible to get off the ground with a decent law practice. Good attorneys will not a case unless the potential payout is in the millions.

Considering PDP commissions are relatively small and can vaporize at a blink of an eye, this seems like an exercise in futility.

Take the advice @sshafran and focus on other lines of coverage rather than trying to hold on to what is most likely a small portion of your commission income.

 

[DonP]

Is the sky falling yet? Can young person exist in this industry for the next 30 years with a level of stability.

Go ask the pharmaceutical salesman of past . When I was in college that was my goal to be a rep for Pfizer, Merck etc . The reps got company cars , fat salary’s , had a built in client base . All they had to do is flirt with the front desk girls to get an appointment with the dr . It was a dream job . There extinct now . Let’s look at another industry drug stores . Walgreens ,cvs , pbm’s under massive price pressure . Walgreen stock near 30 yr low . Not only do you have the Amazon’s , mark Cubans etc . You have the killer that can happen to Medicare sales. DIRECT TO CONSUMER .. Lilly selling Ozempic direct to consumer to avoid the middle man . Pfizer just announced some direct to consumer . What’s the biggest expense carriers can cut at least some if not all ? Commissions!!! Including overrides , base commissions , regionals , the $10 ‘s of million spent on enrollment books that’s probably easy $1500 total per app in costs . WellCare a week ago . United today cut the hra to $50 and only for csnp’s and dsnps . Thats probably a savings of $30-$50 million . It’s starting small a cut here and there . Be investing your money . Things always change in life

 

[hockeyday]

"Class action" suits are almost impossible to get off the ground with a decent law practice. Good attorneys will not a case unless the potential payout is in the millions.

Considering PDP commissions are relatively small and can vaporize at a blink of an eye, this seems like an exercise in futility.

Take the advice @sshafran and focus on other lines of coverage rather than trying to hold on to what is most likely a small portion of your commission income.

From the one trick pony

 

[InsuranceGuy29]

Michael Jackson sang it best......."All I wanna say is that, they don't really care about us." I just hope this was a HUGE wake up call to all agents to get many of them out of their comfortable slumber.

These pricks will yank anything away, anytime they want.......if we let them. We need a strong united response, and a "unionization" of sorts. Hopefully NABIP is all over this.

When you're at these rollout meetings, everyone had better be all over these managers (professionally, not like a dick...that does no good), letting them know that if they don't promise to protect renewals, they aren't getting our business. Period.

I know some people think that's useless. I disagree. It created awareness, and they will run it up the chain.

I also hope people understand how much politics matters in our business. This is a federal program....hell, pretty much all insurance has become a federal program, now, because they meddle so much and change laws so frequently.

Like it or not, you're gonna need to pay attention to politics, get involved, and get political.

I say this in a non-partisan fashion. I was a Democrat up until 5 years ago, and now hover in the middle, where common sense is. Sadly, I have to acknowledge and cannot ignore that this is happening due to way too much extreme government meddling from the Biden administration.

The changes were too extreme, too fast, they scared the businesses, and essentially made PDP's have very little incentive for them. The panic and chaos fallout from at least one company (WellCare) is them making the WILDLY unprecedented and unethical decision of yanking our renewals away to save money.

This is what happens when government meddles too much. The only guy that ends up suffering is the little guy. Now we have no pay, our clients have WAY less choice, no servicing agents, and way higher premiums overall.

 

[LostDollar]

From the one trick pony

Are you being jealous?

My reading here suggests he has a conservative, stable business model which will be able to sail right through issues raised here so far.

The business model he has chosen does not necessarily reflect on his business judgement of the viability of a class action lawsuit.

 

[MouseMouth]

"Class action" suits are almost impossible to get off the ground with a decent law practice. Good attorneys will not a case unless the potential payout is in the millions.

Considering PDP commissions are relatively small and can vaporize at a blink of an eye, this seems like an exercise in futility.

Take the advice @sshafran and focus on other lines of coverage rather than trying to hold on to what is most likely a small portion of your commission income.

This is not my first rodeo. I try not to deal in negativity. It is my time to waste in talking to the attorneys. I will assume that you are happily giving up your $70,000/yr in PDP commissions, unfortunately you may be giving up ALL of your MAPD biz, which may also be OK with you. It is not with me. If the suit does happen, and you decide to join, I will be the first guy to be happy you are doing so with one caveat. I reserve the right to call out the fact of your opinion reversal in this public forum. That may actually be a happy day for both of us. I hope we get there.

 

[hockeyday]

This is not my first rodeo. I try not to deal in negativity. It is my time to waste in talking to the attorneys. I will assume that you are happily giving up your $70,000/yr in PDP commissions, unfortunately you may be giving up ALL of your MAPD biz, which may also be OK with you. It is not with me. If the suit does happen, and you decide to join, I will be the first guy to be happy you are doing so with one caveat. I reserve the right to call out the fact of your opinion reversal in this public forum. That may actually be a happy day for both of us. I hope we get there.

He can't join he does not write any ahip products

 

[sman]

This is not my first rodeo. I try not to deal in negativity. It is my time to waste in talking to the attorneys. I will assume that you are happily giving up your $70,000/yr in PDP commissions, unfortunately you may be giving up ALL of your MAPD biz, which may also be OK with you. It is not with me. If the suit does happen, and you decide to join, I will be the first guy to be happy you are doing so with one caveat. I reserve the right to call out the fact of your opinion reversal in this public forum. That may actually be a happy day for both of us. I hope we get there.

@somarco is laughing at all of us. He chose to do Med Supp only several years ago. Looking like a genius now.

Good job Bob!

 

[Dave G]

Just got the Annual Comp update from UHC. Bad news....numerous regions will have non-commissionable MAPD plans, some even starting Oct. 1. Not every plan or service area is affected. I looked primarily at Virginia, where non-comm plans mostly in rural SE part of state, parts of the Shenandoah Valley and some Richmond areas. Northern Virginia, MD and DC will still pay MAPD. PDP not affected....all still payable.

I suspect this may in part be linked to eventually withdrawing plans from those markets. If carriers don't really want any more enrollments, cutting off agent comp is a good way to put a damper on them.

Thankfully, 93% of my book is Med Supp anyway. However, about 90% of those also have PDPs I've written. Wellcare is gonna cost me about $12K with their move.

HERE IS WHAT'S ODD: This stems from CMS concerns of agent's "steering" biz to get bonuses, trips, etc that would influence enrollment choices. Yet if agent's can't get paid by Wellcare (or any other company) that alone seems plenty incentive to suggest a plan where they can get paid! Look, I think most agents want to do right thing for the consumer, but they won't be able to do this without compensation.

I posted on here some weeks back with this idea: Forget being "certified" or taking any comp for PDP plans. Instead, offer "review" services for a fee ($100 a person) and "coach" as many people as you want during AEP as well as year-round. Then send them direct to the carrier to enroll. No SOA, no recorded call issues.... You want my time and expertise regarding drug coverage? Paypal me. I don't see this as any conflict if I'm selling Medigap only going forward.

 

[Russ]

Just got the Annual Comp update from UHC. Bad news....numerous regions will have non-commissionable MAPD plans, some even starting Oct. 1. Not every plan or service area is affected. I looked primarily at Virginia, where non-comm plans mostly in rural SE part of state, parts of the Shenandoah Valley and some Richmond areas. Northern Virginia, MD and DC will still pay MAPD. PDP not affected....all still payable.

Not much is affected here in Florida...but what happens if 2025 is another bad year for MAPD? Don' trust any company 100%. Bank your money as best you can. That's been said on here for years.