Will Selling Health Ins. Be Limited Like Selling Med. Advantage?

[ims01]

Last year the CMS drastically restricted the ways agents could sell Medicare Advantage. Granted, there was a lot of abuse and some restrictions were warranted. But what if this becomes the model for selling health insurance if healthcare falls more under the control of the federal government?

 

[Norwayguy]

Re: Will Selling Health Ins. Be Limited Like Selling Med. Advanta

I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about it now the law hasn't been passed yet and if and when it does anything like what CMS has done will be out of your control anyway.

 

[Yoda]

Re: Will Selling Health Ins. Be Limited Like Selling Med. Advanta

"Last year the CMS drastically restricted the ways agents could sell Medicare Advantage. Granted, there was a lot of abuse and some restrictions were warranted"
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You better believe it was warranted. The MA companies attracted every unsuccessful and new insurance agent on the planet. Those agents were so desperate for a sale they were willing to lie,cheat,steal and rape to get a sale! Despite what losers on this site will tell you I know for a fact that 99% of all successful insurance agents left the MA market alone Commonly what I see in real life is some of the successful agents dabbled in the MA market and sold a policy or two and seen how it sucked and they let it go at that. For shits and giggles I would stop at the Humana booth in Walmart and pretend to buddy up with those agents. Almost to the last one every single one of those fools er I mean agents in Walmart were comeplete jokes and failures in the insurance business. The MA companies were off their rockers to beleive they could get MA's off the ground using a force of agents made up of losers and has beens and newbies! As you sow so shall you reap!

 

[Cenla Agent]

Re: Will Selling Health Ins. Be Limited Like Selling Med. Advanta

"Last year the CMS drastically restricted the ways agents could sell Medicare Advantage. Granted, there was a lot of abuse and some restrictions were warranted"
================================================

You better believe it was warranted. The MA companies attracted every unsuccessful and new insurance agent on the planet. Those agents were so desperate for a sale they were willing to lie,cheat,steal and rape to get a sale! Despite what losers on this site will tell you I know for a fact that 99% of all successful insurance agents left the MA market alone Commonly what I see in real life is some of the successful agents dabbled in the MA market and sold a policy or two and seen how it sucked and they let it go at that. For shits and giggles I would stop at the Humana booth in Walmart and pretend to buddy up with those agents. Almost to the last one every single one of those fools er I mean agents in Walmart were comeplete jokes and failures in the insurance business. The MA companies were off their rockers to beleive they could get MA's off the ground using a force of agents made up of losers and has beens and newbies! As you sow so shall you reap!

Since you call them losers and fools, you must see yourself as a winner and a pretty smart guy. But why would a "winner" waste his time doing that?

 

[Norwayguy]

Re: Will Selling Health Ins. Be Limited Like Selling Med. Advanta

"Last year the CMS drastically restricted the ways agents could sell Medicare Advantage. Granted, there was a lot of abuse and some restrictions were warranted"
================================================

You better believe it was warranted. The MA companies attracted every unsuccessful and new insurance agent on the planet. Those agents were so desperate for a sale they were willing to lie,cheat,steal and rape to get a sale! Despite what losers on this site will tell you I know for a fact that 99% of all successful insurance agents left the MA market alone Commonly what I see in real life is some of the successful agents dabbled in the MA market and sold a policy or two and seen how it sucked and they let it go at that. For shits and giggles I would stop at the Humana booth in Walmart and pretend to buddy up with those agents. Almost to the last one every single one of those fools er I mean agents in Walmart were comeplete jokes and failures in the insurance business. The MA companies were off their rockers to beleive they could get MA's off the ground using a force of agents made up of losers and has beens and newbies! As you sow so shall you reap!

Yoda but they did get the MA market off the ground and built up market share with those types of ethics and then once they were happy then you got the rent a agent program and crack down by CMS. I have never sold an MA plan I live in a rural area that only offers pffs plans and after reading the Dr on patient by patient appointment by appointment decide to take the clients I could believe I would ever believe in the product to sell it.

 

[Winter_123]

Re: Will Selling Health Ins. Be Limited Like Selling Med. Advanta

I have never sold an MA plan I live in a rural area that only offers pffs plans and after reading the Dr on patient by patient appointment by appointment decide to take the clients I could believe I would ever believe in the product to sell it.

True enough. Just as a little piece of trivia you have a couple ppo and hmo ma's over in your area these days. Martin's Point, Today's Options, Northeast Care (Arcadia) etc. . Your point is valid though. They are a mess. And then before long, the pffs plans will need a network per cms regs to fix the problem you mentioned but it will come on line about the time they go away. Sigh.

 

[ims01]

Re: Will Selling Health Ins. Be Limited Like Selling Med. Advanta

The question is what happens if the same or similar marketing rules for Med. Advantage will be applied to marketing health insurance?

 

[TXINSURANCE]

Re: Will Selling Health Ins. Be Limited Like Selling Med. Advanta

As it stands now you would only buy it when you get sick. Limited fines. No underwriting. No waiting periods.

Nothing irritates me more than no wait if previously uninsured. This kills the whole system until the fine is super high, but then who would pay it?

 

[taterpeeler]

Re: Will Selling Health Ins. Be Limited Like Selling Med. Advanta

Nothing irritates me more than no wait if previously uninsured. This kills the whole system until the fine is super high, but then who would pay it?

Who would pay it? dunno... but it sure would be a massive hammer to pound over the head of the middle class that is not getting the free guvmt jingle to get applications....Ok mr prospect, you dont want it/cant afford it? tough tittie... buy it or go to jail.... you decide.... and mr prospect, I have the DOJ on speed dial....

Tell me some agents won't do that....

 

[Winter_123]

Re: Will Selling Health Ins. Be Limited Like Selling Med. Advanta

The question is what happens if the same or similar marketing rules for Med. Advantage will be applied to marketing health insurance?

The feds will be a pain- that is for sure, but having said that there is one very, very major difference between MA's and future health plans and it is this:

The feds don't want MA's on the market. Yes, they can and have said it is because of marketing problems and over-subsidy etc and those problems have been real for sure. Nevertheless, it is a trick process because if CMS and the Senate had their way (and we are headed there) MA's would be gone so they are just going to keep bludgeoning the carriers and the agents and cutting subsidies until they have driven them into the ground. So the more their regs serve to keep people from getting MA plans the better in their minds.

However, eventually some type of health insurance reform will be passed even if less than the libs want. And regardless of whether it is with or without public option, they are going to want to be able to demonstrate that all the hoopla and expense has actually led to increased coverage and people feeling happier about getting a better plan even if they already have coverage (let's put aside the fact that their bill(s) is a crock for a minute). In other words they have an incentive to see that people actually find a way to get enrolled in a plan. They and the carriers will try to go around agents but if the government thinks that agents are actually helpful in getting more people on board so that they can say that their stupid-arse strategy led to more coverage then they have an incentive to not shoot carriers and restrict them from being able to communicate with propects. You don't have that with CMS and MA's. If they can keep you from making a sale and speaking to a prospect then all the better in their mind. That just means that their will be fewer people to bitch when they try to kill the whole thing.

As much as things are a complete mess in my guaranteed issue state, I don't think that the DOI is hostile in any way toward agents in the health market either under or over 65. The social experimenters in the legislature just made too many "improvements." In fact I am sure that if the state could find a way to pay agents to get more people to enroll in private plans they would do it. Problem is, the whole system collapsed and you can either afford Anthem's plans or not and if you can't then that is the end of it. We have/had a public option plan to try to fix it but that failed and collapsed too. Again, my point is that these clowns at the national level will be happy to see agents enroll someone somewhere before it is all over with- unlike MA's.

My view anyway. Most likely I am wrong.