You've Gotta Be Kidding ?

[G.Gordon]

Re: You've Gotta Be Kidding???

so what kind of training dose someone working in medicare call centers have to have before they can talk with our seniors and even mentally challenged about medicare insurance questions?

Mississippi agents never let you down.

 

[stormtracker]

Re: You've Gotta Be Kidding???

so what kind of training dose someone working in medicare call centers have to have before they can talk with our seniors and even mentally challenged about medicare insurance questions?

Apparently not enough to give the same answer twice...

 

[JamesCoon]

Re: You've Gotta Be Kidding???

I have come across a similar situation and the outcome was that I did nothing wrong. What happened was an agent told a person to complain bc thats what they have to do to get out of the plan their in and then they can get in a new plan. It's crazy that CMS lets this happen but then again CMS is joke.

 

[Cenla Agent]

Re: You've Gotta Be Kidding???

If you want to start a pissing contest then so be it. You need to learn to read, not just scan posts.

I said, "Regardless of what has been posted here in the past, when someone enrolls in any Part C plan they give up their traditional Medicare."

To tell a senior that when they take a Part C plan they still have Medicare is misleading to them. To them "their Medicare" represents the card with the blue and red stripe across the top.

I talk to seniors almost every day that do not understand that their Medicare Card is no longer of any use to them after enrolling in a Part C plan. It was never explained in detail to them by the agent who sold them the Part C plan and told them that it is "just Medicare and your Medicare Supplement policy only FREE."

That is the "ax" I have to grind is with the unscrupulous, ignorant, quick-buck, greedy agents who have disseminated misleading information simply to make a fast buck.

We know that they are still part of Medicare but most of them don't unless an ethical agent takes the time to explain it to them.

I you don't understand that then maybe you are the one who needs to "get up to speed".

I always took the time to explain it at length, including the fact that if they enrolled, the MA company would be administering their benefits, all claims should be submitted to the MA carrier and that their Medicare card would be of no use at the doctor's office, etc. while enrolled in the plan.

IMO, it would have been more helpful to have explained things here at length the way you finally did in this post instead of essentially posting one thing earlier and posting something different now (posting that they weren't in Medicare before and acknowledging now that they are still in the system.) That's a different issue than the fact that the plans often aren't sold right.

That a great many people who enroll in MA do not understand it is clear. I do have to admit to wondering at times if I was the only agent in the state who did explain MA and their choices at length and who didn't take shortcuts and commit multiple CMS violations during the presentation. What really used to hack me off was when I was a captive agent and clients of a colleague would call me asking about the plan because the person who sold them did not explain it adequately and would not return calls promptly.

The unscrupulous and half assed agents ruined MA for everybody, including the agents and many Medicare members who enrolled in plans they did not understand and may not have been suitable for them. But IMO it was inevitable the way the system was set up (including lock in) and human nature being what it is.

 

[Frank Stastny]

Re: You've Gotta Be Kidding???

I always took the time to explain it at length, including the fact that if they enrolled, the MA company would be administering their benefits, all claims should be submitted to the MA carrier and that their Medicare card would be of no use at the doctor's office, etc. while enrolled in the plan.

That is something I do as well. It really burns my ass when I hear agents are not doing that. When they simply say they "still have Medicare" without any explanation. To seniors Medicare is their Medicare ID card.

IMO, it would have been more helpful to have explained things here at length the way you finally did in this post instead of essentially posting one thing earlier and posting something different now (posting that they weren't in Medicare before and acknowledging now that they are still in the system.) That's a different issue than the fact that the plans often aren't sold right.

You may very well be right. I really didn't post anything different. I didn't say that they are no longer a part of the Medicare system, I didn't think that was necessary. Apparently it was, not for you but for others entering the market who really know very little about Medicare and Medicare Supplement policies. (How can they attempt to sell something they don't understand?)

In my first post I said, "Regardless of what has been posted here in the past, when someone enrolls in any Part C plan they give up their traditional Medicare. What that means is their Medicare Card is worthless. They might as well burn it for all the good it will do them."

I guess I wrongly assumed that any agent working in the senior market would know what was meant by "traditional Medicare". My bad for even letting that thought cross my mind.

The unscrupulous and half assed agents ruined MA for everybody, including the agents and many Medicare members who enrolled in plans they did not understand and may not have been suitable for them.

Yes they have. That is why when I read something about agents saying that Part C clients still have Medicare without qualifying exactly what they mean I "get my back up" and feel compelled to say something.

I know that a huge number of agents who got into the senior market recently just to make a quick buck placing MA plans are making statements like that. "You still have Medicare". They are telling them that either because they don't have a clue what they are saying or how the prospect is going to interpret what they have said or to help make a quick placement.

They do it without any explanation just to make placing the policy easier.

My comments are not directed to the "good guys" who are busting their butt to make sure their prospect fully understands implications of taking a Part C plan.

 

[stormtracker]

Re: You've Gotta Be Kidding???

I have heard varying stories of customers attempting to use their Medicare card after they enrolled in an MA. Isn't it true that in this instance, Medicare is supposed to kick back the claim for the customer to resubmit to the MA? I thought that I had also heard that Medicare was actually disenrolling customers from their MA for using their Medicare card instead of the MA card at providers... When I took MA applications, one of the points I was taught to discuss with the customer was to never hand that Medicare card over to the doctor's office personnel after MA effective date. Nevertheless, they would...

 

[Frank Stastny]

Re: You've Gotta Be Kidding???

I have heard varying stories of customers attempting to use their Medicare card after they enrolled in an MA. Isn't it true that in this instance, Medicare is supposed to kick back the claim for the customer to resubmit to the MA? I thought that I had also heard that Medicare was actually disenrolling customers from their MA for using their Medicare card instead of the MA card at providers... When I took MA applications, one of the points I was taught to discuss with the customer was to never hand that Medicare card over to the doctor's office personnel after MA effective date. Nevertheless, they would...

I really can't see that happening very often. When they go to the doctor they are always asked for their insurance cards. If a senior shows them their Medicare Card and their insurance card the person at the doctors office should know that their insurance card is for an MA plan not a Med Supp.

However, it should be explained, as you do, that their Medicare card becomes worthless at that point.

 

[Bob_The_Insurance_Guy]

Re: You've Gotta Be Kidding???

The "certifications" can "say" what ever they want. Just because they have to continue paying the Part B premium doesn't mean a thing other than the govt is still taking their money.

If they "still have Medicare" why is their card no longer of any use to them? I repeat, agents who say that are saying it to sell Part C plans. When I tell a prospect who is interested in a Part C plan that they will no longer have Medicare and that their card isn't any good any more they say, "I don't want that, I want to keep my Medicare".

Seniors understand "Medicare" and how their card works. Any agent who is telling them they "still have Medicare" is not explaining it to them so they can understand.

I just finished my CE credits for my license renewal. Any agent who believes and says that needs to read what is and isn't ethical.

The correct view is "They still have the same rights under a Medicare Advantage Plan as they do under Original Medicare". NOT that they still have Medicare. That's why I love the verification calls, and the SAC forms. Documentation is grand. Keeps you out of court.

 

[Frank Stastny]

Re: You've Gotta Be Kidding???

The correct view is "They still have the same rights under a Medicare Advantage Plan as they do under Original Medicare". NOT that they still have Medicare. That's why I love the verification calls, and the SAC forms. Documentation is grand. Keeps you out of court.

You have said that much better than I did. "The same rights" are the operative words in your statement. I like that.

 

[stormtracker]

Re: You've Gotta Be Kidding???

You'd think the staff at the doctor's office would know the difference in the cards, but I have had customers call me furious because they were told that they had lost their Medicare. Not only from doctor's offices, but also by home health providers and pharmacists. And, those were the ones that called me first-- the rest call into the carrier and disenroll or file a complaint with CMS!!!