Weekly Industry Update

As promised, below you will find our weekly industry/company updates in the MA, Med Supp, and insurance industry as a whole. Please let one of our marketers know if you have any questions at all. Thanks!

WEEKLY UPDATE…

Our #1 goal at SMS is to keep you, the agents, informed and up-to-date with what is going on in our industry and within our company.

As new updates and information becomes available regarding the MA industry and the upcoming sales season, we will forward them to you promptly. Here is what we know right now:

1. 2010 MA Plan Previews are coming soon… if you would like to see the plans as they become available, please make sure we have a the most current email and phone number on file for you. Also check our website daily for any pertinent information.
2. Coventry has announced much of their PPO/HMO county expansions. Call us for details specific to your county.
3. CMS has announced their interpretation of the “true-up” commission guidelines. See the attached document for the companies announcements. As an industry we are out-raged with this new announcement and all of us should be very vocal about this newest decision.
4. With the recent announcements by several carriers to withdraw from the PFFS market, this leaves Hundreds of Thousands of clients losing their coverage January 1st. We have several options and plans to help those people. We are putting together an options guide for our agents. This will allow you quick and easy access to the 4 pathways your clients can choose from.
a. Switch to a PPO/HMO in their county
b. Switch to another carriers PFFS
c. Switch back to Original Medicare and take out a Medicare Supplement Plan (A, B, C, F, K, L are all guaranteed issued if you client is losing their PFFS coverage due to a pulled product)
d. Switch back to Original Medicare and take out a separate Hospital Plan.

Let’s not forget about the two great products Equitable Life has to offer, EquiCash Hospital Plan and CancerCare+. SMS has just completed client presentation templates for each product. If you would like us to send them your way please email charli@smsteam.net.

Last, but not least, we are very proud to introduce our newest sales associate to you, Dan Mangus. Here at SMS we have known Dan for many years. We have worked with him and his SE Missouri agency on many many projects over the years. Dan will be our sales leader for the Sterling Life, Living Legacy product. As we continue to kick this product off across the country, the enthusiasm for this product is overwhelming and we recognized the need for someone with a strong background in sales and agent support to take the lead with this product.

Again, please let us know if you have any questions, need any supplies, or have any projects you need help on.