Proposed plans to bring back OEP

A few years ago, OEP (Open Enrollment Period) occurred just after AEP (Annual Election Period).  OEP was from January 1st to March 31st and gave Medicare beneficiaries the ability to make one change to their MA, MAPD, or Part D plan. However, now we have the MA/MAPD disenrollment period from January 1st to February 14th.

Click Here to view the full article from SMS-U. 

Can your client get help paying for their Part B premium?

Don’t forget about programs that might help. They may need to apply if they meet the following requirements:

• Medicare Savings Program 2013 Income Limits
• Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB) Program (Program helps pay for: Part B premiums only)
• Individual monthly income limit* $1169
• Married couple monthly income limit*$1571

Resource limits for the QMB, SLMB, and QI Medicare Savings Programs are $7,080 for one person and $10,620 for a married couple.


Go to http://www.medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs/help-paying-costs/medicare-savings-program/medicare-savings-programs.html for more information.

Grow your market with Final Expense!

Link for Registration if button does not work: 

https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/857438303

Do you know what to look for to qualify a person for a Chronic plan, 12 months a year?

A key to truly helping your clients involves finding the perfect product for a clients situation.

After you find out what matters to your client make sure you find out what health concerns they are dealing with.

Carriers have products that are specially designed to address the specific needs of clients dealing with chronic illnesses. As their trusted advisor you need to make them aware that these plans are available to them.

To qualify a person for a chronic plan they must be diagnosed with one of the following chronic conditions:

––Chronic heart failure

––Diabetes

––Cardiovascular disorders:

       •Cardiac arrhythmias

       •Coronary artery disease

       •Peripheral vascular disease
       •Chronic venous thromboembolism disorder

Senior Marketing Specialists Wishes You A Happy New Year!

Budget Proposal Seeks Home Health Care Copay

As we head into the wrap up of OEP Congress and the President will be busy trying to work on making Medicare a fiscally viable program. One of the latest proposals would affect Medicare’s Home Health Care benefit:

• A large portion of the proposed budgetary increase is supposed to come from instituting $100 Medicare copayments for Medicare patients who use home health care. 
• The $100 copayment is supposed to produce $730 million from patients who currently use home health care but do not pay for the services they receive.
• The proposed copayment would apply to episodes of care requiring five or more visits over a period of 60 days or less, which in 2008 would have applied to 63 percent of episodes.
• The problem with the assumption that many people are using home health care that could instead seek outpatient care is that home health care prevents a lot of inpatient hospital stays.

Join us at Senior Marketing Specialist for the first of two webinars this Wednesday November 20^th to find out more about an inexpensive answer to help your clients recover at home, regardless of other coverage including Medicare.

CMS has announces the amounts for Part A and Part B premiums and deductibles

CMS has announced today the amounts for Part A and Part B premiums and deductibles:

•    Part A Premium will be $426 per month, a $15 reduction over the 2013 amount (for those who actually pay Part A premiums)

•    Part A Deductible will be $1216 per benefit period, a $32 increase over the 2013 amount

•    Part B Premiums will be unchanged at $104.90 for individuals below the $85,000 individual income level.  Premiums for individuals above this level also are unchanged.

•    Part B Deductible remains unchanged at $147

See the full  CMS press release at:

http://cms.hhs.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-Releases/2013-Press-Releases-Items/2013-10-28.html

OEP/AEP 2014 - Same Benefits….BUT NEW SERVICES???

As the Medicare Advantage program matures we are experiencing a flattening of the various benefits offered by carriers. Why? A Medicare Advantage Plan is a type of Medicare health plan offered by a private company that contracts with Medicare to provide you with all your Part A and Part B benefits.* The amount of money paid to the carriers is generally a set amount and the benefits they provide only have so much flexibility based on the carrier’s negotiated payments to the various medical providers.

What we at Senior Marketing Specialists are seeing is a true uptick in the services (not to be confused with Part A and Part B benefits) designed and provided by the carrier to help the Medicare recipient stay healthier and give agents a competitive advantage. This includes items like: Silver Sneakers, 24 Hour Nurse Hotline, Vision and Dental Discounts. The one service that stands out is UnitedHealthCare’s HouseCalls. UnitedHealthCare’s HouseCalls program is allows the carrier and the Medicare recipient to:

• ·      review the member's health conditions
• ·      answers health-related questions,
• ·      identifies potential health issues,
• ·      and suggests specific topics the member may want to discuss with their primary care physician.

Call Senior Marketing Specialists today to find out how UnitedHealthCare’s HouseCalls program can help your clients and increase your sales this 2014 OEP.

(This article was written by Philip Warren of Senior Marketing Specialists.)

*http://www.medicare.gov/sign-up-change-plans/medicare-health-plans/medicare-advantage-plans/medicare-advantage-plans.html

Medicare Sales Trend Upwards

While our economy is continuing on a flat-line and the politics are promising to fix all of society’s ills after the November election with no plan or substantiation of action one thing in our business is shining through; sales of plans for supplementing Medicare are exceeding the projections made by one of our marketing associates, CSG Actuarial. Here’s what Doug Feekin had to say in an article last week:

Turns out, the Medicare Supplement market is growing even faster than we originally predicted.

Last June, CSG Actuarial published its 2nd annual Future of Medicare Supplement Market research paper. We predicted the Medicare Supplement market would grow in 2012 to 10.4 million lives, generating $22.8 billion of premiums. Based on strong trends through August, however, CSG Actuarial predictive models are now showing the Medicare Supplement market will grow in 2012 to more than 10.5 million lives, generating over $23 billion of premiums. The number of 2012 Medicare Supplement lives is up more than 3% from 2011 while the premiums are up almost 5% over 2011.

Companies are recognizing this growth and pushing hard to achieve greater market share in the Medicare Supplement market. In the last 12 months, Aetna and Cigna have purchased Medicare Supplement blocks to increase their presence in the Medicare Supplement market. Also, more than 5 companies have entered or re-entered the Medicare Supplement market in 2012 and 3 other companies have re-priced their premium rates to get more competitive in the market

http://www.csgactuarial.com/news/medicare-supplement-market-growing-faster/

To add to this major carriers are telling us at Senior Marketing Specialists that, in the Medicare Advantage arena, they are predicting this AEP will be one of the best for overall sales to date. With new plans, lower out of pocket costs in all areas and increased network access they’re probably right.

So, what does this mean to the agent serving consumers in the Medicare market today for us at Senior Marketing Specialists:

·         Consumers still see Healthcare as the #1 concern in retirement. (ASK THEM)

·         We have more plans in more price ranges to supplement Medicare than ever before, Plan F, Plan G, Plan N, Plan HDF and Medicare Advantage.

·         Do we have better information and ways of communicating the facts? I think so!!!

·         When properly approached, from a place of knowledge, education and most importantly SERVICE consumers will be responsive to real solutions offered to them.

It’s reported that 60% of the Medicare Supplements sold are purchased in the last quarter of the year. At McNerney Management Group, which includes Senior Marketing Specialists and Barnes Insurance Group, that is our experience as well in the past few years.

With sales trending up will your business trend up as well? I hope so!!!

(This article was written by Philip Warren of Senior Marketing Specialists.)