BREAKING NEWS....AGENT ALERT: YOUR CLIENTS WILL NEED MORE HELP IN 2013….

BREAKING NEWS....AGENT ALERT

 YOUR CLIENTS WILL NEED MORE HELP IN 2013….

EVEN WHEN COVERED BY MEDICARE, MEDICARE ADVANTAGE AND MEDICARE SUPPLEMENTS

Earlier this year, prior to AEP and the Medicare Supplement sales season, we at Senior Marketing Specialist published the article below; Why Cash is King, Hospital Indemnity Insurance. In three short months the landscape has changed in the senior market and we have seen significant growth in the sale of indemnity products with CASH benefits paid directly to the clients. What’s changed???

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) have three proposals on the table to prohibit first dollar coverage for Medicare Supplements with proposed caps of $7,500 out-of pocket, EVEN WITH A SUPPLEMENT!!! 

• 2013 Medicare deductibles have increased for both Part A and Part B!!!
• Medicare Supplement Plan K has an out-of pocket of $4,800 for 2013!!!
• Medicare Advantage Maximum Out-of-pocket can run into thousands of dollars!!! 

Both our independent agents and our career agents at Barnes Group are using this product to supplement their client’s coverage, even when they have programs that supplement Medicare!!! 

Here’s a reprint of the original article:

Why Cash is King
Hospital Indemnity Insurance

Indemnity insurance plans were one of the first health plans to ever be sold in this country. A very simple concept, if you have an illness or accident and accrue medical bills we, the insurer, will pay you a set dollar, indemnity, amount based upon the policy provisions for coverage. 

Many policies in the health insurance field today are so complicated in their benefit structure that even I, with 30+ years’ experience, have a have a hard time understanding what is covered and how much am I going to get paid. The Hospital Indemnity Policies being offered today are a classic example of knowing what you’re buying and understanding the benefits. These policies provide cash to the policyholder that can be used for any number of items after they have been confined to a hospital: 

• Paying health insurance deductibles, whether underage, Medicare Advantage or Medicare Supplement.
• Paying for Home Care
• Paying for charges not covered by other insurance.
• Paying bills at home.
• Paying for housekeeping while you recover.  

Many of these policies also offer riders to pay for doctors, surgery, cancer, and prescription drugs.  In most cases the cash indemnity is paid to the policyholder direct and they can then use the money as they see fit. The underwriting is minimal and premiums are affordable, starting at just a few dollars a month. Even those on a fixed budget may able to afford this coverage.

The largest medical bills that a person receives are when they end up hospitalized for illness or accident. So, why not insure that risk and make sure you have the money when you need it the most, after being confined to a hospital for illness or accident. After all, CASH IS KING!!!

Your clients will have medical bills that exceed the payments made by Medicare, Medicare Supplements and Medicare Advantage. Today we have a solution and we at McNerney Management Group, along with our subsidiaries Senior Marketing Specialists and Barnes Group will be developing new products and solutions to help to help you and your clients in 2013!!!

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

The Medicare Reality

Consumers Have Spoken:

THEY PREFER KEEPING THEIR MEDICARE SUPPLEMENTS!!!

Every year at this time some agents watch anxiously awaiting the rate increases that come annually from companies for Medicare Supplements. Some even begin to schedule appointments in order to “help their clients save money”.  

With the advent of larger companies entering and dominating the Medicare Supplement market: Central States Indemnity, Aflac, United HealthCare, Continental/Aetna, and Mutual of Omaha, we at Senior Marketing Specialists are seeing this old way of thinking becoming less of an issue. Here’s why:

AHIP commissioned American Viewpoint, Inc., to conduct a national survey of Medicare supplement (Medigap) policyholders. As in past years, the survey asked enrollees about their satisfaction and experience with their coverage.

Here’s what CMS and Medicare tell the client:

Your Medicare health or prescription drug plan can change how much it costs and what it covers each year. Even if your plan’s cost and coverage stay the same, your health or finances may change. Review your plan each year to make sure it will still meet your needs. If you’re satisfied with your current coverage, you don’t need to change plans. www.medicare.gov/publications/pubs/pdf/10050

So???

• Should you see your client every year? Absolutely
• Should they switch their Medicare Supplemental Coverage? Depends on their circumstances
• Do they need other coverage’s: Hospital Indemnity Plans, Home Health Care Plan, Final Expense? Quite possibly!!!

At Senior Marketing Specialists we have a unique tool to help you find out what your clients TRULY need this year, our  “Medicare Supplement Prospect Warm Up”.  This was designed after 30+ years of field experience from our sister career agency The Barnes Group.

As we approach 2013 let’s take a look at how we are working with our clients and find new and better ways to serve our clients.

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

Just Another AEP… I THINK NOT!!!

Aetna has purchased Coventry. United Health Care bought Care Improvement Plus (the most innovative program for Medicare Advantage to date).

CSG Actuarial reported last week:

CMS released 2013 Medicare Advantage (MA) plan data last Wednesday, September 19th revealing almost 5,976 new plan combinations and the non-renewal of more than 6,056 plans for 2013. In many cases non-renewing plans are being replaced by a new plan from the same carrier in that area.

Due to non-renewed plans, approximately 1.7 million seniors are being dis-enrolled from their current plan. Most non-renewed insureds (1.3 million) will be offered a replacement by their current carrier; however, according to CMS data, 393,819 will actively be looking for coverage—a 36% increase over the number of seniors this time last year. The top four states for non-renewed insureds are Washington, Virginia, California, and Texas.

The 36% increase in non-renewals year over year provides opportunity for agents and carriers to fill in the coverage gaps.

So, what does this mean to you, the agent serving the senior market? An opportunity to enroll more people in programs that supplement Medicare in the last quarter of 2012 than most agents will all year long.

Also, 60% of the Medicare Supplements are sold in the last quarter of the year as well.

At Senior Marketing Specialists we’re ready… ARE YOU???

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

*http://www.csgactuarial.com/news/cms-data-show-non-renewed-plans-for-2013/?utm_source=Campaigner&utm_campaign=CMS_Data_Show_Non-Renewed_Plans_for_2013&campaigner=1&utm_medium=HTMLEmail

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.)

The Medicare Market Potential

Yesterday I addressed a group of agents who had been in the Medicare Supplement Market for a very long time. They STILL sell Plans G&F primarily. They were resistant to including Medicare Advantage in their portfolio. Here are some of my remarks from that meeting:

In the last decade we have seen the face of the market for people participating in Medicare change more than any other time since Medicare’s inception in 1966. The variety of plan choices, growth in demographics, new models of sales distribution, fewer licensed agents, Health Care Legislation, pricing wars and constraints from carriers, and government cutbacks on Medicare benefit payments have created, not a problem, but an unprecedented opportunity for organizations marketing insurance to the over 65 market.

In 2012, we will have over forty-one million people in our country over age 65.

·         13,000,000 enrolled in Medicare Advantage programs.

·         10,000,0000 carrying private insurance (Medicare Supplement).

·         3,000,000 becoming eligible for Medicare benefits.

·         Countless retirees losing health benefits.

Google lists 88,700,000 results when key words “Medicare Plan Choices” are used.

·         Original Medicare

·         Medicare Supplement

·         Medicare Advantage

·         Continuation of Group Coverage

·         Prescription Drug Coverage

·         Low-Income Subsidy (LIS)

·         Programs of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)

·         Medicaid

How many prospects were they ignoring due to their old, myopic view of the market???

Dallas County, where I live, Demographic Profile:

·         Ages 64 – 80: $0 - $100,00, All Households - 84,657

·         Ages 64 – 80: $20,000 - $100,000 Homeowners - 61,950


·         ADDITIONAL PROSPECTS - 22,707

·         27% of market potential being ignored

In the last quarter of each year it’s reported that 60% of Medicare Supplement sales for the year will be made. And we all know the impact of AEP on Medicare Advantage. So this begs the question: WILL WE/YOU CHANGE THE WAY YOU LOOK AT AND APPROACH THE MARKET AS WE ENTER THE FOURTH QUARTER????

The business is out there!!! It’s our job to go get it!!!

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

Contract With Senior Marketing Specialists Within 72 Hours & Receive an Incentive!

Contract with us within 72 hours and receive your choice of the following:

•  250 Turning 65 Names in Your Selected Counties
• CE Voucher for 16 Hours of CE
• $25 Gas Card

Call 800.689.2800 and let us know what you decide!