How Can Insurance Agents Benefit From Medicare Advantage Changes?

After months of debate in Washington, healthcare reform is finally a reality! What does that mean to insurance companies? Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Is it a mixed bag? From my perspective, healthcare reform is a GREAT thing. Healthcare reform focuses on major medical insurance - not life insurance, voluntary benefits, or Medicare Supplements.

Voluntary Benefits and Employers

Voluntary benefit sales should continue to expand and not just for smaller businesses. Employers continue dropping insurance sponsored coverage for workers at an alarming rate. Many large companies and corporations have experienced steadily rising insurance premiums over the past ten years as medical costs have grown. As a part of healthcare reform, employers with fifty or more workers will face government fines whenever they don't provide their employees with insurance coverage. A recent online article noted several major corporations that are considering dropping employer-sponsored health coverage in exchange for paying penalty fees to your government. If the price tag on providing employer-sponsored health insurance to their employees is greater than the total amount of the fine, what choice do they have? They eliminate their employer-sponsored coverage, pay the federal government fine, and come out ahead financially. But, where does that leave their employees? Without benefits!

Since many employers feel an ethical, if not just a legal, obligation to offer benefits for their employees, they ought to turn to giving employees access to voluntary benefits. Work site may easily become the golden child for the insurance industry.

The Future of Medicare Supplement Sales

I believe healthcare reform will very positively affect Medicare Supplement sales for years to come. Beginning in 2011, federal payments to Medicare Advantage plans are going to be substantially cut, and cuts will continue in the coming years. That step will cause more insurers to withdraw from the Medicare Advantage marketplace. More Seniors will lose their coverage and return to Original Medicare and buy a traditional Medicare Supplement.

Obviously, Baby Boomers' retirements will have a profound effect on Medicare Supplement sales for decades. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2030 the 65-plus population will double to about 71.5 million, and by 2050 it'll grow to 86.7 million. That represents massive numbers of potential Medicare Supplement sales!

Because today's retirees tend to be more educated than those of previous generations, they've a better understanding of what Medicare does and doesn't cover. They understand the need to plan for their future and the value a quality Medicare Supplement will have once they confront health issues. They even have on average adequate disposable income to afford a top quality Medicare Supplement.

Some areas of healthcare reform won't go into effect until 2014; even then, there'll always be out-of-pocket expenses that traditional major medical plans will never cover. Supplemental insurance protection will always be important to a person's overall healthcare planning. Cancer and critical illness policies will still grow in popularity given the vast quantity of media attention focused on cancer and critical illnesses like heart disease and stroke. With a continued increase in obesity, shown to be a precursor of a lot of these health issues, the worth of cancer and critical illness policies will become more obvious with each passing year. On top of that, individuals who may choose not to acquire any form of basic or extended supplemental health coverage could still be receptive towards a lump-sum cancer or critical illness policy.

What does healthcare reform mean to us? OPPORTUNITY! Ahead looks bright - especially for life, work site, and Medicare Supplement sales. But, we require more talented Agents in place during the coming months to handle the rising workload. As a result of impending commission changes in the major medical marketplaces and in Medicare Advantage, you will have access to a larger and versed pool of Agents. Reap the benefits of that. Continue recruiting. Continue training. Make the most of the amazing potential around you when it comes to both people and products!

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Medicare Advantage Plans - Buyers Beware!

On Monday, the New York Times ran a great story about Medicare  Plans. Medicare Advantage Plans are a type of health plan sold by private insurance companies. The plans are associated with Medicare.

It seems that seniors across the country have been duped into signing away their Medicare benefits by enrolling in a Medicare  Plan. In some cases, the seniors didn't understand how the Medicare  Plans worked, and in others, they didn't even know that the insurance agents had signed them up for the plan. The insurance companies that sell these plans have been accused of several bad practices, including:

* Deceptive marketing strategies that don't make a clear distinction between Medicare and Medicare Advantage

* Targeting of uninformed seniors in low-income areas by pushy agents with hard-sell techniques

* Outsourcing customer service to overseas call centers, whose employees have substandard knowledge of the complex Medicare system

Insurance agencies with Medicare  Plans undergo a greater amount of scrutiny than they have in the past-and it seems to be helping at least a little. Kerry N. Weems, the acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, says, "There are substantially fewer violations, and those violations are of substantially lower severity than in previous marketing periods."

Medicare  programs can help some consumers to finance their care, but these plans are not for everyone. There are factors to consider before signing up for any type of Medicare Advantage Plan. Here, a few of the most essential issues:

1. Make sure your doctor(s) and local hospital are within the insurance company's network of providers.

2. Medigap policies become null and void once you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan. If you already have a Medigap policy, cancel it once coverage begins with a Medicare Advantage Plan to avoid paying twice.

3. Medicare Advantage plans vary greatly. You are giving up all rights to your existing Medicare policy-so pick a plan that will meet your future care needs as well as your current ones.

4. Read the fine print. This is an important decision-don't rush it!

We live in a society where the buyer must beware. Call your parents tonight! Make sure they know about the issues surrounding Medicare Advantage Plans. That phone call could be the one thing that saves them from making-or worse yet, being pushed into-a decision that isn't right for them. You don't even want to think about the alternative!

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Why are the plans for Medicare Advantage free?

Medicare Advantage plans have become popular since their creation in Act 2003 passed by the Congress. These plans are a partnership between the Government Medicare program and private insurance companies. Medicare Advantage plans like HMO's where if you go to doctors within the system, you can get benefits. These plans will also include part d prescription drug program without incurring additional costs.

Technically insurance agents and salespeople are not expected to say that plans for Medicare benefits are free. But not one more than the person already pay if you have part a and part b of the regular Medicare costs. So how long the patient pays their premium part (b) for the benefit of a doctor, may obtain benefits Medicare structure plan without incurring additional costs.

In principle, benefits, such as part D, copayments for doctor visits and hospital stays, copayments are included in these plans are free. The reasons that insurance undertakings may offer these plans is that the Government provides a subsidy for each additional subscriber, who will Enroll Medicare Advantage HMO plan. The Government pays the monthly amount of the provision of insurance company and payment of claims, persons on Medicare. The idea was that the insurance system will reduce Medicare some expensive claims by insurance companies risk management. These plans include persons with good benefits in the network, but network coverage multiple times is limited.

Now and after their rise to the subsidy was so high that the major insurance companies have flooded the market with the marketing and sales teams the size of the army. All these plans are very good. All Medicare is good, if it can be downloaded. But the success of these plans depends on the subsidy from the Government. The amount of the benefits they will be directly related to the amount of the subsidy for each person. As the Federal Government subsidy cuts, insurance companies will cut benefits.

When these plans Medicare benefits without the cost of the person asking for the plans, each person on the plan is worth a certain amount of Dollars each month for benefits. While the person does not cost more, the Government pays. We hope that the next time someone tells you Medicare plans benefit from additional advantages are free, you will know why.

Brian w. Thacker works with individuals and their families to meet their needs for medical insurance since 1996. He brought agent designation process and application on the Web in 1998 from its website health insurance. It has customers around the world, who enjoy its Web site for offers and information about the various options of medical insurance to Medicare plans and family. Get a quote and apply online in minutes. This coverage may be in place at midnight and you will receive faster than cards.