Is now a good time to get involved selling Medicare insurance?
It is probably the best time to get involved selling Medicare insurance plans. And one more thing to consider. A lot of agents are retiring, getting out of the business. They’re getting too old! That’s good for us agents that are in the field selling Medicare Advantage plans. Over time, you’ll see LESS competition.
How many people sell Medicare insurance?
What this means when it comes to Medicare insurance sales is that one in every seven people, the equivalent of 15.2% of the population, meets Medicare age qualifications. To have a lucrative business, you need two things: About 1/3 of Americans obtain their Medicare through Medicare Advantage Plans.
Is selling Medicare supplements the best way to sell Medicare products?
Some agents believe selling Medicare Supplements is the superior way to sell Medicare products. What’s your take on that? Is there one that’s better to sell than the other? Should you sell both?
What are the scenarios for selling Medicare insurance?
LM: Outside of the annual enrollment there are four scenarios for selling Medicare insurance. Scenario number one, we already know, turning 65. That’s going to be your go-to scenario. Number two is people that have a chronic condition. The biggest one in my area is diabetes.
What is a chow Medicare?
A Change of Ownership (CHOW) typically occurs when a Medicare provider has been purchased (or leased) by another organization. The CHOW results in the transfer of the old owner's Medicare Identification Number and provider agreement (including any outstanding Medicare debt of the old owner) to the new owner.
How do I verify a Medicare number?
Members can check their Medicare ID number by signing into myMedicare.gov. If a member doesn't have a myMedicare.gov account yet, they can 'create an account' and follow the instructions. For questions, members can call 1-800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227 TTY 877-486-2048).
What is Medicare compliance?
The Medicare Compliance Program is specifically designed to prevent, detect, and correct noncompliance as well as fraud, waste, and abuse. The following are some examples of how we try to meet these goals: • Publicizing standards of conduct and other Medicare compliance.
How long does it take for Medicare to approve a provider?
Medicare takes approximately 30 days to process each claim. Medicare pays Part A claims (inpatient hospital care, inpatient skilled nursing facility care, skilled home health care and hospice care) directly to the facility or agency that provides the care.
Does your Medicare number change?
You'll have the same Medicare number that you did before, only the last digit will change....Replacing your lost, stolen or damaged cardusing your Medicare online account through myGov.the Express Plus Medicare mobile app.calling the Medicare program.
How do you check if your Medicare is active?
The status of your medical enrollment can be checked online through your My Social Security or MyMedicare.gov accounts. You can also call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 or go to your local Social Security office.
How do I ensure Medicare compliance?
Seven steps to complianceDevelop standards of conduct. ... Establish a method of oversight. ... Conduct staff training. ... Create lines of communication. ... Perform auditing and monitoring functions. ... Enforce standards and apply discipline. ... Respond appropriately to detected offenses.
Does Medicare require a compliance program?
Compliance Program Requirement The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires Sponsors to implement and maintain an effective compliance program for its Medicare Parts C and D plans.
What is Medicare fee-for-service?
Fee-for-service is a system of health care payment in which a provider is paid separately for each particular service rendered. Original Medicare is an example of fee-for-service coverage, and there are Medicare Advantage plans that also operate on a fee-for-service basis.
Does Medicare pay for MRI?
Original Medicare does cover 80 percent of the cost of an MRI, as long as both the doctor who ordered it and the facility where it's performed accept Medicare. Alternative Medicare options, such as Medicare Advantage plans and Medigap, can bring the out-of-pocket cost of an MRI even lower.
Does Medicare have to approve surgery?
Understanding Medicare Surgery Coverage A procedure must be considered medically necessary to qualify for coverage. This means the surgery must diagnose or treat an illness, injury, condition or disease or treat its symptoms.
Can you claim hospital bills on Medicare?
Medicare does not cover private patient hospital costs, ambulance services, and other out of hospital services such as dental, physiotherapy, glasses and contact lenses, hearings aids. Many of these items can be covered on private health insurance.
What Is Medicare Advantage?
DD: I’d like to start with the basics, Luis. I’m sure there are a lot of people who have heard about Medicare, maybe they’re brand new agents or so...
Is Medicare Advantage A Tough Sell?
DD: When I started in final expense sales, I saw many Medicare Advantage prospects, but I never sold any Medicare Advantage plans.Why? Because agen...
How To Get Certified To Sell Medicare Advantage Plans?
DD: What’s the process for somebody who wants to learn how to become a Medicare Advantage insurance agent?You have to do more than getting your ins...
What Happens After AHIP?
Once you get that AHIP done then you’ve done about 70% of your required certifications.Each carrier that you’re appointed with wants to make sure t...
What Are The Long-Term Benefits Of Selling Medicare Insurance?
DD: What would you describe as the long-term advantages selling Medicare Advantage plans as your primary line of business?LM: When you’re doing cro...
Commission For Selling Medicare Advantage Plans?
DD: A lot of agents are looking at this like we’ve talked about it from a final expense standpoint.They’re used to getting pretty high first year c...
How Long Would It Take To Write 500 Sales?
DD: How long do you think it would take to write 500 pieces of business? Somebody who’s serious about this business, they’re full-time, they really...
Can You Cross Sell?
DD: When we look at new Medicare Advantage clients, ones that we found or wrote from maybe one of these referral partners, what’s the guidelines on...
When Can You Sell Medicare Advantage?
DD: A lot of agents look at the Medicare Advantage business and think they can only sell these products when the person turns 65 and then if not, o...
What to do when selling Medicare supplements?
When you sell Medicare supplements from home, you need to offer a variety of products to meet each beneficiary’s needs. This includes supplement products, prescription drug coverage, Medicare Advantage products, and ancillary products. Ensure the products you are offering benefit the client, not a push for your pocketbook.
How many clients does Medicare have?
Your income is only limited by the time you put into working. On average, a Medicare insurance agent in business for five (5) years has around 400-500 clients.
How to remain independent with Medicare?
To remain independent, you will likely need to obtain your insurance company contracts through a Medicare Insurance FMO. An FMO will work to obtain the best contracts for you to sell clients. Their support in finding you the best product to offer frees your time to meet clients and close sales.
What is Medicare Advantage?
One of the benefits is the sale of Medicare Advantage or a Medicare supplement that provides you with a residual income for years. This is a passive income you enjoy the benefit of from every sale. Working as an independent agent means the commissions pay directly to you.
How many people will be on Medicare in 2060?
Projections are that by 2060 there will be 98 million people in that age range. The estimation is 21.1 million over age 85 in 2030. What this means when it comes to Medicare insurance sales is that one in every seven people, the equivalent of 15.2% of the population, meets Medicare age qualifications.
How many Americans have Medicare Advantage?
Ambition to put forth the effort to make sales. About 1/3 of Americans obtain their Medicare through Medicare Advantage Plans. The other 2/3 of the eligible persons have original Medicare, and about 81% of those enroll in supplement coverage.
Can you refer Medicare insurance to a client?
If you personally deliver the Medicare insurance policy to your clients, you have the opportunity to go over again the benefits of the plan they purchased. This is also the perfect time to request a referral. By building a trusting relationship, you may be able to sell them additional products later.
What is the age limit for Medicare?
LM: When somebody has Medicare they’re normally 65 and over. You do have a segment of the population under 65 that get Medicare who are usually disabled. Once someone is on Medicare they have two options – Medicare Advantage or Medicare Supplement. There’s not a good or a bad option, there is simply two options.
What is the difference between Medicare Supplement and Advantage?
As long as you’ve done that you’ve done your CYA. The other difference between a Supplement and an Advantage plan is you have a prescription portion. So you’ve got to sell a prescription drug plan with a Medicare Supplement.
How often do you need to take AHIP certification?
Now, certifications in AHIP have to be done every year. It’s a yearly requirement for all Medicare Advantage agents. DD: When you take these certifications, you’re learning all the intricacies of the product, which helps you sell more Medicare Advantage plans. So, these tests are important.
What is the certification test for Medicare Advantage?
Selling Medicare Advantage plans, you get a contract with a carrier, but once you’re contracted with that carrier every year that you are in Medicare Advantage sales, you’re going to have to take a certification test called AHIP. A lot of people freak out, “Oh, it’s so hard.”. Well, it’s Medicare 101. You need to know the product that you’re ...
Can you door knock Medicare Advantage?
Now in the Medicare Advantage world if you don’t have permission to contact you’re not supposed to contact. You can’t door knock for Medicare Advantage, so you’ve got to wait for it to come to you, but you can put a lot of honey out there to attract the bees.
Does Medicare Advantage include prescriptions?
For Medicare Advantage a prescription plan is included. The copays per carrier are probably different, but they function the same way. All you’ve got to do is pull up the formulary, which is usually in a PDF and just do the search for the medications and make sure they’re in there.
Can you make a ton upfront selling Medicare Advantage?
Selling Medicare Advantage insurance, you don’t make a ton upfront.
Selling Medicare Over the Phone: A Great Opportunity
In order to sell Medicare by phone, you don’t have to live in the state you want to sell in, you just need a license to sell Medicare in that state. That means you’ll be able to reach more people than ever before as long as you have the right skills, education, and certifications.
How to Sell Medicare Advantage Plans Over the Phone
Knowing how to sell Medicare Advantage plans over the phone can be a giant leap for your business. First, you must be AHIP-certified, and then you must contract with all the carriers whose plans you want to sell. It’s smart to contract with as many possible so you can offer clients a variety of options.
How to Sell Medicare Supplements by Phone
Medicare Supplements cover expenses such as coinsurance and MA plans cover medical expenses such as doctor visits. Medicare beneficiaries cannot enroll in both a MA plan and a Medigap plan, so it’s important to determine your client’s needs so you aren’t offering something they can’t use.
How Do I Get Paid?
In order to sell any Medicare plan, you have to contract with the carrier. Once a beneficiary enrolls in a plan, the carrier will pay you a commission, and some carriers will pay out if a beneficiary renews. You don’t collect any payments directly from the beneficiary.
How to Talk to Baby Boomers
In order to effectively sell Medicare by phone, you’ll have to speak your prospects’ language. Speak confidently. Your prospect will think you’re hiding something if you stumble over words. Be polite. Baby Boomers appreciate good manners and proper phone etiquette.
Start Selling Medicare Over the Phone and In-Person With Senior Market Advisors
Senior Market Advisors provides its agents with the tools they need for success in Medicare phone sales. Not only will you get access to plans from all the major carriers, but you also get free access to our proprietary CRM. SMA provides training so you’ll be ready to provide your clients with the right information so they can make smart decisions.
Start Earning 6-Figures
Connect with a dedicated specialist in your market to learn how you can become a TRUE Senior Market Advisor.
Overview of Medicare Supplements (Medigap)
Medicare is the public health insurance program created in 1965 allowing retirees to have health insurance even after leaving their employer’s group plan. Anyone aged 65 and older, people diagnosed with ALS or ESRD, and people who’ve received SSDI benefits for at least 25 months are eligible to enroll in Medicare coverage.
Is Selling Medicare Lucrative?
Selling Medicare supplements is a great opportunity to serve the underserved senior population and to make money. The Medigap market is two-thirds bigger than the Medicare Advantage market, and the plans are best-suited for people who travel and are financially stable.
The Best Way to Sell Medicare Supplements
Just like with selling any health insurance, Medicare comes with rules and regulations. The first step to selling Medicare supplements is obtaining a license to sell Medicare in your state. The second step is to get AHIP certification. While you don’t need AHIP certification to sell Medigap plans, it’s a great idea to obtain certification.
Medicare Basics
In order to effectively sell Medicare supplements, you should understand how the plans tie into Medicare as a whole. Here’s a general breakdown of Medicare:
Medicare Supplements Leads for Agents
Use more than one approach to reach potential leads. Email and social media are effective ways to reach your audience if you use the right tactics. Direct mail is still a great way to raise awareness even with the senior population using smartphones now more than ever before.
Start Making Money Selling Medicare Supplements
At Senior Market Advisors, our mission is to serve the underserved. The baby boomer market is all-too-often overlooked, and we want to help seniors live their best lives. When you partner with Senior Market Advisors, not only do you get to make a difference, you get an experienced marketing team, a sales support team and a free CRM to track sales.
Start Earning 6-Figures
Connect with a dedicated specialist in your market to learn how you can become a TRUE Senior Market Advisor.
How long can you float a Medicare facility?
In order to accomplish this, the buyer should be able to float the new facility for six months or more after the date of sale.
Does Medicare consider a change of ownership?
In fact, Medicare does not consider this sort of transaction to be a change of ownership. All that is required is that appropriate authorities are notified of changes in the Directors, officers and managing individuals. The advantages of this transaction are obvious.
Is Medicare debt due diligence critical?
In this case, all that is at risk is Medicare debt. However, due diligence is still critical because Medicare is often slow to react to billing issues and potential fraud and abuse issues.
Things to note
The Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI), often known as your Medicare number, comprises eleven random letters and digits. The red, white, and blue Medicare card reflects this.
Where can I find my Medicare number?
The red, white, and blue Medicare card has your Medicare number on it.
When will my Medicare card arrive?
If you are enrolled in Medicare automatically, you will get your card three months before your 65th
What is the purpose of my Medicare number and card?
Bring your Medicare card with you to any doctor’s appointment or hospital visit with any healthcare
What should I do if my Medicare card is lost?
If you misplace your Medicare card, you can request a replacement. You can request a replacement card in many ways.
