Top Rates & Cash Bonuses We are excited to announce that Americo Medicare Supplement will be available for sale in Minnesota on Monday, February 1, 2021. Americo has some of the top rates in the state. See for yourself - MN Rates. Additionally, you can earn a 12.5% cash bonus on your Med Sup sales with our UFirst Rewards incentive. Qualifications. Products are available on paper applications in MN. Application packets are available for download and order now on Americo.com. Rates and pre-approved advertising can be found at AmericoMedSup.com. Not appointed to sell Americo's Medicare Supplement plans? Request details here. ![]() |
Medicare Blog | Medicare News | Medicare Information
Americo Medicare Supplement Now Available in Minnesota
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Fri, Jan 29, 2021 @ 09:56 AM
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Anthem's Medicare Advantage membership up 18% in 2020
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Wed, Jan 27, 2021 @ 03:55 PM
At Anthem, for instance, enrollment in MA was up nearly 18% at the end of 2020 compared to the year before, reaching 1.4 million members. Total Medicare enrollment, including both MA and supplement plans, was also up more than 11% at the end of 2020, Anthem told investors on Wednesday, reaching 2.4 million. "We're pleased with our continued growth in this important segment for Anthem," CEO Gail Boudreaux said on the insurer's earnings call. Chief Financial Officer John Gallina told investors that Anthem is also "projecting double digital growth at the midpoint" of 2021 for Medicare Advantage, and that the company expects "continued, measured growth" over the course of the year in MA. Boudreaux added that the insurer's Essential Extras offering in Medicare Advantage drew significant interest in 2020, with a 300% increase in members selecting a benefit through the program. In eligible plans, members have the option of choosing coverage for a number of services depending on their needs or desires, ranging from transportation to a health and fitness tracker to assistance from a personal home helper. Anthem's Q4 earnings miss Wall Street estimations Anthem reported $551 million in profit for the fourth quarter of 2020, falling short of Wall Street analysts' predictions. That marks a 41% drop in profit compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, when Anthem brought in $943 million in profit, according to the company's earnings report released Wednesday morning. Anthem earned $4.6 billion for full-year 2020, a slight dip compared to earnings of $4.8 billion in 2019, the company said. Many insurers warned that their fourth-quarter financials may be less than stellar as healthcare utilization returns to near-normal levels and costs related to COVID-19 mount. Anthem CEO Gail Boudreaux said in a statement that despite the challenge of the pandemic, the company performed strongly over the course of the year. “Despite uncertainties with the pandemic, Anthem delivered strong growth across all of our businesses in 2020 reflecting the diversity and strength of our portfolio and our unwavering commitment to those we serve,” said Boudreaux. “I am proud of all that we accomplished during this challenging time, and we remain focused on supporting our members, customers and communities as a trusted health partner.” Anthem reported $31.8 billion in revenue for the quarter, which did surpass analysts' expectations. That figure represents a 16% increase in revenue compared to the fourth quarter of 2019 when the insurer brought in $27.4 billion. Total revenue for 2020 was $121.9 billion, an increase of 17% compared to 2019's $104.2 billion in revenue, Anthem said. Anthem also added 1.9 million members over the course of 2020, bringing its total membership to 42.9 million as of Dec. 31. For 2021, Anthem expects earnings in excess of $24.50 per share and operating revenues of approximately $135.1 billion. Source: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payer/anthem-misses-wall-street-predictions-551m-q4-profits ![]() |
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Tags: Medicare Advantage, Anthem
Nationwide Teams With AmeriLife to Offer Indexed Annuity
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Tue, Jan 26, 2021 @ 01:15 PM
Nationwide has filed the new Nationwide Peak 10 product as a non-variable indexed annuity. The Columbus, Ohio-based company is issuing the new contracts through Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company. The contract comes with a choice of four index choices, including the new J.P. Morgan Cycle Index, the new AllianceBernstein Growth and Value Balanced Index, the S&P 500 Price Index and the S&P 500 Daily Risk Control Index. Purchasers can choose between two lifetime income guarantee features. The standard feature is the Guaranteed Income Solution feature, which offers a guaranteed 4% simple interest roll-up rate on the investor’s original income benefit base each year for the first 10 years, or until the first withdrawal, whichever comes first, according to Nationwide. Purchasers can pay extra for a Bonus Income+ rider. The rider provides a 10% bonus credit included on the investor’s income benefit base, calculated on total premium. The rider also offers a 7% simple interest roll-up rate on the income benefit base for the first 10 years, or until the first lifetime withdrawal, whichever comes first, according to Nationwide. Consumers who pay for the Bonus Income+ rider can get a joint-income option for spouses. Purchasers also can buy a long-term care rider and a rider that provides extra benefits for annuitants who suffer from a terminal illness or injury. Consumers can withdraw up to 10% of the contract value with no surrender charges or market-value adjustment. AmeriLife is a Clearwater, Florida-based life and annuity marketing organization. Nationwide says it will distribute the new annuity exclusively through AmeriLife’s national distribution network that includes about 200,000 insurance agents and advisors, about 35 marketing organizations, and about 50 insurance agency locations.
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Tags: Annuity Information, Nationwide
CMS Boosts Medicare Advantage Rates, Cites COVID Costs
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Mon, Jan 25, 2021 @ 04:01 PM
By Lauren Flynn Kelly CMS on Jan. 15 released the 2022 Medicare Advantage and Part D Rate Announcement, indicating that MA organizations will see an average reimbursement increase of more than 4%. At the same time, CMS issued a 272-page rule finalizing several Part D policies that will largely apply to the 2022 plan year. Although neither document contained anything “earth shattering,” the hefty pay increase is welcome news to plans as they face cost unknowns due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, suggests Milliman Principal and Consulting Actuary Brad Piper. Two factors that appeared to contribute to the higher-than-anticipated payment increase are the fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare growth rate, which was estimated to be 4.55% in the Advance Notice and was 5.59% in the final rate notice, and a slightly smaller dent in reimbursement due to an average reduction in star ratings of 0.28%, compared with CMS’s original projection of 0.34%. All-in, the agency projected an average change in revenue of 4.08% for 2022. The agency’s rate estimates also considered the impact of COVID-19 on health care costs. As the pandemic drags on, some of the care that patients put off in 2020 “is now assumed to be deferred until a later date, and that deferred care is now expected to be more intensive than was assumed in the Advance Notice,” CMS explained. On the Part D side, CMS finalized the use of the updated RxHCC risk adjustment model, using diagnosis data from 2017 FFS claims and MA encounter data submissions, along with expenditure data from 2018 prescription drug events. With this update, “it looks like they decided to use four years of [claims/encounter] data and drop off 2015,” which is when CMS began mandating the use of ICD-10 in medical coding in Medicare, points out Shelly Brandel, who is also a principal and consulting actuary with Milliman. Regarding risk adjustment in MA, however, CMS did not follow commenters’ suggestions to address the potential negative impact of the pandemic on risk scores. Nevertheless, the rate increase is higher than those of the previous three years, serving to ease some concerns related to costs, as plans in 2022 can expect to pay for COVID-19 vaccines and the return of some deferred care, observes Piper. Source: https://aishealth.com/medicare-and-medicaid/cms-boosts-medicare-advantage-rates-cites-covid-costs/ ![]() |
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Tags: Medicare Advantage
Your guide to perfect lead generation to accelerate sales
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Mon, Jan 25, 2021 @ 08:35 AM
Your Guide to Perfect Lead Generation If revenue is the lifeblood of a business, then customers are the heartbeat. But customers don’t materialize out of thin air. And if your sales pipeline isn’t full, there are no deals to close. It’s not a big secret that sales teams need a consistent flow of leads. Yet, the path to more revenue isn’t simply paved with more leads – or as I like to call them, suspects and pre-qualified prospects. This just doesn’t cut it today, particularly when navigating the increased complexity of selling. You’ll need to go beyond quantity and the closing tactic of the week. Only a sales process built on a cornerstone of lead generation will work. Great lead generation is critically important because it’s the core of what comes next; every selling activity from that point on. So, it’s worth spending time getting it right for your organization. Sales performance improvement and accelerated growth begin with a repeatable lead generation process. The benefits to your business are gargantuan – shorter sales cycles, improved revenue forecasting, new sales people hit the ground running faster, and increased win rates. Where do you start and what steps can you take now? Lead generation is a broad term and the specifics depend on your company, industry, and target markets. There are an endless number of resources and tools telling you “exactly” how to generate leads, but they have no idea who you are. Besides, what good is a lead if you don’t act on it correctly. A Forrester Consulting study found that B2B buyers are more impatient than ever (78%), and respond more frequently to emails than phone calls (74%). How you handle this is crucial, because if you don’t respond in a timely manner your competition will. Since I can’t ask you some very pointed questions to help customize a lead generation process just for your organization, here are the practical, definitive steps to take. Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way. You already know that targeting too wide is madness. You may be right that “everyone” needs your solution (I doubt it), but trying to sell to everybody is selling to no one. The key to attracting your perfect audience is focus. Exactly who they are, the real problems they need to solve, where they can be reached and how, what influences your audience, channels they buy from, the buyer’s journey to a purchase, and a million other questions. Now that you understand your perfect prospect, tailor messaging just for them aimed at their pain that you erase. Never stop questioning how well you know your target. Never stop questioning your niche. Sourcing Strategy: To find and convert new prospects, be intentional. Now that you know what motivates the people who need your solution the most, take a step back and create a purposeful lead generation strategy, point-by-point. Unfortunately, many sales organizations skip the sourcing strategy stage of lead generating activities and jump right into tactics. A well thought out process for getting quality, qualified leads into the top of the sales funnel, and ultimately into the pipeline, is a must. To start, consider what you’ve learnt about your market and audience and pinpoint the best, simplest, and most reliable sources of leads, which offer the greatest cost-effectiveness. This is where they hang out online and offline as well as what they’re likely to respond to. In the B2B world, generally the biggies are cold email, content, search, events, and referrals. Note that cold phone calls are not listed – calling comes later. Social media for B2B companies varies, but with a very few exceptions, LinkedIn is the king of the mountain; more on this later. These lead sources may be different for your particular buyers, so dig deep to figure this out and prioritize based on resources and testing. There is one more thing to think about in your lead generation strategy. The more effort you put into optimizing the perfect prospect definition and ideal lead sources, the better your chances are of reducing the percentage of unqualified “raw” suspects you’ll end up with. Use a ranking or scoring system to up the ante and drive the top pre-qualified prospects into top-of-the-funnel. Then respectfully dump the rest. Connection Strategy: Lead engagement and nurturing has its own rhythm. Once you have a lead in hand, then what? Your sales funnel engagement activities will make or break sales growth. Successful B2B prospecting is hard enough without taking the time to call, email and connect with on LinkedIn. Now imagine having 100 active high-quality leads. That’s a bunch of people you need to speak with! Working each lead through the sales funnels and pipeline requires a strategy and a little help. Again, taking what you know about your perfect prospect create an engagement cadence. Map out a engagement flow, step-by-step, with what you’ll do over a period of time and what will happen when you receive a response, or don’t. These might be sending an email, a LinkedIn connection request, text message, or making a phone call. There are three realities in selling – the sooner you respond to a request for information the better the chances of closing a sale; following-up increases your chances of closing a sale; and the greater the number of touches the better the chances of closing a sale. As a sales rep, the only way to do this with 100 active leads is to use tools. The top dogs are LinkedIn and a CRM integrated with a sales engagement platform. Hopefully you’re already exploiting the power of a CRM. Add a ton of muscle with an engagement platform which will allow you to pre-define and set five, ten, or more actions and triggers. Plus, it’ll automate much of the tedious tasks with a personal touch. A word of warning; be careful about automating connection requests and InMail on LinkedIn – they’re watching you! In future columns I’ll talk more about sales engagement platforms, how to use them, and a few that’ll fit almost any budget. Without a viable sales process, companies struggle to grow. Lead generation is the first foundational step. Carefully follow the steps above to get sustainable, repeatable, predictable revenue results. This how you connect and engage with buyers, turning prospects into customers. Source: https://www.floridatrend.com/article/30567/your-guide-to-perfect-lead-generation-to-accelerate-sales ![]() |
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Tags: Leads, Lead Generation
Medicare Advantage Star Ratings: 30 measures to know for 2022
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Fri, Jan 22, 2021 @ 02:23 PM
CMS ranks Medicare Advantage on a quality scale of one to five stars, with five representing excellent performance and one reflecting poor performance. To assign stars, Medicare analyzes how health plans perform on certain measures. At the contract level, CMS only includes the measure if numeric value scores are available for both the current year and prior years. The 30 measures that will be used to calculate the 2022 Star Ratings for Medicare Advantage plans are below. Several of the values aren't included in the Categorical Adjustment Index, which CMS introduced in 2017 to account for how socioeconomic factors affect Star Ratings.
View a full list of the measures here. ![]() |
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Tags: Medicare Advantage
Medicare drug plan Star Ratings: 12 measures to know for 2022
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Fri, Jan 22, 2021 @ 02:08 PM
CMS ranks Medicare Part D plans on a quality scale of one to five stars, with five representing excellent performance and one reflecting poor performance. To assign stars, Medicare analyzes how health plans perform on certain measures. At the contract level, CMS only includes the measure if numeric value scores are available for both the current year and prior years. The 12 measures that will be used to calculate the 2022 Star Ratings for Medicare Part D plans are below. Several of the values aren't included in the Categorical Adjustment Index, which CMS introduced in 2017 to account for how socioeconomic factors affect Star Ratings.
View a full list of the measures here. Source: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/payer-issues/medicare-drug-plan-star-ratings-12-measures-to-know-for-2022.html ![]() |
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Tags: Medicare Part D
Top 10 Benefits of YourMedicare Electronic Enrollment Center
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Fri, Jan 22, 2021 @ 09:47 AM
Top 10 Benefits of YourMedicare Electronic Enrollment Center
Saves Client Prescription Drug Data – Since Medicare.gov no longer saves prescription drug data; you can enter data and be able to retrieve your client’s drug data securely. You can then quote multiple plans at the same time. Efficient – Save time, money and create more opportunity; you provide a compliant phone presentation, answer the beneficiary’s questions and your client can self-enroll. Electronic Scope of Appointment – Allows you and your client to complete a scope of appointment (SOA) electronically and save it in the client’s YourMedicare profile. You can print or store the electronic Scope of Appointment. Following CMS guidelines, the SOA is stored for ten years. Quote and Enroll from One Website – Most MA and PDP carriers that you are appointed with through Stephens-Matthews will appear as options when you run quotes for your clients. Compare Carrier Value – This enrollment tool will display the client’s current plan and compare it against our available plans and show the cost savings and benefits from one plan versus another. Email Signature – Allows you to send an email link to your client so the client can digitally sign and self-enroll. Text Message Signature – After obtaining the consumer’s permission, you can send a text message signature link allowing a self-enrollment with a digital signature. PURL Option – Allows you to have a unique personalized URL (Personalized Landing Page). With your unique PURL, clients can compare plans and digitally self-enroll. You maintain Agent of Record status and commissions are linked to you. All Applications are Stored – Enrollment system provides a cloud based application storage center that meets CMS’ mandatory 10 year record retention guideline. You can download the application for your records. ![]() |
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Tags: Online Enrollment, Medicare Advantage, online sales, YourMedicare
Cigna Supplemental: Earn added cash and leads in 2021
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Wed, Jan 20, 2021 @ 08:31 AM
Cigna Supplemental: ![]() |
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Tags: Cigna Supplemental
10 Commitments You Must Gain to Win Deals
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Tue, Jan 19, 2021 @ 02:51 PM
10 Commitments You Must Gain to Win Deals
Source: https://thesalesblog.com/2014/02/15/10-commitments-you-must-gain-to-win-deals/ ![]() |
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Tags: closing sales, Sales Strategies, sales ideas
CMS releases 2022 rates for Medicare Advantage, Part D: 5 things to know
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Tue, Jan 19, 2021 @ 01:54 PM
Five things to know:
Read more here. ![]() |
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4 Positive Trends That Continue to Define Medicare Advantage Plans
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Tue, Jan 19, 2021 @ 10:43 AM
Medicare Advantage plans have diverse member populations, low member spending, high quality of care, and high enrollment growth. Four trends have continued to define the Medicare Advantage space in recent years, fact sheets from the Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP) revealed. “Congress created Medicare Advantage (MA) in 2003 to provide America’s seniors a convenient, coordinated option for their health coverage and to drive greater value and accountability in the Medicare program,” an ACHP fact sheet began. “Today, the evidence is clear: MA is working, providing exceptional coverage and care for nearly 23 million seniors.” Four fact sheets from ACHP revealed how diversity, lower out-of-pocket healthcare spending, high quality of care, and strong enrollment growth have continued to characterize Medicare Advantage plans. Diverse member populationMedicare Advantage plans continue to serve a diverse member population, compared to traditional Medicare. The Medicare Advantage population included around 25 million seniors in 2020. Of those, over 60 percent were women. READ MORE: How Non-Profit Medicare Advantage Plans Can Improve Growth Research from previous years also demonstrated that minority communities have been strongly represented in the Medicare Advantage member population. Around half of all Hispanic American seniors (52 percent) and African American seniors (49 percent) chose Medicare Advantage over Medicare when they became eligible. Over a third of all Asian Americans selected Medicare Advantage plans (35 percent). The percentage of Medicare Advantage enrollees who are people of color has increased over time. From 2013 to 2018, the share of enrollees who were people of color grew by more than 37 percent. Slightly over half of all seniors in Medicare Advantage plans made less than $30,000 per year. A little more than a quarter of Medicare Advantage members had an income of $50,000 per year or more (28 percent). Lower senior spendingSix in ten seniors did not have a premium for their Medicare Advantage plan, one ACHP fact sheet shared. Seniors also experienced lower healthcare costs due to the Medicare Advantage out-of-pocket healthcare spending cap. READ MORE: Medicare Advantage Quality of Care Surpasses Traditional Medicare A separate report by UnitedHealth Group discovered that 3.5 percent of traditional Medicare beneficiaries spent more than Medicare Advantage members. Whereas these traditional Medicare beneficiaries were spending around $12,000 in out-of-pocket healthcare spending, Medicare Advantage members had an out-of-pocket healthcare spending limit of $6,700. Medicare Advantage members were not the only stakeholders who saved on healthcare spending due to their health plan selection, the ACHP fact sheets stated. Medicare Advantage cost taxpayers 9.5 percent less than traditional Medicare did. This statistic included the costs of Medicare Advantage plans’ extra benefits. Traditional Medicare saw an improper payment of 6.7 percent in 2020, compared to Medicare Advantage’s 6.0 percent improper payment rate. “MA incentivizes health plans, providers and health systems to closely coordinate care to improve health outcomes and reduce costs,” the ACHP fact sheet argued. “In areas where MA is prevalent, doctors employ those innovations learned with MA when caring for patients in traditional Medicare – creating efficiencies and providing higher quality care.” Higher quality of careThe Medicare Advantage Star Ratings system incentivizes Medicare Advantage plans to value quality over quantity, another ACHP fact sheet confirmed. READ MORE: Prescription Coverage Draws Beneficiaries to Medicare Advantage Almost eight in ten Medicare Advantage members (78 percent) were in a Medicare Advantage plan that boasted 4 stars or more, 52 percent more than when the Medicare Advantage Star Ratings system started eight years prior. Nearly all Medicare Advantage members were satisfied with their health plan (99 percent), whereas 85 percent of traditional Medicare beneficiaries expressed satisfaction. Medicare Advantage plans’ higher quality care was perhaps most evident in their low hospitalization rates. Medicare Advantage plans had a 57 percent lower unnecessary hospitalization rate than Medicare did, the ACHP fact sheet explained. High enrollment growthMedicare Advantage plans also experienced high enrollment growth. From 2013 to 2020, Medicare Advantage saw a 60 percent increase in its enrollment. Medicare Advantage members also had more Medicare Advantage health plan options in which to enroll. In the past nine years, the number of Medicare Advantage plans rose 161 percent. The Better Medicare Alliance found that the number of Medicare Advantage plans has increased 49 percent since 2017 alone. The trend is expected to continue, with experts predicting that Medicare Advantage will hit 33 million enrollees by 2030. Meanwhile, enrollment in traditional Medicare dropped more than 100,000 beneficiaries in 2019, a separate ACHP fact sheet stated. Looking to the future, payer experts have predicted that improving member experience for dual eligibles will be a significant focus for Medicare Advantage plans. “Duals are unique: they have to work with the state, they have to work through federal,” Mike Polen, senior vice president and chief executive officer of Medicare at Centene, told HealthPayerIntelligence. “What you're continuing to see is the need to integrate those two programs together so that the member has a seamless overall experience. Again, the focus is on being able to coordinate their care better than they currently are today, looking for solutions where you're integrating the various state and federal programs together, which ultimately should reduce costs and improve quality for the member.” This group also presents an opportunity for Medicare Advantage plans to boost enrollment even further, an analysis by LEK Consulting added. ![]() |
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Tags: Medicare Advantage
CMS: Medicare Advantage, Part D plans to see 4% pay bump in 2022
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Tue, Jan 19, 2021 @ 10:27 AM
According to a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) fact sheet, the agency is expecting payments to rise by 4.08% in 2022, up from 2.82% as proposed in its advance notice. CMS said in an announcement that it is releasing the rates three months earlier than is normal to give plans more time to formulate bids amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Bids are due June 7. Administrator Seema Verma said these results further highlight the administration's efforts to introduce greater flexibility into Medicare Advantage and Part D. RELATED: CMS finalizes rule that forces Part D plans to launch price comparison tool for members “The vindication of our fresh approach to healthcare policy, one that discards the consensus of the last several decades—prescriptiveness, overregulation, and micromanagement from Washington D.C. at every turn—is complete and undeniable," Verma said in a statement. “CMS’ efforts to lower prices and improve benefits has delivered historic results.” In the fact sheet, CMS also said that it will complete phasing in the 2020 CMS-HCC risk adjustment model as mandated under the 21st Century Cures Act. The agency first began rolling out the model for the 2020 plan year. This will mark a departure from the 2021 plan year, for which 75% of risk scores were calculated using the 2020 model and 25% were calculated using the 2017 iteration of the CMS-HCC model. As such, risk adjustment for 2022 will rely fully on Medicare Advantage encounter data and fee-for-service claims for diagnoses, CMS said. Source: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payer/cms-medicare-advantage-part-d-plans-to-see-4-pay-bump-2022 ![]() |
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Increase Buyer Intent and Close More Sales
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Fri, Jan 15, 2021 @ 11:12 AM
As consumers ourselves we often make buying decisions on impulse. As a matter of fact, our impulse to buy a product can be so easily triggered that retail stores use merchandising displays known as “impulse aisles” to tap into it. Their displays are attractive and inviting; they’re designed to stir our emotion and position the product as something we can’t do without. They frame it with big, bright signs stating “Last Chance Sale” or “While Supplies Last”, all in an effort to engage our emotional state and encourage us to make a buying decision now. FIGS aren't the Low FruitWhile insurance sales isn’t retail sales, we can still engage those same emotions in our prospects to help them justify the need to buy today. And we can do this by incorporating the Four Factors of Impulse or FIGS for short. Now, this isn’t new; many of you have probably seen this before. But these four concepts are fundamental in building effective sales conversations with our prospects, and if we learn to properly use them we can truly increase our closing rate as well as our overall production and profitability. Otherwise we're left just picking up the low fruit. Fear of LossNo one likes to miss out on a good deal or the right opportunity, and that can be a great motivator in inducing someone to buy insurance, today. This is commonly used in life insurance sales where the premium is only going to be higher if you attempt to buy later when you’re older. So to avoid losing out on a good deal, the lower premium, you should in fact buy today. Furthermore there is also the risk of not qualifying at all should you continue procrastinating an important decision as your health declines; and this can be applied in both life and health insurance products where underwriting is a factor in determining the applicant's eligibility. Using fear of loss properly is not to fear monger, but rather to emphatically convey to your prospect why it's important to act now. "Mr. Jones I understand your reluctance but we all know as we get older our health declines, and you're nearing the end of your six-month window to enroll in Plan G without having to qualify medically. Basically, this is your one shot to guarantee you get the coverage you need. Think of how great it's going to feel knowing you're nest egg is secured and not at the mercy of high healthcare costs." IndifferenceI is for Indifference. Indifference by definition means to show a lack of concern or interest. As a salesperson you use indifference to relay to the customer that you’re not concerned with whether he purchases or not. You exude an air of confidence knowing that you’ll be successful with or without this prospect as a client. Let’s face it, no one likes the overly aggressive sales person anyway, and the more you press a customer, the more he will feel that your only concern is making the sale. And if your product truly has value and solves a need for your prospect then you can be confident that ultimately your prospect needs you more than you need to make that sale. However, indifference can be a fine line as you also don’t want your customer to feel you have no sympathy for them. Thus, the key to indifference is to have a balanced sales presentation that properly presents, doesn’t oversell, and empowers your prospect by giving them the authority to make that buying decision. One of the best ways to maintain indifference in your sales conversations is to keep your sales funnel full. You'll find yourself more easily moved to desperation to make the sale when you only have one prospect and not multiple appointments to run. GreedNow greed sounds like such a dirty word, but the truth is people are greedy. Everyone wants what their neighbor has, hence the expression "keeping up with the Jones'". One of the best ways we can make use of this principle as sales people is to provide some type of social proof to our customers. You’ll commonly see this done through testimonials in marketing pieces, or Google reviews for example, but it can also be done during your intimate conversations with your prospects. When I worked door-to-door I would often namedrop any clients I had in the neighborhood. Truthfully it didn't matter if they even knew that person; the statement itself is a powerful claim, and it can be gently slid into your presentation in a variety of ways. “A feature your neighbor Betty Jones liked is…”. “Using this same plan, I was able to save your neighbor Betty $1000.” “You’re not alone; most of my clients including your neighbor Fred prefer Plan G as well.” You get the idea. In probably one of the best examples of greed as a buying signal, a life agent friend of mine recently shared a story about a string of referrals he received where each new referral based their purchase on the friend who had referred them. "How much did Pete buy? $1000? Give me $2000." "How much did Ed buy? $2000? Give me $3000." While this is no time to argue with your prospect's choice, using greed effectively doesn't involve gouging your customer's pocketbook with the biggest premium you can sell them, but rather provides social proof of the value you and your product or service bring to your many clients, and why this prospect should therefore become one of your clients today. Sense of UrgencyFinally, Sense of Urgency is one of the strongest motivators, and similar to Fear of Loss, it again stresses to the customer that time is of the essence. A decision is needed. If they don’t act now, the deal may go bust. I’ve seen this used often with agents who may travel and work small towns from time to time where they have to stress to their prospect that “I’m here today – I cannot come back.” A more obvious use of this within the Medicare space would be based on the various election periods. If its December 7th, the last day of the Annual Election Period, you best be conveying a Sense of Urgency to your MAPD prospect. “Today is the last day Mr. Jones.” Combine that with the other three impulse factors and you might have a statement such as, “Mr. Jones I’m sorry, but today is the last day, and I actually have four more appointments for people needing to turn in their applications. I’d hate to see you lose the opportunity but we need to act now. I’m ready to do the application with you now, but if you’re not ready, I need to get going to my next appointment. Do you have your Medicare card handy?” Practice Makes PerfectNow these four concepts are great, but they will not work if you can’t also properly present the value your product brings to the table. They also won’t work if you fake it - you must be authentic. Start by practicing one concept at a time; slowly bringing it into your pitch. Take some time to outline some key phrases that apply to each of the four factors and think about how and when you can incorporate that into your sales conversations. Pretty quickly you’ll find there are places to uses these concepts in your introduction, your discovery, your presentation, your close and even how you ask for referrals. With practice you’ll be using them regularly and I promise you’ll soon find your sales, and your commissions increasing. Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/increase-buyer-intent-close-more-sales-tony-merwin/ ![]() |
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Tags: closing sales, Sales Strategies
Lumico Simplified Issue Final Expense
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Thu, Jan 14, 2021 @ 04:14 PM
Features and benefits:
Agent Advantages:
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Tags: Lumico
A Dozen Facts About Medicare Advantage in 2020 - Update
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Thu, Jan 14, 2021 @ 03:56 PM
1. Enrollment in Medicare Advantage has doubled over the past decade
This analysis has been updated to reflect changes in methodology in how KFF calculates the total number of Medicare beneficiaries. These changes affected the share of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage, as well as Medicare Advantage penetration by state and county. Please see methods section for more information. Nearly one in five Medicare Advantage enrollees (19%) are in group plans offered by employers and unions for their retirees in 2020, roughly the same share since 2014. Under these arrangements, employers or unions contract with an insurer and Medicare pays the insurer a fixed amount per enrollee to provide benefits covered by Medicare. The employer or union (and sometimes the retiree) may also pay a premium for additional benefits or lower cost-sharing. Group enrollees comprise a disproportionately large share of Medicare Advantage enrollees in nine states: Alaska (100%), Michigan (49%), West Virginia (44%), New Jersey (40%), Wyoming (36%), Illinois (35%), Maryland (35%), Kentucky (34%), and Delaware (31%). 2. The share of Medicare beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage plans, by State, ranges from 1% to over 40%
Historically, the majority of Medicare private health plan enrollment in Minnesota has been in cost plans, rather than risk-based Medicare Advantage plans, but as of 2019, most cost plans in Minnesota are no longer offered and have been replaced with risk-based HMOs and PPOs. Changes for 2020 due to COVID-19: The COVID-19 stimulus package, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, includes $100 billion in new funds for hospitals and other health care entities. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has recently made $30 billion of these funds available to health care providers based on their share of total Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) reimbursements in 2019, resulting in higher payments to hospitals in some states than in others. Hospitals in states with higher shares of Medicare Advantage enrollees may have lower FFS reimbursement overall. As a result, some hospitals and other health care entities may be reimbursed less that they would if the allocation of funds took into account payments received on behalf of Medicare Advantage enrollees. 3. The share of Medicare beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage plans varies across counties from less than 1% to more than 70%
In 117 counties, accounting for 5 percent of the Medicare population, more than 60% of all Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans or cost plans. Many of these counties are centered around large, urban areas, such as Monroe County, NY (69%), which includes Rochester, and Allegheny County, PA (63%), which includes Pittsburgh. In contrast, in 508 counties, accounting for 3 percent of Medicare beneficiaries, no more than 10 percent of beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare private plans; many of these low penetration counties are in rural parts of the country. Some urban areas, such as Baltimore City (20%) and Cook County, IL (Chicago, 28%) have low Medicare Advantage enrollment, compared to the national average (39%).
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Determining Your Life’s Purpose
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Tue, Jan 12, 2021 @ 09:13 AM
The most important decision you will ever make is the decision as to what you will do with your life. Your one life. This is more difficult than it sounds. This decision requires that you navigate between two primary questions.
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Medicare for All? The better route to universal coverage would be Medicare Advantage for All
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Mon, Jan 11, 2021 @ 03:54 PM
Under traditional Medicare, the government pays doctors and hospitals for individual services, tests and procedures. Under Medicare Advantage, the government sends capitated payments to private insurers — including not-for-profits — which, in turn, are charged with providing highly coordinated, whole-patient care to beneficiaries. Introduced in their current form in 1997, Advantage plans have proven wildly popular among the mostly older adult populations they cover. That’s in large part because the plans are able to offer a wider array of health-related benefits than traditional Medicare. They commonly charge no premiums, cover prescription drugs, and include no- and low-cost vision and dental benefits. Many offer gym memberships, acupuncture and chiropractic coverage, as well as transportation options to get patients to their appointments. As popular as these plans are with consumers, that’s not the primary reason to expand their availability. The fact is, Advantage plans outperform traditional Medicare, producing better outcomes at lower costs for both the government and beneficiaries alike. A recent study, for example, looked at people with chronic conditions and found that Advantage plans performed better on several key quality measures, including avoidable hospitalizations and higher rates of preventive screenings. Likewise, a separate study found that annual beneficiary costs for Advantage enrollees are about 40% lower than for those in traditional Medicare. And because, by law, Advantage plans come with maximum out-of-pocket limits, beneficiaries are protected from the costs that cause traditional Medicare beneficiaries to purchase private “Medigap” plans to supplement their coverage. As for the government’s portion of the bill, it’s impossible to know exactly how much any “public option” might cost taxpayers without knowing the details of each proposal (Will there be premiums? How much are co-payments? What types of benefits will be included?). Nevertheless, past practice demonstrates that it costs less to care for Advantage enrollees. Humana, for example, just reported that the cost to care for members in its Advantage plans was 19% less than for traditional Medicare enrollees. At the same time, it’s essential to note that much of this savings derives from the value-based payment contracts baked into most Advantage plans. And that could present a challenge, because Americans often say they want to see any doctor in any network of their choosing. That vision is incompatible with most Advantage plans, which derive their savings — as well as the cohesion of care they provide — from managed-care networks which, by definition, limit one’s choice of providers. On the other hand, knowing that the coordinated care these networks provide produces better health outcomes and that the private insurers that administer Advantage plans have proven track records collaborating with public officials to design affordable plans that deliver consumer choice and excellent outcomes would surely appeal to a broad swath of the populace. What’s more, growing Medicare Advantage would not require a massive expansion of the federal government’s role in healthcare, something the majority of Americans consistently say they oppose. President-elect Biden has said that he wants to offer Americans the ability to buy into “a public health insurance option like Medicare.” The best such option is Medicare Advantage. It’s widely relied upon by our parents and grandparents. And in these times of economic uncertainty, it’s time to make it available to everyone. Dr. Jain is the President/CEO of SCAN Group and SCAN Health Plans.
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Medicare Advantage Penetration Rates
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Mon, Jan 11, 2021 @ 03:30 PM
For these 200 counties:
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Tags: Medicare Advantage
You can stack results over a year if you are intentional and do meaningful work. You might be surprised by the results you produce by doing something for an hour every day. Here are three meaningful words for 2021 with a short description.
Whenever you set a standard, it’s worth writing down a set of questions to test whether you are meeting it.
Source: https://thesalesblog.com/2021/01/01/my-three-words-for-2021/ ![]() |
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Medicare Advantage Outcomes Top Traditional Medicare: Report
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Wed, Jan 06, 2021 @ 01:39 PM
That’s according to the findings in a report recently released by Better Medicare Alliance’s Center for Innovation in Medicare Advantage. The report features analysis by Avalere Health based on data representing 1.4 million Medicare Advantage and 7.9 million traditional Medicare high-need beneficiaries. Those beneficiaries include the frail elderly, those with complex chronic conditions, and individuals aged fewer than 65 years old who are part of the Medicare program due to a disability. “This research paints a compelling picture of how Medicare Advantage’s high-quality, value-based care and care management offers earlier clinical interventions and more frequent use of primary care services and preventive screenings. In turn, beneficiaries stay out of the hospital and avoid costlier settings of care,” said Allyson Y. Schwartz, president and CEO of the Better Medicare Alliance. “Medicare Advantage beneficiaries had 49% and 11% higher rates of vaccination for pneumonia and the flu and the contrasts are even more pronounced among high-need, high-cost beneficiaries,” Schwartz continued. “For example, beneficiaries with major complex chronic conditions had 57% lower rates of avoidable hospitalizations for acute conditions in Medicare Advantage than in traditional Medicare, while frail elderly beneficiaries had 45% lower rates of avoidable hospitalizations for acute conditions.” Home health utilization is lower for all three populations in Medicare Advantage compared with traditional FFS Medicare, however, the report authors noted. “One possible explanation is that inappropriate use of these services is minimized in Medicare Advantage relative to Traditional FFS Medicare, but further research is needed to evaluate differences in use of home health services,” they wrote. ![]() |
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Colorado SEP: A Med Supp Opportunity
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Wed, Jan 06, 2021 @ 10:17 AM
► Plan C policyholders can move to Plan D; ► Plan F policyholders can move to Plan G; ► High Deductible F policyholders can move to a High Deductible G plan. Agent opportunity Colorado required carriers to send their policyholders a notice of the SEP and informing them of their ability to switch plans. A copy of the notice language can be viewed here. It’s imperative agents understand the implications of this SEP from two perspectives: to retain their existing book and to capitalize on the opportunity to grow your book. According to the 2019 NAIC Med Supp data for Colorado: ► 220,236 total Med Supp policies in-force in the state; ► 129,601 total Plan F and C policies in-force; ► Average monthly premium for Plan F Colorado policyholders: $209. You can view our Med Supp Portfolio here. ![]() |
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Medicare Advantage Enrollment Keeps Growing
Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Tue, Jan 05, 2021 @ 08:55 AM
Many of the large insurers are responding by Enrollment in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans has doubled over the past decade, and today the insurer-run plans cover more than 24 million Americans. Almost one-third of Medicare beneficiaries are now enrolled in MA plans, and that number is expected to grow as the baby boomers age into Medicare coverage. Insurers see a large and growing line of business in MA. For beneficiaries, the simplicity of having coverage provided by a single plan is appealing. The premiums are low — and more than half of the MA plans in the United States have no monthly premium at all. Often additional coverage (dental, hearing) and other benefits (gym memberships) are also thrown in. The trade-off for the enrollees is a narrower network of providers and sometimes some copays and coinsurance. The growth of MA is not without its critics. They see MA’s growing share of the Medicare population as a drift toward the privatization of Medicare — or at least the management of the program. Insurers are raking in large profits because of overly generous federal government payment, they say. The rebuttal from the MA plans and their backers: MA brings the value, care coordination and focus on the social determinants of health (SDOH) that is sorely lacking elsewhere in American healthcare. “This steady growth is likely due to the value and financial stability of these plans,” says Britta Orr, J.D., M.P.H., chief Medicare officer at Allina Health Aetna in suburban Minneapolis. Over the years, MA plans have moved to address the physical, emotional and social needs of seniors and those eligible for Medicare because of disability, notes Susan Smith, senior vice president of the retail segment of Humana Medicare in Louisville, Kentucky. Smith mentions the gym membership, the MA perk that may be more common than important, and efforts to manage chronic health conditions. Additionally, a focus on SDOH has led to a greater emphasis on ensuring that members have enough healthy food to eat and access to programs that help them deal with loneliness and social isolation, Smith says. MA plans may be especially attractive to people aging into Medicare who have had coverage through their employer and want to continue with the same insurer. Because Cigna has many members in its employer-sponsored plans, when these customers transition to Medicare, the insurer has the opportunity to offer continuity of care — and serve individuals throughout their lifetimes, says Aparna Abburi, president of Medicare Advantage at Cigna. Tami Hibbitts, MBA, vice president of Medicare at Priority Health in Grand Rapids, Michigan, points to the appeal of MA coverage of preventive care, including annual health exams and a variety of screenings. Christopher Ciano, who oversees Aetna’s Medicare Advantage plans, mentions customization. “By offering access to added benefits that can be tailored to support individual members’ unique lifestyles and total health needs, these (MA) plans are often referred to as a one-stop shop,” he says. Financial incentives — and responsibilities The MA plans say their preventive and SDOH efforts aren’t just selling points. “MA plan offerings and robust supplemental benefits lead to better health outcomes for members,” Hibbitts says. “It’s a win-win for everyone — the government, insurers and members,” says Andrew Toy, president and chief technology officer at Clover Health in San Francisco. “Our goal is to keep our members happier, healthier and out of the hospital.” Clover partnered with Walmart this year to market MA plans in eight counties in Georgia that give members access to services at Walmart Health clinics with no copays. Orr says taking on the financial risk of its MA members incentivizes Allina Health Aetna to keep coverage simple, personal and affordable. “The MA model challenges private insurers to provide high-quality networks, to promote population health and prevention, and to effectively coordinate patients’ care,” she says. Still, the MA plans are dependent on government funds and Medicare, more specifically. “We take our stewardship of taxpayer dollars very seriously,” says Cigna’s Abburi says. “MA has traditionally been a pretty low-margin business.” As with any government program, Orr says it’s important to strike the right balance between compensating Medicare plans sufficiently for the value they deliver and driving continuous improvement to quality and efficiency metrics. Meanwhile, insurers continue to add new services to their MA plans to make them more attractive as the competition among MA plans heats up. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average Medicare beneficiary had 33 MA plans to choose from during the enrollment period for 2021 coverage, which ended on Dec. 7. Hibbitts says Priority Health believes that being healthy goes beyond visiting a doctor when you don’t feel well — it’s about practicing healthy habits every day. Next year the company’s MA plans are giving members free access to BrainHQ and its online brain exercises designed to improve memory and overall cognitive function. Ciano describes several innovations in Aetna’s 2021 MA plans. For example, some are removing the requirement that beneficiaries designate a primary care physician. Instead, they can visit a nationally contracted walk-in clinic or CVS MinuteClinic location — CVS owns Aetna — and pay the same copay as a regular visit to a primary care provider. All of Aetna’s 2021 MA plans will offer an annual in-home assessment at no cost that includes a comprehensive health risk assessment and noninvasive physical exam. The clinician will also assess the home environment for potential fall risks. Aetna is also expanding its companionship benefit to address social isolation in select plans in six states. Aetna has hired a company called Papa Inc. to connect college-age young adults with older adults who need companionship and help with light housework and technology problems. Aetna also has a number of initiatives targeting the SDOH of food insecurity, including one that gives the members of some of its plans a “healthy food” debit card that gives the member a monthly allowance to purchase approved healthy food. Insurers in expansion mode Insurers don’t want to miss out on MA’s enrollment growth, so they are expanding into new markets. Cigna, for example, branched out and marketed 2021 MA plans in markets in five states — Ohio, Virginia, Oklahoma, Utah and New Mexico — for the first time while also expanding into new markets in states where it already has a presence. When mapping out its expansion plans, Humana identifies areas where people with Medicare may be underserved with current offerings. “We’re already one of the largest MA organizations in the country based on membership, so there aren’t as many places for us to expand,” notes Smith. UnitedHealthcare has also gone into expansion mode, marketing 2021 MA plans in 291 additional counties. This is the company’s largest MA expansion in five years, according to Steve Warner, senior vice president of Medicare Advantage at UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement.
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Tags: Medicare Advantage