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4 Racing Tips to Help You Win This AEP
TIP #1: STUDY THE COURSE
Keep your book of business organized from day one. Know the plans and products available to you so that you’ll have time to map out a strategy. The more you can prepare now, ahead of Oct. 15, the less you’ll be scrambling at go-time. It’s also important to lighten your load at home. Knowing your work will become much busier in October can be helpful when planning your work-life balance for the next few months. Consider any potential personal commitments or important family holidays — like Thanksgiving — now. Plan ahead and minimize your stress during AEP. TIP #2: START YOUR ENGINES
Friendly, pre-AEP reminders to Medicare beneficiaries are a great way to get ahead. Just remember: Communications can’t include anything specific regarding plans, like pricing or benefit details. AEP lasts 54 days. It’s a race to Dec. 7, where your focus could be the difference between achieving your goals and not. How are you planning to fuel your growth this year with a goal of 25% YoY growth in your submitted app count? TIP #3 STAY EFFICIENT
Leverage available technology for important services like scheduling and comparing plans. You have access to the YourMedicare Enrollment Center — a multicarrier platform where agents can compare plans, get quotes and enroll their clients. Agents have turned to the YourMedicare Enrollment Center as their “goto” platform for enrolling beneficiaries into Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans. And with AEP coming up, using the YourMedicare Enrollment Center is a double win: For every submitted application mad through the platform, YourMedicare donates at least 10 meals to Feeding America. With more than 550,000 meals donated already, YourMedicare is well on its way to reaching its goal of donating 1 million meals in 2022. Agents also have access to YourFMO.com, a one-stop shop for growth with Medicare TIP #4 ALWAYS LOOK AHEAD
Remember: Your contacts are also someone else’s prospects. If you’re not planning ahead, chances are, someone else is. Year-round communication can help you stay top of mind. Try things like birthday cards, newsletters or quarterly mailers. The simple act of following up can help create lifelong customers and relationships. And remember to keep preparing for AEP all year long. When one AEP ends (or even during this AEP), start thinking about the next. Mastering the art of the AEP sale comes with practice. As you find what serves the client’s best interest, you’ll build on your success and your business will thrive. Have a great 2023 AEP!
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Preparation is key. Use the tools available to you to your advantage and learn what’s worked in the past, applying best practices to fuel your own success. If you’re new at this, talk to some industry veterans. If you’re tenured, reflect on what’s worked well for you in the past and explore opportunities to take your efforts to the next level this AEP.
Get a head start as much as possible. 
Knowing how to do business across multiple platforms can help boost your visibility, as well as your overall efficiency. Whether you’re conducting business in person, over the phone or sending personal emails, it’s all important and impactful — and they all go hand-in-hand. And don’t dismiss the power of social media. You can reach a lot more people in a more efficient manner with a quick, well-crafted social media caption.
A strong focus on being personable and showing empathy can go a long way toward business retention. Your future success depends on how well you do during this AEP, and you want to build on this success year after year.
Monday, May 9, 2022, was just an ordinary day for most individuals across the land. Now for those of us in the business of health insurance, we were presented with news that will change the dynamic of the entire industry.
On that day, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its 2023 Final Rule, and in this extensive document, there are two important guidelines we’d like to highlight in a more simplified manner.
New Required Disclaimer
| “We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.” |
This disclaimer must be:
- Verbally conveyed within the first minute of a sales call.
- Electronically conveyed when communicating with a beneficiary through email, online chat, or other electronic means of communication.
- Prominently displayed on Third Party Marketing Organization (TPMO) websites.
- Included in any marketing materials, including print materials and television advertisements, developed, used or distributed by the TPMO.
Aside from that, this disclaimer needs to be added to any previously approved materials and resubmitted to CMS for approval.
Calls With Beneficiaries Must Be Recorded
Agents making calls to beneficiaries must record ALL calls in their entirety. In addition,
TPMOs must retain and make the recordings available upon request for a minimum of 10 years. You may ask, at which stage of the sales process or enrollment will a recording need to be started? Here is your answer.
This includes calls that are part of the chain of enrollment into a Medicare Advantage or
Part D Plan (the steps a beneficiary takes from becoming aware of a Medicare plan or plans to conducting enrollments over the phone), as well as post-enrollment telephonic discussions.
This rule applies to telephonic conversations only, not face-to-face meetings. The YourMedicare team was well aware of this change and immediately took action in
implementing the resources needed to comply with these new requirements.
| The YourMedicare Sunfire Solution (Request access here) |
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Introducing the YourMedicareSunFire Integrated Telephony System. This addition to our state-of-the-art online enrollment tool will not only assist agents during the sales process but also help to keep them completely compliant with Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan enrollments. INBOUND & OUTBOUND DIALING The YourMedicareSunFire Integrated Telephony System provides a virtual phone RECORDING & STORAGE The platform saves recorded conversations in a safe and HIPPA-compliant manner for the minimum of 10 years. Agents will have various available storage options, based on the outcome of the call. Record, save and store all in one spot! REQUIRED DISCLOSURES The YourMedicareSunFire Integrated Telephony System displays integrated |
This is just the beginning of what is to come. As new information becomes available, we’ll keep you updated on all new enhancements, news and more specific details
relating to the 2023 CMS Final Rule and the YourMedicareSunFire recording functions.
