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Now, Pennsylvania is telling seniors that anyone calling them about Medicare is obviously illegitimate.
"He says legitimate entities don’t cold call, so anyone who phones claiming to be from Medicare or an insurance broker is probably lying."
https://witf.org/2021/11/26/pennsylvania-seniors-are-warned-to-watch-out-for-medicare-scams/

💥Still using Telemarketing for Medicare Supplement marketing?
🛑Consider this bulletin, sent out tonight by the Louisiana Department of insurance that warns seniors that ALL people calling about Medicare are scams.
🤪Ignorant? Yes🤪
But more and more, states and CMS continue to warn seniors against talking with anyone on the phone where the senior did not initiate the phone call.

⛔It might be time to update your marketing if you're still relying on others to cold call strangers for you.

Want to see the entire notice?
Click here:
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:fee671ac-6954-4733-8648-5110bd476a3e ... See more

https://youtu.be/gOKshZwDLu0
2022 Medicare Cost Numbers:

2022 Part B premium: $170.10 from $148.50

2022 Part B deductible: $233 from $203

IRMAA income limits before your Paet B and Part D premiums are impacted:$91,000 single and $182,000

https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-announces-2022-medicare-part-b-premiums

Horrible for seniors.
Wow.

https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-announces-2022-medicare-part-b-premiums

Posted in the Medicare Mentors group (highly recommended)..
From Joanna Wyckoff, an awesome person to follow:

"It’s a real shame there’s a lot of untrained agents out there passing Medicare advantage $0 premium as a savings to take someone off a Medicare supplement when an advantage plan often has higher max out of pockets (here in GA $7550), prior authorizations and doesn’t cover 100 days in a skilled nursing facility or 20% part b drugs.

This shouldn’t be a normal pitch. The older someone is, the more likely they’ll have a fall and need snf. If someone can financially afford a supp, you should try to rewrite a supplement. Not say hey I can save you $200/mo by moving to this advantage plan and hide that if they fall off that ladder hanging Christmas lights that they’re gonna regret that decision.

My biological grandmother was 100% kicked out of a snf at 20 days because Uhc didn’t approve any more time, regardless of her financial ability to pay that copay. I didn’t write her mapd either but this is a common scenario why snf employees don’t like advantage plans. Ask them how many times it gets approved." ... See more

Idaho passed a whole bunch of Medicare Supplement legislation.. all starting March 1, 2022, including guaranteed-issue for beneficiaries under age 65, community rating as of 2022, and a new “birthday rule” enrollment window to change plans.
See: https://doi.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/ID/B21-04.pdf

See the Bulletin today from the Colorado Dept of Insurance? They would like to address the adverse affects of the Covid vaccine.

"Although extremely unlikely, some individuals may experience a severe adverse reaction requiring medical attention as a result of a COVID-19 vaccine. In those rare instances, the purpose of this bulletin is to encourage carriers to provide coverage without cost sharing for adverse reactions as a result of a COVID-19 vaccine and to provide assistance to enrollees in seeking compensation under the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP). The CICP was created to help in the very rare circumstance of someone experiencing a serious injury that is the result of a “covered countermeasure.” A countermeasure is a vaccination, medication, device, or other item recommended to diagnose, prevent or treat a declared pandemic, epidemic or security threat. COVID-19 vaccines are considered a covered countermeasure under the CICP.

The Division would like to provide notice that the Commissioner has adopted the following revised bulletin: (see 1st comment below for the link) ... See more

Dental and Vision are OUT of Biden's latest proposal.

Would you look at that... that Plan N we've been writing... (still) doing pretty dang good.s

Glad we saw this trend coming years ago and have saved our clients a small fortune over the years.

American Hospital Association on Medicare Advantage...
"Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should revise and reissue recent proposed regulations streamlining prior authorization to ensure benefits extend to patients enrolled in Medicare Advantage; consider additional regulations to limit care delays; and conduct oversight and enforcement for plans who have demonstrated problematic prior authorization usage in the past."
"...many health plans apply prior authorization requirements in ways that create dangerous delays in care, contribute to clinician burnout and drive up costs for the health care system. One of the most frustrating aspects for providers and patients is the variation in prior authorization submission processes. Plans vary widely on accepted methods of prior authorization requests and supporting documentation submission. " ... See more

ＨＡＮＧ ＩＮ ＴＨＥＲＥ！
𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩!

https://youtu.be/8KNf96ZQyJY

What does COMPLIANCE think of the new CMS Marketing Memo? See the updated video here:
https://medicareagenttraining.com/cms-enforcement-to-begin-october-11-2021-meeting/

In today's office meeting, we covered the new CMS memo that addresses the myriad of misleading Medicare Advantage commercials. It would appear that CMS will begin enforcement soon, finally.
See details here:
https://medicareagenttraining.com/cms-enforcement-to-begin-october-11-2021-meeting/

As we covered in our office meeting, it's not what you write that matters.
It is what you KEEP!

The Medicare business is about helping people and building a residual business.

If the focus is on just quick apps and no relationship, the residual part does not materialize.

https://outline.com/RWCpp2

This is going to ruffle some feathers!

"A federal agency is setting up a big new compensation disclosure and reporting program for individual health insurance agents and brokers.

...Agents and brokers could comply by giving customers a commission schedule along with descriptions of other forms of compensation.

Insurers would have to provide annual reports on payments to general agencies and marketing organizations, as well as on payments to agents and brokers."

It had to be said... can't believe this agent actually put this out... SMH.

We use Dropbox for storing PDF application backups and this means they can be accessed from any of our office computers or any computer or phone anywhere in the world, securely.
It's a great backup plan for CRM data, too.

It is good to NOT be ALONE in this business.
"I watched your most recent team meeting about PDP converting folks to MAPD and the very next day had a client call me to inform me that Wellcare had called him to set up a meeting to 'review his medications and look into dental and vision options'. He wanted to know if he should take the call and what that was all about. So glad he called me first, but SO grateful for you and the incredible guidance you give us as it helped me know exactly how to handle the situation. THANK YOU! You and the content you put out helps me be better and better every day.

Thanks,
D" ... See more

Can't imagine who they're talking about..
https://www.ajmc.com/view/hhs-investigation-finds-medicare-insurers-drew-9-2-billion-through-controversial-billing-practices

What do Medicare Supplement-focused agents need to know before going into AEP? A few things.. and here are the top ones:

https://medicareagenttraining.com/industry-updates-for-aep-important-sept-27-2021-meeting/

Are you surrounded by people who lift you up or hold you down?

Depending on your ambition this will significantly increase or decrease your probability of achieving what you want.

Who you choose to spend time with is the number 1 predictor of your success.

All I'm saying is, if you want to succeed, be careful with who you let in your ear and go find people who push you and hold you accountable. It'll help you on your journey..

Reposted from @kerwinrae

"This $90 million result is the largest MA fraud settlement involving a hospital group, and the second-largest MA fraud settlement ever reached.

Despite the fact that MA now covers over 40 percent of Medicare beneficiaries, DOJ’s fraud actions have not tracked and seem to be lagging behind. However, this summer has proved to be a turning point in that trend. Along with this Sutter settlement, the government has intervened in cases against Kaiser, with a government complaint filed last week, and it continues to pursue litigation against UnitedHealth Group (UHG) and Anthem." ... See more

Nothing to see here... just $9.2 BILLION taken from taxpayers. All is well, we have unlimited funds.
The Wall Street Journal: Most of $9.2 Billion in Questionable Medicare Payments

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 -There are certain things said casually, by today's generation, that are misinterpreted or merely make seniors second guess their relationship with you.

We talked about those things today, and more Medicare trivia that agents REALLY need to know.

Join us.. behind the scenes:
https://medicareagenttraining.com/getting-better-on-the-phone-sept-20-2021-internal-meeting/

Worked for me.
Reposted from @garyvee ♟♟♟.

#medicaretraining
#medicareinsurance
#medicareadvantage
#medicaresupplement
#medicareagenttraining

Well, that's interesting.
https://outline.com/w2LfHe

Effort to buy votes in upcoming election involve pure cash to seniors.
Business Insider: Sanders Says Democrats Eyeing $1000 Vouchers for Seniors to Get New Medicare Benefits.
https://www.businessinsider.com/sanders-democrats-weighing-vouchers-seniors-get-new-medicare-benefits-2021-9

Have you been recommending your senior clients to use GoodRx to find discounts on their drugs?
You may have just handed those clients over to the GoHealth call center. See the story about the new partnership:
https://medicareagenttraining.com/warning-for-those-recommending-goodrx/

Good scenarios that most all of us hear all the time and you'd be surprised how many agents get these wrong... we did Medicare Trivia at this week's internal office meeting:
https://medicareagenttraining.com/september-13-2021-medicare-trivia-and-carrier-updates/

And, just like that, the bill is dead, for now.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/12/politics/joe-manchin-democratic-bill-3-trillion-climate-provisions/index.html

Will Medicare have Dental, Vision, and Hearing coverage? As the current Congressional and Executive Branch believe that we have unlimited funds and no end in sight, this just might happen.

Most proposals on the House side have a gradual implementation in their language. The typical timeline sees 3 years before full adoption.

The Senate leadership, however, wants it in place immediately, which Medicare says is impossible with zero infrastructure set up for dentist on-boarding and fee structures.

https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payer/house-lawmakers-clash-over-impact-adding-dental-vision-and-hearing-benefits-to-medicare ... See more

Chris Westfall's speech at the 2021 Medicare Supplement Industry Summit in Chicago... going off-script and leaving behind the best tips that led to success.
https://youtu.be/5l-lry9ML9I

As we embark on the 2021 Medicare Conference in Chicago, we can finally announce what we have been working on for the last 9 months. Great things ahead for our employees, clients, and outside agents.
https://www.prweb.com/releases/senior_market_sales_acquires_senior_savings_network_as_part_of_new_growth_strategy/prweb18168366.htm

Illinois' new Birthday Rule and what it means to us, and other office improvements.. in this behind-the-scenes video from our agency:
https://medicareagenttraining.com/august-23-21-meeting-new-birthday-rule-state-and-more/

I learned, early on, that success leaves clues.
One of the most important things I did, in building my agency, was to focus on enhancing the client experience before all else. That sole focus took us to successes that I thought were never, ever possible.

https://youtu.be/J7VfcGBWCOc

One step closer to major changes...
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/09/democrats-budget-plan-calls-for-major-medicare-expansion.html

In our internal office meeting today, we covered many topics and improvements including:
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 - What is yours? Use it!
𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗹𝘀 - Tracking where they came from is KEY!
𝐋𝐢𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭? - Yes, they will ask you to, if they haven't already. What is your answer?
𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 - What is new and what you should know

https://medicareagenttraining.com/august-9-2021-meeting-using-competitive-advantage/ ... See more

Good reminder!

𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 - Losing a sale 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 it was made.. and How to Prevent This:

https://medicareagenttraining.com/august-3-2021-internal-office-meeting/

Our agency meeting today where we discussed AEP preparation and our incoming call flow process of screening callers into our workflow..
https://medicareagenttraining.com/incoming-call-process-overview/

Our weekly office meeting - always improving on our process to make sure no one slips through the cracks..
https://medicareagenttraining.com/june-12-21-office-meeting-improving-our-process/

Had such a great time in Charleston for our LIVE MedicareAgentTraining.com event.. posting the highlights to our site - come check it out!

Hannah spoke at our LIVE event in Charleston in June 2021 on what we have figured out in hiring staff and growing the business.

From assigning people to roles based on their strengths to challenges we've experienced along the way, Hannah covers a lot…
https://medicareagenttraining.com/hiring-and-growing-an-agency-what-we-do/

#medicareagenttraining
#medicaretraining

Reposted from @cwestfallsr
(Follow on Instagram)
Sure was great to get together with everyone post-Covid and spend time going over what we do...

Helping people across the country with Medicare plans for the last 13 years has been an honor and a fun journey.

Watching other agents on a similar path and, helping when they ask, has been a rewarding mission.

#medicare
#medicareagent
#medicaretraining
#medicareinsurance
#medicareadvantage
#medicaresupplement
#medicareagenttraining

AMERITAS, too, announced a new product at our Charleston Event.. see the video here:
https://medicareagenttraining.com/ameritas-new-product-sneak-peak/

A NEW, enhanced product from Manhattan Life was announced for the first time at our LIVE event this weekend. Here is the video:
https://medicareagenttraining.com/dental-vision-hearing-best-plan/

What a great weekend!!!!

Charleston event going GREAT so far! Another full day today!
Thank you all SO MUCH for coming to interact, share, and learn together!! - Chris

#medicareagenttraining
#medicaretraining