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I'm pretty sure these are not what you had in mind as you made your post, but two variants of your comment I have seen agents expressing business decisions about in their posts are HD Medigap plans and GI Medigap coverage.
Is theMedicareCoach a great deal at $1,297?
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I'm pretty sure these are not what you had in mind as you made your post, but two variants of your comment I have seen agents expressing business decisions about in their posts are HD Medigap plans and GI Medigap coverage.
While I would agree a good agent will steer a client to the "best" choice for them, I disagree that in most cases clients can tell if they are being given a hard sell - not to mention many agents are skilled at selling and steering without using a hard sell approach.
There are a number of seniors who are confused enough about their choices, the consequences of those choices, and overall costs for them that they tend to believe what agents tell them (thinking they are unbiased not realizing the commission differences between their choices and how agents get paid), especially if those agents are skilled at subtle manipulation.
Of course many agents do not steer people into MA's for the commission but some do. And many are ethical, but some are not, with respect to helping the client find the best choice for them even if that means lower pay for that agent. Compounding this is that some agents won't tell people about some of their choices because they are unhappy with what the company is doing (some have posted on here how they will not refer a client to a specific company due to that company's treatment of agents, or D's with no commission even if that particular choice is the best choice for the client). Generally some of these seniors are unaware enough of their choices and/or the details of their options and/or don't know enough that they can be subtly steered.
Back when I was a SHIP volunteer we'd go to senior centers and senior events for medicare events (agents would be present too). Some would talk with us what they had been told by agents (and generally, but not always, they were being directed to MA's) and were surprised when we sat with them and talked about how zero premiums (and as we all know a lot of people fixate on that) doesn't reflect their total cost. We'd talk about how specific health conditions could drive up their costs significantly due to copays and the MOOP. We'd talk to them about how at times they may end up paying more than the premiums of a supp plus those MOOP's if they had significant health issues combined with the specific plan. We'd talk about networks and their lifestyle choices in retirement with respect to travel, etc. We'd talk about their ability to change out of an MA if they are no longer healthy and depending on what is wrong may fail medical underwriting.
A lot, but not all, of what we told them was new information (either they had been told but were overwhelmed and forgot it, didn't completely understand it, or weren't told to begin with). We would NOT tell them what was best for them. We'd give them questions to ask based on their priorities and additional information they'd need to get before they made their choices. It was clear that many had been steered to MA's, that in some cases, were not in their best interests. We gave information without telling them what was best for them.
I do not know what most of the people we talked with did in the end but occasionally an agent would come over to us pissed off that we had changed the senior's mind about what they would be doing and/or that senior had decided to go home and research their choices more on things like medicare.gov or google rather than keep the follow up apt they had made to sign up with that agent for the (generally) MA they had originally been interested in.
There is also an element of client stupidity. Seriously.
Had (emphasis: had) a client in 2024 who signed up for a plan with me after thorough need analysis. Pref docs, hospital, Rx, etc.
She changed before AEP ended because another plan had a grocery benefit.
I told her about that plan and the network problem (local hospital not in). Apparently afterward she must have met with someone else and "forgot" that the hospital network mattered.
People want good "access to care" but choose a food card so that they can feed their cat (her words, not mine). People want to be healthy but 500+ calorie drinks from Starbucks sell more frequently than coffee.
What clients say they want and what they actually want are often two different things. The best agents ask the best questions and get clarity. But even at that, there are still people who make stupid decisions.
Had (emphasis: had) a client in 2024 who signed up for a plan with me after thorough need analysis. Pref docs, hospital, Rx, etc.
She changed before AEP ended because another plan had a grocery benefit.
I told her about that plan and the network problem (local hospital not in). Apparently afterward she must have met with someone else and "forgot" that the hospital network mattered.
People want good "access to care" but choose a food card so that they can feed their cat (her words, not mine). People want to be healthy but 500+ calorie drinks from Starbucks sell more frequently than coffee.
What clients say they want and what they actually want are often two different things. The best agents ask the best questions and get clarity. But even at that, there are still people who make stupid decisions.
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Not even close.
At approximately age 50 I was trying to cope with having been fired, trying to figure out how I might obtain another job during what turned out to be approximately 3 years of unemployment, coping with cancer, and facing homelessness for a family. A most unpleasant period of time.
Most likely, though, that experience at age 50 made you want clarity and good coverage 15+ years later when you got on Medicare.
IOW you may not have thought at age 50, wow, I need something great at 65, but as you got closer your life experience factored in.
That does sound trying. Sorry you went through that.
That because things have changed the last 5 yrs. I got upper middle class clients that call me all the time " can i get this grocery benefit ? , I just saw were everyone qualifies for money back on their part b " . Social media's changed the world. Our clients both low income and middle income are calling these ads for free stuff . 5 plus yrs ago i would have blamed the joe Namath ads or the constant telemarketers . But the truth is nowadays clients are calling the crap out of these facebook ads
You are correct, that is not what I had in mind when posting about agents that steer prospects to the highest commission product.
FWIW, HD Medigap plans generally pay $10/month commission or less.
Several carriers pay a one time $25 finders fee or less for GI business.
The good news is, those type of sales generally "stick" around for a while. Bad news is, this is still a business for most of us, not a hobby. Agents would find their business model is not profitable if most of the sales were HD or GI prospects.
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Maybe the perfect model would be the either/or model.
Client can choose, do they just want to pay the agent $1,200 for advice and then go elsewhere to sign up? Or do they want to have the agent advise them and sign them up at no cost but make his commission?
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I could be wrong, but I think there are some regulatory boundaries on that.
In some states I can get licensed as a "consultant" and charge a fee, or I can get an agent license. But I don't believe I can have both.
There may also be disclosure requirements . . . and on a personal note, I really don't want to encourage prospects to ask how much commission I earn. FWIW, if asked, I never tell them . . . it's none of their business and I prefer to let them determine how much my services are worth.
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