Mandated ACA Commissions for 2017 ?

[kgmom219]

I'm pushing through 2017. For 3 reasons:

1. The renewal numbers are there
2. I will reap the rewards in 2018 (just like I did in 2014)
3. My business model doesn't leave me with a lot of options.

However, I am not marketing to anyone under 65 right now.

This thing DOES NOT RUN without us. But there will be pain in 2017 while they figure that out.

The FFM cannot deal with double the numbers of calls. And that's what will happen if they allow the elimination of commission.

And if in 2018, I see similar numbers, I will have had 2 years of crappy IFP commissions while building my O65 and Small Group book.

 

[Ann H]

You are lucky, KGMom, that your state of Texas has a future for 2017. Yagents sells in FL and AZ. Florida is dead already, and AZ will be lucky to have a carrier in 2017 much less commission.

But, since you are in TX, your plan for 2017 and 2018 is solid. I also like your idea of building your O65 and group accounts in the meantime. I predict that you will meet all your goals.

 

[scagnt83]

Billing at 15 minute increments would be a nightmare, and unproductive.

A lawyer or CPA is able to control the elements and provide a definitive black and white answer in most cases. We have neither.

you'll get your medical card n 1-2 weeks..........not
Your doctor is in network............not
You can keep your health plan.............not

CPAs and Lawyers give definitive answers?... and are able to control the elements??... Not in the least.

The law and the tax code are a big huge grey mess. Very little is definitive and the rules of the game are constantly changing. Very few regulations are black and white. And even when guidance is given by a regulator, often questions are still left unanswered.


And you dont bill in 15 minute increments. You bill cumulatively on a monthly basis if charging hourly. And many Lawyers will round up on billing, so 15min would be billed as 30min. But for something like what we are talking about, for any help beyond the initial enrollment you could just have them pay a flat fee in advance if you dont want to do hourly.

Either way, it would be very easy to charge a fee for initial enrollment advice. I have no dog in this fight. And if you dont want to have a fee based business model then by all means dont. But to say that it would be a liability or setting you up for lawsuits is an overstatement imo.



Im in the middle of dealing with a lawyer right now for a business deal. The reoccurring theme is that pretty much every piece of advice he has given me so far could be totally irrelevant next year with one little court ruling or piece of DOL or IRS guidance.

There is no guarantee at all when you work with a lawyer or CPA. And they are very good about setting expectations in advance. Its not difficult... but it also is not something that I would want to deal with if I worked the heavily subsidized (low income) market either.


And concerning it taking long to get stuff or issues on that end.... so what? You warned them about that already. And they would be dealing with it even if you were not in the picture. Do I get mad at my attorney if the state is takes forever to approve my regulatory filings?? Of course not. He told me the expected time period and that it can vary a good bit. Im irritated at the state... but I dont blame him because he set expectations accordingly.

 

[taterpeeler]

Geez people... A fee based model works about as well as peeing up a rope....How many states are there? Don't like your states direction sell somewhere else. Good lord.

 

[scagnt83]

Geez people... A fee based model works about as well as peeing up a rope....How many states are there? Don't like your states direction sell somewhere else. Good lord.

It is what it is. If there is no commission and your allowed to charge a fee in your state then it would be a natural shift. Biggest problem is that it would be a pay cut on top of the numerous pay cuts that have already happened.

There are a surprising amount of fee only life insurance advisors out there.

Agents that want to still make money on it will find ways. Just won't be the same ways that agents are used to. Those who don't won't.

 

[kvnchris]

Good discussion in here! I don't see why people think it's really hard to sell critical illness or accident coverage policies with these subsidized plans. Maybe I'm just lucky in that MOST of my clients are getting huge discounts, and are totally okay with paying $25/month for a BCBS bronze plan, and $64.95/month for an accident plan on top. $90/month for the entire family, and I make around $400 on the ancillary + residual health commission (which I understand might not be around very long).

Maybe it's the way I was taught to sell, but I usually have no problems selling ancillary to clients I deem fit. I won't even mention ancillary if I know the client can't afford it or has a low deductible. It's pretty easy to say "most people compare the price of a Silver plan with $2,000 deductible versus a bronze plan with a $5,000 deductible + gap coverage and find there are bigger savings in the latter" and let the client decide for themselves.

In 2014 off critical illness insurance alone I made $85,000. 99% of those policies were add-ons to subsidized health plans. People can always afford what they believe is a great deal! About 5-8% were charged back on CI, a bit higher on the accident plans. Didn't make that much last year because I left the brokerage and had to start from scratch on my own. The point I'm trying to make is that I fully believe I can make MORE than I did in 2014, even if health commissions drop to ZERO. Yes, it would really suck giving these insurance carriers free policies. But if I can get back up to $100,000/year on ancillary alone, self employed at 25 years old, I consider that to be an absolutely fantastic job. I have much higher contracts now too so it wouldn't take as many sales. Right now it comes down to marketing more leads which I'm learning a lot about. This post is just to give a young guy's perspective on the market and I'm probably the least experienced of anyone in this thread. I'm not scared of any health commission changes because I learned to sell it for basically free! Lol.

 

[Ann H]

This post is just to give a young guy's perspective on the market and I'm probably the least experienced of anyone in this thread. I'm not scared of any health commission changes because I learned to sell it for basically free! Lol.

Now that's funny. But oh so true. In any upheaval the old guard is challenged by the new young blood. Anyone with a large book hates upheaval, and anyone with no book (but with zeal and creative thinking) loves upheaval. Cyclical. If you are going to survive, and thrive, when the status quo is overturned, you must be nimble, quick to change, and willing to risk it all. For instance our new friend, kvnchris revisited the idea of cross selling while doing ACA for free. For someone with no current book, it's a winner, because they can tell the new client that there is only 1 carrier (if that's true in your state), then point to an ACA plan plus supp. For someone with a current book, where the client is used to an hour of your time, it can be a non starter. You might end up doing some clients for a fee and others for the ancillary sale.

 

[kvnchris]

.... For someone with a current book, where the client is used to an hour of your time, it can be a non starter. You might end up doing some clients for a fee and others for the ancillary sale.

Well said! It's totally true though. At my first agency, we'd have agents come and go every week it seemed. Some of the older ones who either lost their book or had trouble adjusting to ACA on their own would show really archaic sales pitches. I'd sit next to these guys/gals who would bring up every little detail in each health sale and have these 1-2 hour conversations for almost nothing. It was very sad to be honest. The ones who struggled on the phone also struggled taking new advice. With a hot inbound transfer, it wasn't uncommon that I'd go A to Z on a health only close in 7-8 minutes. The minute you start going into brand prescriptions vs generics and all the other minutia is the minute you lock yourself into a grindy 1 hour discussion -- usually leading to "okay thanks for your time please send me over the details thru email so I can look it over". Of course, every application is digitally signed with all the coverages of their health policy. I just relate with what you said very deeply. I'm super excited to see what happens next OE. As long as we have access and authority to submit client's information as agents, I aim to sell 1,000 policies next year. The only thing I'm truly bummed about is the double redirect CMS is forcing on our beloved WBE's :(

Side question: Since I've never had a "large" BoB, I am curious how someone who is "done with" ACA handles renewals. Can't you lose a crapload of members if you don't help them renew? I should know this, but how many years do you keep getting paid commissions on a client with like BCBS? 3-5 years? Indefinitely?

 

[somarco]

Short answer, yes, you can and will lose a significant portion of your book if you do not review options during AEP.

You get paid on a client as long as they pay their premium, do not make any mid-year changes to coverage and you can prove you assisted with their renewal.

Of course I am one of those "old guys" who apparently is incapable of learning the new way of selling and servicing clients.

----------

If all someone needs is 5 minutes of showing plans and rates then they might as well enroll direct through hc.gov.

 

[HealthGuy]

I gotta hand it to this Kvnchris guy: if he is truly making what he is making selling CI and accident - hes a superstar. I tend to believe him without knowing him - however - during Open enrollment have literally NO time to sell an add on CI and accident. When you are literally booking enrollment appointments every hour on the hour, you realize even a one hour appointment is barely enough time to enroll someone, or even reenroll them.

And to go back to these subsidized people post enrollment and sell them a CI or Accident? - forget about it.