Medicare Supplements Vs. Medicare Advantage

[Chazm]

It is a dis-service. If they are of that income level, they would get their PDP at $0 premium anyway. They would get more benefits by being in a stand alone MA plan.

Now, if there is not a stand alone MA available, then the MAPD may be their only option. That would be the only reason to use it.
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That would be correct, I have a MA only plan. I thought you were just saying that the client would be given a discount or something. In that case, if the client could get pdp for free I would give them the MA only plan that I offer and it has less out of pocket maximums.

Jessica, those PPO's are priced high. That reminds me a lot of Humana here in FL. Their HMO is free with PDP but their PPO's are around $90. I could not feel right selling someone a PPO at any price over $50 (though I don't offer any MA or MAPD with premiums) when a Med supp can be had for ~$130 with much more coverage
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The more I read, the more I understand, just how much more information there is to learn. Do they try their best to make this as confusing as possible?

No wonder seniors have problems understanding medicare. I have been studying medicare for a couple of weeks, and I still do not understand a lot of the rules.

How long did it take you guys to get comfortable with the rules and regulations? I mean comfortable enough, that you were confident presenting medicare.

Two weeks is definitely not enough to learn the in's and out's. I still learn stuff now and then. You need someone to sit you down and start at the beginning, starting with what medicare covers under part A and Part B and then go from there. If you have that down already it helps to go on appts with someone that knows a lot about them and has an easy to understand presentation that he/she gives to clients. Questions will naturally come up from clients and you will learn more

 

[Jessica Durphy]

I'm not working with ONLY LIS seniors... I try to show them all of their options... Some tell me, I don't want to pay $100.00 a month for a supplement, I only go to the dr. about 1 or 2 times a year, there's not a need for me to pay that much. Then I have dealt with some that say, I don't want to pay any co pays, no deductible, no nothing... I just want to pay my premium and that's it! Those are pretty self explanatory!

I, as a Christian, would never try to scheme any one let alone a Senior that can easily be taken advantage of!! That was the whole purpose in me asking the question in the beggining, I want to know what's best and what's the better choice for the Senior... I guess from all of what's been said and explained, it's just a matter of each one's situation, their needs, and income.

I'd have to say in all honesty, I've never sold a stand alone PDP... so I haven't technically looked into all of the different rates out there. I have looked at Highmarks, there's are not super cheap!!! $50+ a month, that coupled with a Supplement for a woman age 68 in my area will run her about $140.00+ a month.... I dont know, I'll just have to do what's suggested here in the posts... Keep researching, make the best judgements based of the clients needs, and be HONEST always.. have their best interest in mind, NOT my pocketbook....

 

[GreenSky]

I, as a Christian, would never try to scheme any one

Jesus! There is hardly a phrase that would put me on my guard any more than that.

How about saying, "As an honest person I would never..."

Bush and Obama are both Christian (at least Bush is) and both lied to us through their teeth.

Rick

 

[Jessica Durphy]

Rick, it sounds like you've been burned by some "so called Christians".. not everyone that calls themselves a Christian is one!

If that offends you, I'm sorry about that... but I am one, and I do try to be as honest as I can! BUTTTTT that's not even the point here, so really it's not worth the argument. Thank you earlier for your suggestion about Ritter.com, by the way... I wanted to tell you before but forgot to!

thank you Chazam for you input, I really appreciate it! I'll be looking into different companies! Different ideas, you've perked my interest, and I'll be checking around! Highmark is cheaper than AARP or Humana in my area, that's why I've stuck with them. BUt it's worth looking into again.

 

[jdeasy]

I'm not working with ONLY LIS seniors... I try to show them all of their options... Some tell me, I don't want to pay $100.00 a month for a supplement, I only go to the dr. about 1 or 2 times a year, there's not a need for me to pay that much. Then I have dealt with some that say, I don't want to pay any co pays, no deductible, no nothing... I just want to pay my premium and that's it! Those are pretty self explanatory!

I, as a Christian, would never try to scheme any one let alone a Senior that can easily be taken advantage of!! That was the whole purpose in me asking the question in the beggining, I want to know what's best and what's the better choice for the Senior... I guess from all of what's been said and explained, it's just a matter of each one's situation, their needs, and income.

I'd have to say in all honesty, I've never sold a stand alone PDP... so I haven't technically looked into all of the different rates out there. I have looked at Highmarks, there's are not super cheap!!! $50+ a month, that coupled with a Supplement for a woman age 68 in my area will run her about $140.00+ a month.... I dont know, I'll just have to do what's suggested here in the posts... Keep researching, make the best judgements based of the clients needs, and be HONEST always.. have their best interest in mind, NOT my pocketbook....

I don't think anyone is accusing you of trying to cheat seniors. You asked for information and you have been given it. One coluld easily unintentionally do the wrong thing for an enrollee if they are not armed with all the information.

How do you know that you don't deal with LIS eligibles? I run into them all the time in the normal course of working. Many times the person doesn't know that they are LIS. They think they are on this great plan from Humana/Advantra/CCRX/Silverscript/Aetna/etc. and that they only have to pay $2.40 for generics and $6 for brands and don't have that pesky do-nut hole solely because of the great plan they chose or had chosen for them. They don't know if they are QMB Plus/QMB/SLMB or QI-1. Many have never heard those terms until I bring it up.

I know that I put people in wrong plans when I first started doing MA plans. I did as I was trained and didn't know until later that I had not received proper training. I would hope that a new agent could learn from my mistakes and not do as I did and learn on the fly. I should not have been in the field by myself when I first was. I didn't have a clue as to how little I knew. Over the years I have been able to go back and fix most of my early errors. The ones I couldn't or didn't, someone else did.

 

[GreenSky]

Jessica -

Hope you were not offended.

Regarding Ritter, they are the place to contract for MA plans. Craig Ritter has a terrific blog that will keep you updated. He also has training on MA plans, both in person in PA and on the net.

As far as learning Medicare and Med Supps, you must speak with Frank Stastny. He'll admit that aside from me, he is the Medicare guru. He'll teach you not only the product, but how to sell it.

Rick

 

[Jessica Durphy]

Guys, I need you and your advice! You have years under your belt, I have 2 months. and I have been thrown out to do this own my own. (I'm willing and excited, but in all honesty SCARED SILLY!)

I'd have to shamefully admit that I don't know about some of the terms you mentioned either, jdeasy... I would love to get more training, simply because reading a few things online, isn't always the best for me! I work better with "hands on experiences"... actually seeing how a situation is handle, questions answered and objections overcame.

Rick, thanks for the suggestions, if Frank wouldn't mind, I'd love to give him a call and talk with him more in detail about the products and how to sell it! **P.S. about your little comment, I don't know you from Adam, so yea it offended me a tad bit.. but I'm a big girl, I'm over it! I heard it said one time "Grow up baby everybody's got a story!" Anyway, I welcomed any advice or suggestions that you have given.

 

[Frank Stastny]

Guys, I need you and your advice! You have years under your belt, I have 2 months. and I have been thrown out to do this own my own. (I'm willing and excited, but in all honesty SCARED SILLY!)

I'd have to shamefully admit that I don't know about some of the terms you mentioned either, jdeasy... I would love to get more training, simply because reading a few things online, isn't always the best for me! I work better with "hands on experiences"... actually seeing how a situation is handle, questions answered and objections overcame.

Rick, thanks for the suggestions, if Frank wouldn't mind, I'd love to give him a call and talk with him more in detail about the products and how to sell it! **P.S. about your little comment, I don't know you from Adam, so yea it offended me a tad bit.. but I'm a big girl, I'm over it! I heard it said one time "Grow up baby everybody's got a story!" Anyway, I welcomed any advice or suggestions that you have given.

I would be happy to talk to you.

 

[rgrace]

Jesus! There is hardly a phrase that would put me on my guard any more than that.

How about saying, "As an honest person I would never..."

Bush and Obama are both Christian (at least Bush is) and both lied to us through their teeth.

Rick

It really depends on who Obama is speaking with if he is a Christian or not. Sometimes he is a Christian, and sometimes he is Islamic. Not sure if he even knows what he is.

 

[bobson]

I would be happy to talk to you.

I'll throw in a vouch for him as well. He knows the Med supp business.