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You may have heard the terms: Part B giveback, reduction or rebate. Do you know what that means or how it works for your clients?
The give-back benefit is another term for Part B premium reduction. This is when a Medicare Advantage plan reduces the amount your client pays towards their Part B monthly premium. These givebacks are offered by some Medicare Advantage plans and are designed to make plans even MORE affordable. The amount of the givebacks can range depending upon the plan and location. They can be as low as $20 and some plans offer more than $100 in giveback rebates. 
How it Works:
If a beneficiary is on Social Security, the Part B premium comes out of their monthly benefit before it hits their bank account OR it's reflected in their monthly check. The giveback reduces their Part B premium, which means more money ends up in the individual’s bank account. If your client pays their Part B premium directly (not by automatic Social Security check deduction), their Part B premium statement will be updated with the giveback amount credited to what they owe. The standard Part B premium for 2021 is $148.50. This amount changes yearly and is based on income. Learn more.
Example:
If a beneficiary's monthly Social Security check is normally $1600 and their giveback is $100, their Social Security benefit will now be $1700. If they pay the standard Part B premium ($148.50) the amount they will owe after receiving the giveback will be $48.50.
Part B givebacks can offer Medicare beneficiaries yet another way to save money by choosing a Medicare Advantage plan.
To be eligible for this program your client must be responsible for paying their own Part B premium, which means they are NOT eligible to receive Medicaid or participate in a Medicare Savings Plan.
As always, it's important to make sure the Medicare Advantage plan fits your client's needs and budget. It's also crucial to make sure it includes access to the doctors and hospitals they need, as well as making sure their prescription drugs are on the plan’s formulary.
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The Annual Enrollment Period which occurs every fall is right around the corner. October 15th kicks off the beginning of that window when your clients can make changes to their Medicare Advantage plans. So now is the time to go through our AEP checklist to ensure you're ready for the busiest time of year. Whether you're selling Medicare Advantage products, Prescription Drug Plans, Medicare Supplement products or any combination of the three, being prepared is your best asset. Below we'll go over our AEP checklist as well as review what your clients can do during the Annual Enrollment Period which ends on December 7th.
What can your clients do during AEP?
1. Change from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan (or vice versa)
2. Switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another Medicare Advantage plan 3. Switch from a Medicare Advantage plan that doesn't have drug coverage to one that does offer drug coverage (or vice versa) 4. Join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) 5. Switch from one Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) to another PDP 6. Drop Medicare Prescription Drug coverage completely There are many scenarios that can play out during AEP and it's in your best interest to review your clients' policies with them to ensure they have appropriate coverage for the coming year. Many of your clients may want to review their Medicare Supplement plans during this time as well, and it's the perfect time to do so. AEP Checklist
1. Contracting
If you need to finish any contracting you may have started, complete it and review any carriers you wish to add. Carriers have blackout dates where you can no longer move your contract. You can review our carrier black out dates on our AEP page. 2. AHIP Training Be sure to complete your AHIP training. Many carriers offer discounts, but you must access the training through the carriers' agent websites to receive that discount. 3. Product Training Login to agent sites and complete all product training. You'll get notified by the carrier when you’re eligible to being selling. Watch your Inbox carefully. 4. MedicareCENTER Login to MedicareCENTER and get familiar with all the new tools available. Upload and update your clients in the CRM and review the training and best practices guides. 5. Electronic Applications Familiarize yourself with electronic applications now (before the rush). This will make them much easier to complete. You can download carrier e-App training guides from our Electronics App page. 6. Order Supplies & Materials Order any supplies you may need from your carriers directly, and be sure to request our complimentary*, branded marketing materials to help you promote yourself.
Make sure you're ready to go and have everything you need to make this your most successful AEP yet. We're here to help you succeed and are always available to assist you with your AEP strategy.
*Must be a contracted producer to qualify for our complimentary marketing materials.
Baby Boomers love Facebook and thanks to the pandemic more seniors are hanging out on there than ever before. If you're selling Medicare solutions to seniors and you're not using Facebook as a marketing tool, you're missing out. Sharing relevant content consistently and running targeted ads is an easy and economical way to get more leads. Ready to learn more?
Facebook's advertising process is straight forward and easy to work with. You must have a Facebook business page set up first. If you don't have a business page, it's easy to get that set up too. Once you have that up and running you can start advertising your insurance services. To run an ad, you're stepped through a series of questions which will determine what type of ad you want to run. You then upload your ad content, determine the audience, the price you want to pay and the duration of your ad. Once you finish that quick process, you then submit your ad for approval and within 24 hours (sometimes even sooner) you get an email alerting you to the status of your ad. Once approved your ad runs for the length you determined and will even cross post on Instagram if you have a professional Instagram account set up.
Running targeted ads on Facebook is easy and economical.
Still unsure? Feel free to download our Facebook Ads Quick Start Guide to walk you through the process. Screen shots and step-by step instructions will show you exactly what you need to do to target a specific audience in your preferred geographic area, and it will even show you how to drill down to target leads with certain life events or interests. This type of targeting will ensure your ad is being shown to the people you want to see it.
So now that you have an ad running, when will you start seeing leads? After your ad begins running, you can track and manage leads through the Facebook Ads Manager which shows you when someone has responded to your ad. It will give you a plethora of other statistics too, but for the sake of keeping this blog post simple, we'll focus on the main goal: leads! You download them via an Excel file and the important thing to remember is that you need to login daily to check for leads. Facebook will not email you when you receive new leads. So make it a habit to login to the Ads Manager to track them and download them.
What if you don't get any leads from your first ad? Don't despair. Much of marketing is based on A/B testing. And what that means is you have to test out your ad, just as marketers do to see what type of ad content resonates with their targeted audience. The fact that Facebook makes advertising economical and you don't have to pour thousands of dollars into an ad campaign, allows you to test your ads and tweak them when necessary. Marketing has many nuances to it, and lead nurturing can take time. But if you're willing to put in a bit of effort and take the plunge, you will see proven results.
A/B testing allows you to test out your ad content to see what resonates with your audience.
Hands down, Facebook advertising is the fastest and easiest way to get leads quickly. It's not a complicated process and it won't break the bank. Buying expensive leads from lead vendors can quickly add up, so if you haven't spent the time to learn how to advertise on Facebook, dedicate a couple hours to setting up your business page, creating ad content (or if you're one of our contracted agents, we'll create ad content for you) and go through the process of submitting your first ad. You'll be happy you did once those leads start filtering in.
There's a "new" plan on the block and it has very similar coverage to Plan G. If your clients are unable to purchase a Medicare Supplement Plan F due to MACRA, then you may tend to encourage them to purchase a Plan G. And that's always been a smart move. However, the differences between Plan G and Plan N are as follows:
Here's where it gets really interesting though. The vast majority of Plan N policy holders never end up paying the Part B excess charges because nearly every doctor in the U.S. (96%) who accepts Medicare, only charges the amount Medicare has approved for their services. So what does that mean? It means that your Plan N clients will likely only pay the cost-share copays and the Part B deductible. 
Let's dig a little more into the Plan G vs. Plan N discussion. Due to MACRA, Plan G is now available to customers with 6 out of the 7 Guaranteed Issue rights. This will increase the pool of high-cost policy holders and place more and more pressure on insurance carriers to raise their premiums to cover those costs. Last year was the first year of newly eligible clients with this many Guaranteed Issue rights for Plan G, but every year that will steadily increase as more and more people age into Medicare. So what does this mean? It means Plan G premiums will likely increase faster than those of plans with fewer Guaranteed Issue rights, such as Plan N.
So, to wrap this up. If your clients purchase a Plan N, they will have identical coverage to Plan G, their premiums will likely not increase as quickly as those who have Plan G, and their out-of-pocket costs will be the Part B deductible and any copays they may incur. It's clearly a win/win! Consider offering Plan N Medicare Supplements to your clients; explain to them the cost differences, and how in the end, Plan N will be their better option.
Questions? Reach out to our Medicare gurus, Cassandra and Derick for more information.
You just got your Health and Life insurance licenses and now you're ready to start selling! But before you can leap into the world of insurance, you need to find a partner who will be there to work with you and support you. Below we'll go through the highlights of what you should look for in a Field Marketing Organization (FMO), also referred to as an Insurance Marketing Organization (IMO) and why you need to partner with one.
An Insurance Marketing Organization is the liaison between you and the insurance carriers you wish to contract with. Unless you decide to become a captive (career) agent with one insurance company, you have to go through an FMO to get contracted with different carriers. By doing so, you have the ability to work with as many carriers as you like and offer your clients an array of insurance products.
There are endless possibilities when it comes to partnering with an FMO, but some important things you want to consider before placing all your contracts with one organization are: longevity in the industry, selection of carriers and products, commission structure, education and training, marketing and sales support, lead generation and finally back office support. It's easy to Google "best FMO" and have a list of agencies come up, but to determine which one will be the best fit for you depends upon several things. And when you're vetting which FMO meets your needs be sure to get answers to the questions below.
Selling insurance products and assisting Americans with their insurance needs can be highly rewarding. After all, everyone needs insurance. And when you partner with an organization that wants you to succeed, you're headed on a path for success. Do your research and be sure you get a good feeling about the organization before committing. The right FMO will fuel you with all the tools and resources you need to have a rewarding and profitable career.
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AuthorCarolyn Portanova is the Director of Marketing at The Brokerage Resource and has been with the firm since 2012. 
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