Keeping up to date

Presented by Jim Linn Whether you are new to the industry or a veteran, there are areas regarding your licensing and contracting that need to be monitored. 1.     Most insurance licenses are valid for 2-3 years depending on the state.  If you cannot locate your printed copy, you can go to your state’s insurance department website and look yourself up or go to www.nipr.com.  2.     CE credits:  Don’t forget to get your CE credits done in advance of your renewal.  Too many times we get calls from agents that need their CE completed by the end of the week or even the next day.  There are several online options to help complete your CE and typically you can find courses or seminars offered to earn them as well.  3.     Anti-Money Laundering (AML):  Depending on the carrier, it is required anywhere from 1-3 years.  Some carriers offer their own specific AML or require their own training program.  In general, most carriers accept AML training completed through LIMRA.  Keep in mind that they no longer offer a printed certificate of completion so you may need to take a screen shot as proof of completion. 4.     E&O Insurance:  renews annually and is required by most carriers.  If we do not have a current E&O certificate on file, it may hinder your contracting process.  5.     Change of Address:  In most states you have 30 days to notify the insurance department of your change in address.  The easiest way to make this update is by going to www.nipr.com.  You can update multiple states at one time if licensed in several states.  By making sure these areas are up to date, you will not only keep your license in good standing, but also help in expediting any carrier contracting requirements.

Are Commission Eliminations a Trend for Us to be…

Presented by Leonard Berthelsen There has been a lot of talk and many articles in our trade publications about carriers suspending commission payments for open enrollment in the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Is this a trend that the industry needs to pay attention to, or is it affecting just this specific kind of insurance? Interesting to ponder, are you going to lose any sleep over it? I suspect that if you are one of those agents that work in this market, you are concerned about the future. Are they going to expand that to all under 65 major health products, or is it contained in a small amount of the overall business? There are pros and cons with the Affordable Care Act and many differing opinions on it’s success. There is no doubt that many more Americans are insured today than at any other time in our country’s history. Medicaid expansion has added thousands if not millions of additional covered Americans in addition to the newly insured under the ACA. Regardless of which side of the aisle you sit on, these facts can’t be disputed. What does get disputed is what effect it has on the other forms of insurance available to consumers. Most of the carriers participating in the ACA have given dismal reports for the last 2 years on premium collection, insured retention, and overall claims experience. It is not a disputed fact that the majority of carriers are paying more out in claims than what they are collecting in premiums from the open enrollment section of the ACA. How long will that trend continue? Time will certainly tell. These same carriers that are reporting significant losses in the ACA open enrollment are looking for all means to “right the ship”, unfortunately, commissions got caught up in that correction. It appears that this commission suspension is an anomaly at this point and not a concern for panic with regard to the other health related products out there. Should we ignore what is happening to commissions in this group, certainly not. As a prudent business person, we all have to stay sharp to market trends, carrier actions and regulatory concerns. At this point, the carriers need the individual producer as much as the producer needs them. Very few of these carriers have a direct to consumer mentality or a mechanism to take their overall business straight to the consumer. So for the short term, insurance advisors are still needed by the carriers, the consumers and the families they support. If you have sold in this environment and it affected you financially, let the carrier and the regulators know this. The only way that they are going to know what effect this is having on your livelihood is if you speak up. Marketing Long Term Care, Disability Income Protection, Short term care and other individual products may be the solution to the shrinking compensation that the carriers imposed on the ACA. Let’s remain strong in the other individual product lines and demonstrate that our profession is truly needed. Reach out to Financial Brokerage at 800-397-9999 for additional information on this subject.

Have you considered a High-Deductible Medicare Supplement Plan F?

Presented by Tim Dreher Do your healthy senior clients ever express to you their frustration about paying high monthly premiums for their Medicare Supplement policies and then rarely using them? Are they tired of getting “the letter” every year from their insurance company announcing yet another round of rate increases? There is an alternative that you and your clients might want to consider. Maybe you should be talking to those clients about switching to a High-Deductible Medicare Supplement Plan F. If your clients are willing to pay out of pocket for certain health care costs then maybe a high-deductible plan is the answer for them. A high-deductible Medigap plan can help your clients save on premium costs while still getting dependable coverage for their healthcare needs. Premiums for a high-deductible Medicare Supplement Plan F typically run about one third to one fourth of what you would normally pay for a regular Medicare Supplement Plan F. Like any other Medicare Supplement policy, high-deductible plans still have the largest nationwide network of doctors and hospitals because they have the same network as original Medicare. Let’s take a look at how these plans work. A high-deductible Medicare Supplement Plan F pays the same benefits as a regular Medicare Supplement Plan F but only after the policyholder has satisfied a calendar year deductible. For 2016 that deductible amount is $2,180. In other words, the deductible amount represents the annual out-of-pocket expenses that the policyholder must pay before the plan starts paying benefits. Out-of-pocket expenses attributed to this deductible are those Medicare approved expenses that would ordinarily be paid by the policy. It is important to remember that the deductible is only applied to the Medicare Supplement portion. Medicare will still pay approximately 80% of any approved service and the Medicare beneficiary is responsible for the remaining 20%, which is then picked up by the Medicare Supplement policy. For example, one of your Medicare eligible clients has a medical procedure that costs $5,000. Typically, Medicare would cover $4,000 of the bill and the individual’s Medicare Supplement policy would pick up the remaining $1,000. If your client owned a high-deductible plan then he or she would pay the $1,000 out of pocket that would be applied toward the deductible. Once the deductible is met the Plan would pay the same as a regular Plan F. I would imagine that many of your senior clients would be open to the ideas of a high-deductible plan since most are used to paying higher deductibles with their pre-age 65 health plans. A high-deductible Plan F is certainly not for everyone. But for those healthy clients of yours that like the idea of paying a much lower premium and are comfortable knowing that the trade-off would be paying some expenses out-of pocket before the plan begins paying, the High-Deductible Medicare Supplement Plan F might be a great fit.

Short Term Care Might Just Be The Answer You…

Presented by Michelle Daharsh Short Term Care . . . why you and your clients should consider it. If you understand the need for Long Term Care insurance but find the premiums are too expensive, your client can’t make it through underwriting or they are over the age of 79, then a conversation about Short Term Care with that client may be the answer you are looking for. Short Term Care is limited in its scope of coverage but will cover the majority of all nursing home stays at a price that is much more affordable than Long Term Care insurance. Also, the coverage, though short, does provide a degree of protection from the depletion of your client’s assets. Consider some of the benefits: Issue ages: 18-85 Daily Benefits: $20-$300 Benefit periods: 180 or 360 days with a 20 day Elimination period Restoration of Benefits Full Benefits paid for Alzheimer’s Disease and many more Short Term Care coverage is an affordable approach to providing limited coverage towards the high cost of nursing home care for your clients. For more information and pricing on this product, please contact us at Financial Brokerage at 800-397-9999.

Are Your Clients Prepared For Long Term Care?

Presented by Leonard Berthelsen It has been reported in many articles and news features that Americans are just not prepared for the issue of long term care in the later cycle of their life. Are you? Are your clients? By most accounts most of us fall into the unprepared category. Baby boomers have heard for 10 + years that it is coming, and it could happen to them. Did they prepare? Well let’s look at some of the data that may surprise you. Most baby boomers have done a poor job of saving for their eventual retirement. (34% of surveyed baby boomers felt they had saved enough to comfortably retire). In another survey it was revealed that 57% of those reaching age 65 would continue to work in order to live their achieved lifestyle. Not by choice, but by necessity. The American Association for Long Term Care reports that although insurance for long term care services continues to be sold, only about 10% of older Americans have purchased the coverage. Then those same Americans reported that if long term care needs arose, 53% of them would hire a caregiver or move in with a family member. (Provider magazine, April 2016) We are probably not going to achieve critical mass with long term care insurance products without some form of government involvement or mandate. This is a high risk business for most insurance carriers and as we have seen in the past, the risk was too great for many of them, while others significantly scaled back the benefits they offer in order to manage the risk. So it really all comes back to who is going to pay for this. Personal wealth, family, government…your choice! I think most people would want the choices afforded when paying for it themselves. So let’s talk to them about some of the choices. Yes, long term care insurance is an obvious solution but many simply can’t afford the premiums, can’t medically qualify or simply have an issue with long term care specific coverage. Then why are we not talking about the alternatives available? Life Insurance with access to long term care benefits prior to death, Annuities with access to additional dollars for long term care services, Short term care plans and Recovery Care products. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing when it comes to protection for long term care needs. The next client you sit down with, ask if they are prepared for what many Americans are finding out. We are living longer, with developed health issues that make long term care needs almost inevitable. It’s time for us to make sure our clients know all the options available to them. Their financial future and your livelihood depend on it.