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You may be in a situation where you no longer wish to remain with your current FMO or upline agency. This could be for a variety of reasons. If you are looking to relocate to a new FMO or agency, it’s important to be aware that cutting ties is not as simple as merely walking away. To make this change, you must request a release before you can move on to your next endeavor. Ready to initiate the process with your FMO or agency? Here’s what you need to do:

Understand Your Current Contracts

Before requesting a release, it’s essential to understand what you’ve agreed to in your current contracts. Whether with an FMO, upline agency, or carrier, terms will be laid out in your agreement regarding what you need to do to secure a release. Understanding your contracts helps you know what is expected of you and what your carrier, upline agency, or FMO has agreed to cover.

Timing Matters

With carriers, you will find that there is an immediate release request as well as a delayed release option. If you request an immediate release but don’t hear back, it may be in your best interest to fill out a delayed release form. If your current FMO responds after initiating a delayed release, you can submit the release letter, which will supersede the requested delayed transfer.

There are certain times during the year when releases are unavailable to be requested. This is typical during AEP since releases can sometimes be a major interruption to your daily responsibilities. During these blackout periods, carriers often want to focus their resources on helping agents with sales and support rather than onboarding and offboarding agents. Many carriers will allow a hierarchy change once every 12 months. If you have questions about a specific carrier, don’t hesitate to contact our Plan Advisors team at info@myplanadvisors.com. 

Consider the Implications

Whatever your reasons for leaving your current carrier, make sure you’re aware of the aftermath for your business. Whether you’re leaving a carrier or your FMO, you may be receiving resources and support that you don’t fully recognize until it’s gone. So be sure you have everything you need to succeed once you’ve moved on to your next venture. 

If you have other agents you’re partnered with, it’s also important to consider your downline. For example, is the release you’re requesting just for yourself or your entire downline? Make sure you have these types of questions answered before submitting a release.

Submit a Request

When filling out your request for release, check to see if your FMO has a form template that you can use. Many carriers have a carrier-specific release form they require (some won’t accept a release on an FMO letter). If not, you can write your own request and submit it to the proper contact(s). Simply make sure your request is direct and to the point.

Rejection is a Possibility

Be aware that depending on the situation, your request may be denied. This is often due to financial reasons. For instance, if an FMO invests thousands of dollars into an agency to help them market themselves, but ultimately that agency never sells any plans, they may not release that agent. There are options for FMOs to make agreements with other FMOs to recoup costs incurred by an agent, but that is less common.

If you need a release from your current carrier, FMO, or upline agency, contact us with any questions at info@myplanadvisors.com. We are here to walk you through the process and ensure you have everything you need to get approved!

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AEP 2022 has come to an end. It’s now time to look ahead for ways we can continue to serve beneficiaries while remaining compliant. As we begin the 2023 Open Enrollment Period, it’s important to discuss what is (and is not) allowable from a marketing perspective. 

Compliant OEP Marketing Initiatives 

  • Engage with Clients – First things first, follow up with your clients to make sure they still have the best plan for their needs! For new enrollees, we encourage brokers to complete 30, 60, and 90-day follow-ups. If your client would prefer to make a change, you can offer to go over enrollment options with them.
  • Market to Aging-In Prospects – Continue your normal marketing efforts toward new and soon-to-be Medicare beneficiaries.
  • Maximize Special Election Opportunities – Whether it’s marketing 5-Star Plans, highlighting Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans, or reaching out to the Dual Eligible community, make the most of these programs that trigger an SEP.
  • Service Beneficiaries Requesting Help – If you are contacted by a beneficiary inquiring about their options, you are free to discuss the OEP with them. You can mail or email marketing materials when they are requested by a beneficiary.

What You Can’t Do During OEP

  • Market the OEP – You cannot advertise the OEP option to beneficiaries.
  • Contact Former Clients – Every now and then, a client slips through the cracks, and you lose them. You cannot use the OEP to win them back.
  • Target Beneficiaries – If you are aware of beneficiaries who enrolled in Medicare Advantage Plans during the AEP, you cannot contact them with the intent of switching them during the OEP.

Just as a quick refresher, if you are contacted by a beneficiary that needs help, here is a list of allowable changes during the Open Enrollment Period:

  • MA or MAPD to another MA or MAPD
  • MA or MAPD to Original Medicare
  • MA or MAPD to Original Medicare with a stand-alone PDP

Beneficiaries are allowed only one change during this period, which lasts from January 1st to March 31st.

As you continue to serve beneficiaries during OEP, don’t forget to utilize MedicareCENTER for accurate, more efficient quoting and enrolling. Are you looking for easy access to this information? Download and print this information to keep handy whenever you need it!

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You may find yourself in the place where you’ve exhausted all of your ideas on how to grow your Book of Business. If all of your ideas only involve printed materials and in-person networking, you may be missing a major opportunity to grow your reach. There are a lot of social media platforms out there that will help you market your business, but if there’s one you should focus on, it’s Facebook.

Facebook Ads are an excellent way to get your name out there and to track engagement with all the analytics you want to see. Here are a few ways that Facebook Ads can help grow your business and a brief explanation of how to set them up.

Robust Analytics

The metrics that Facebook Ads supply can function like a reliable family car or a souped-up sports car. If you just want to see how many people are clicking on your ad and going to your site, you can do that. However, you can also see things like ad impressions, relevance score, geographical location, result rate, frequency, and many more pinpointed statistics to help you see the success of your ad. So even if all of those analytics sound overwhelming, don’t worry. It is completely up to you what metrics you utilize and which ones you ignore.

Target Your Audience

As a Medicare or ACA agent, you have a specific demographic you’re seeking to target with any ads you post. Facebook Ads allow you to target an audience based on age range. This is a huge advantage as it prevents you from spending time filtering when looking through potential leads.

Find New Leads

As of February 2022, Facebook has almost three billion active users. Yes, you read that right. Three billion active users! Posting ads through Facebook is a fantastic way to generate new leads and build trust with beneficiaries, new and old. If you can gear your content toward your preferred audience, Facebook Ads can present a huge opportunity to reach people outside your normal spheres of influence.

A Quick How-to Guide

  1. Create a page for your business
  2. Go to the Ads Center
  3. Create a new ad
  4. Here is where you select all of the information you want to share, select your budget, choose your audience, and attach any relevant media
  5. Once you hit “promote now,” your ad will go through an approval process, then be posted!

It’s a fairly simple process that, once accomplished, can be repeated anytime you wish! 

As always, with any of these tools, Plan Advisors is here to support you with any questions you may have! Our team can help you set up ads and track how they’re performing. We want to be the best FMO for you and your needs as a broker. That’s why, along with helping you use outside tools like Facebook Ads, we also have tools like Medicare Center, our Broker Portal, and other enrollment tools! We are here to serve you as you grow your Book of Business.

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How To: Request a Release

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You may be in a situation where you no longer wish to remain with your current FMO or upline agency. This could be for a variety of reasons. If you […]

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Marketing Dos & Don’ts During Open Enrollment 2023

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AEP 2022 has come to an end. It’s now time to look ahead for ways we can continue to serve beneficiaries while remaining compliant. As we begin the 2023 Open […]

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How Facebook Ads Can Help You Grow Your Business

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