As agents we must always stay on top of all the changes in our industry. We are the experts; we never want to make guesses or assumptions that can destroy our own credibility. Making a simple mistake regarding selecting the wrong enrollment period or SEP creates pending applications and even worse jeopardizes the enrollment of the prospect.
medicare
You’re enjoying your morning cup of coffee or tea and watching the market open. Then the health sector falls 4%, the lowest reading since December 2018. Why is this happening? Earnings weren’t released, nor have there been any changes to the current system.
CMS has announced a change in Medicare ID cards that will begin to take effect in April 2018. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 requires CMS to remove Social Security Numbers from all Medicare cards by April 2019. A new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) will replace the SSN-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) on the new Medicare cards for Medicare transactions, such as, billing eligibility status and claim status. The MBI will be confidential and should be protected as Personally Identifiable Information. The biggest reason CMS is implementing this change is to fight medical identity theft for people with Medicare. It will better protect private health care and financial information as well as federal health care benefit and service payments.
Earlier this week I read that our country’s spending on health care has been at historic lows for a third straight year. The conclusion was formed by comparing health spending growth rates to the overall growth of the economy, reasoning that it’s easier to keep up with the costs if the two are aligned, than if health spending surges ahead.
[Read more…] about Healthcare Costs Down. Medicare Advantage Enrollments Up. Correlation?
Lance has spent his entire career in the health care industry, with humble beginnings as a Medicare Sales Intern for Humana in 1999. After completion of the program he immediately began as a sales agent, marketing Humana’s Medicare HMO products in Tampa, FL and earning a President’s Club award in his first year.After moving on to pursue an MBA at the University of South FL, and acting as a business development manager for Morton Plant Hospital, Lance returned to Humana as a sales director for the Kansas City market. Over the next five years, he would become responsible for 14 midwestern states as a Regional Vice President, and ultimately accepted a Vice President role, with national responsibility for all outside sales channels. This included all contracted agents and agencies, strategic alliances, and group Medicare. Most recently he assisted with a start up, helping to build distribution for a new FDA approved medical device for pain relief.
Lance’s role with Bishop Marketing Agency began as a Marketing Director, creating innovative ways to fulfill our mission of helping agents, agencies, and call centers optimize their Medicare health plan distribution, specializing in the Humana family of products. After 3 years in this role, he became Larry’s successor and currently serves in the role of president.
Lance is married to Kisa and has two children, Maya (18) and Milton (15). In his spare time he coaches high school football in Louisville KY.
Thank you for visiting our blog. Our intention is to provide content that offers value to insurance professionals across the country. With the tsunami of opinions and information out there, we plan to organize information into useful, practical subject matter that is beneficial to those in the Medicare health plan business.
As a sales professional, we understand that time is your most precious resource. Countless hours can be wasted on trying to research available Medicare health plan marketing materials, get a question answered about your MAPD/PDP commission statement, champion a Medicare HMO/POS service issue, learn a new process instituted by a Medicare Advantage plan carrier, and the list goes on and on!
If we can help you become just a little more productive everyday, with information that is reliable, accurate, easy to use, and personalized to your market, then your client will have a better experience, you will enjoy greater joy and success in your work, and we will have done our jobs!
I believe we can deliver on this value proposition because Larry and I have invested tens of thousands of hours engaging in Medicare Advantage distribution strategies, plan designs, compliance and regulation, and contracting, training, and service resolution processes. More to come!
