What Does 'Ready-to-Sell' Mean for Medicare Agents? Ritter Insurance Marketing

Consider the different scenarios you might encounter — policyholder health statuses, budget issues, coverage preferences, and so on. Aim for a variety of plans so that you can meet these different needs. To sell Medicare plans, you'll also have to complete the process for America's Health Insurance Plans certification. Insurance Professionals of Arizona has been in business since 2008, with over 47 years of combined industry experience.

For each product you plan to sell, you’ll need to make an appointment with that insurance carrier to complete an independent agent agreement or contract. The NIPR provides new licenses and renewals for agents in all 50 states. Its intuitive process helps to minimize paperwork and data entry, so you can get your health insurance license quickly without slowing your business down. The process works for both resident and non-resident licenses. HealthMarkets Insurance Agency is a licensed and certified representative of Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO and PPFS organizations and stand-alone prescription drug plans.

To help you provide the best possible service to your customers, UnitedHealthcare offers contracted agents access to online sales, marketing, training and enrollment tools. First, this analysis does not include administrative overrides and other payments. Further, it does not consider variation based on geography and markets, specific relationships with agencies, contracts with insurance carriers, and in the case of Medigap, the premiums of the products marketed. Working with an independent Medicare insurance agent means you get to choose policy options from different companies.

These leads cost you nothing — you don't have to worry about paying for marketing or other limits on your earning potential. Instead, you can focus entirely on what you do best, and that's selling Medicare insurance. All of medicare agent these certifications, training requirements, and legal protections can make selling Medicare insurance feel overwhelming at first. But don't let them deter you from reaching your end goal — a rewarding and lucrative career.

However, you can get approximately double that — $573— if you write up a new Medicare Advantage plan for someone who hasn't had one before. When you understand the basics of Medicare, you will quickly learn that there isn’t a “one size fits all” plan. AHIP certification usually begins in late June or early July for the following Medicare plan year. Medicare is also a phenomenal way to support your existing customers so they aren’t going to another agent. Consult with a specialist regarding your marketing strategy, design custom marketing pieces, review your website & social media, or find out about business automation. No-pressure recommendations on all plan options, not just one or two.

Below, we review the many benefits of having a Medicare agent licensed in your state. Nectar draws on a variety of marketing methods to identify high-intent Medicare shoppers across several different websites. We then match the right shopper to the right agent based on the shopper's needs and the agent's portfolio. From the first time you connect with a lead through their entire lifecycle as a customer, you can track and record important information to help you better serve them.

This free PDF will help guide you through the many enrollment periods, penalties and Medicare's "alphabet soup" of plans. Medicare brokers frequently sell other types of insurance — home, life, auto, long-term care — which may be of interest to you. Agents and brokers both compare different Medicare plans and combinations of plans to come up with the best options based on price and need. This type of agent can only sell policies from one insurance company.

Ensuring commissions even if beneficiaries stay with their original plans may help prevent unnecessary switching. However, there is also a risk that agents have limited incentive to revisit plan fit or routinely check in with beneficiaries. Policymakers could consider defining a minimum level of service required to earn the renewal or switching commission. However, there is no explicit imperative or financial incentive for agents to behave this way. Agents are not required to disclose that they do not offer all available plans and beneficiaries may not recognize that agents may not present all options available to them. The average Medicare beneficiary has 39 Medicare Advantage plans to choose from in 2022, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

You can easily check if you’re “ready-to-sell” with each of your carriers in the Ritter Platform! Simply log in to the Platform and confirm you’re ready to go by following the instructions here. For example, if you take your certification exam in late June or July 2020, you are likely being certified to sell the 2021 product to eligible seniors during the 2021 annual enrollment period. We support agents in all of their efforts including recruitment, compliance programs, marketing strategy, agent training, and much more.