As a Medicare insurance agent, you have an important role. You need to reach out to clients and make them aware of the enrollment window; educate them on options available; and most importantly, help them feel confident in their decisions.
Good communication is key to successful outcomes. As always, it’s important to start with a game plan. We recommend using a “Medicare Meeting Checklist” to ensure that you cover all the important points with clients. As you develop your checklist, below are a few things to keep in mind.
Don’t Assume Knowledge.
As the agent, you’re the Medicare expert. Don’t assume your clients know everything you do. If they did, they wouldn’t need your help. When using various industry terms, don’t take it for granted that your clients understand what you’re talking about. When in doubt, give a quick explanation.
Here are some terms that you may use regularly but that might elicit blank stares from others:
- Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)
- Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
- Maximum Out of Pocket (MOOP)
- Deductible
- Premium
- Copayment
- Out-of-Network
- Out-of-Pocket
- The Medicare “Donut” Hole
- Formulary
Get to Know Their Priorities.
Even if clients understand the basic terminology, they might have a difficult time foreseeing how the differences between plans will affect them down the road. Help them out by discussing their situation and explaining how aspects of different plans might help or hurt them.
Here are some issues you should discuss:
- Are they happy with their current plan? If so, what do they like about it? If not, what problems are they having?
- What is their monthly budget for medical expenses? Make sure they’re including premiums, prescriptions, doctor’s visits and any other expenses that may arise.
- Are they currently spending more on medical care than they have budgeted? If so, how much more?
- What are they currently spending the most on in terms of medical care? Premiums? Prescriptions? Uncovered treatments?
- Do they ever avoid medical care because of the cost?
- Do they have money set aside for unexpected medical costs, or would an unexpected expense be a burden?
- What’s more important to them: paying as little as possible or having predictable expenses?
- Do they have a favorite doctor they want to make sure they can continue to see?
- Do they need other types of coverage, such as dental, vision or chiropractic care?
- Do they expect their medical needs to change at all during the next year?
As always, PTT is here to help you succeed. Register for our AEP Rock Enroll kickoff event, taking place on October 2 if you haven’t already done so.