Five Tips to Avoid Medicare Supplement Application Delays

Give your clients the facts and put them at ease This year’s Medicare Advantage Annual Election Period (AEP) and the Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period (MADP) are upon us. Annual enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7. We know you’re busy, so here is a quick reference list to get you through some of the situations you may face when selling Medicare Supplement insurance. The following five scenarios will require additional information at the time of application to avoid processing delays. Coming off a Medicare Advantage Plan because the plan is no longer offered The applicant will need to send
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Categories: Industry News, Medicare Supp./Adv., and Transamerica.

Ameritas PrimeStar℠ Dental Plans Offer Calendar Year Coverage

Ameritas utilizes a calendar year, rather than the plan year, for benefit levels. As 2017 draws to a close, that means more to your clients than ever. If they purchase a plan that’s effective before Jan. 1, 2018, then your clients don’t have to wait 365 days to move up benefit levels. They will begin to enjoy the increased benefits starting Jan. 1, 2018. (Example: Coverage increases from 15% for major services to 50%) This makes the fourth quarter the ideal time to sell Ameritas PrimeStar dental plans. The calendar works in your favor and it’s an easy cross-sell to
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Categories: Ameritas/Security Life and Dental.

AIG Names Lex Baugh as Chief Executive Officer, North America General Insurance

American International Group, Inc. (AIG) announced on Tuesday the appointment of Lex Baugh as Chief Executive Officer, North America General Insurance. In this newly created role, Mr. Baugh will oversee AIG’s U.S. and Canada General Insurance business, with responsibility for the development and execution of a profitable, client-focused strategy. He will report to Peter Zaffino, Chief Executive Officer, General Insurance, as a member of the General Insurance Executive Leadership Team. The appointment is effective immediately. Most recently, Mr. Baugh served as President of Liability and Financial Lines at AIG, overseeing the largest part of the global Commercial portfolio. Prior to
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Categories: Accident Insurance, American General, and Critical Illness.

“Predicted Retirement Wave of Baby-Boomer Nurses Has Hit, AMN Healthcare Survey Shows”

“Predicted Retirement Wave of Baby-Boomer Nurses Has Hit, AMN Healthcare Survey Shows,” PRNewswire “The long-predicted wave of retirements among Baby-Boomer nurses is already underway, new data suggests from the 2017 AMN Healthcare Survey of Registered Nurses released today. This news intensifies the growing crisis of healthcare workforce shortages, forewarned by recent projections from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics that there will be more than 600,000 job openings per year for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations over the next decade. ” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): A downside of anguishing over the oncoming age
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.

“Consider $2M: The Cost of Long Term Care For One Aging Parent”

“Consider $2M: The Cost of Long Term Care For One Aging Parent,” by Carolyn Rosenblatt, Forbes “The Genworth study is a wake-up call that many people ignore, based on the difficulty of facing what no one likes to face: a lot of our body parts wear out over time and dementia can creep up and destroy our ability to manage our lives for good. This is not to suggest that everyone has to buy long term care insurance. That is a complex decision best made with competent professional advice (not from a sales person) and comparison of the numerous products
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.

“CMS overhaul of Medicaid may face legal challenges”

“CMS overhaul of Medicaid may face legal challenges,” by Virgil Dickson, Modern Healthcare “The CMS will approve requests coming in from various states to impose work requirements on Medicaid enrollees, according to CMS Administrator Seema Verma. While only a handful of states have asked for waivers for the requirement, others could follow.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): If CMS will approve waivers to require the able-bodied to work to receive Medicaid, then it’s hopeful waivers to reduce the LTC home equity exemption or close other eligibility loopholes would pass muster too. CMS overhaul
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.

“Humana Finds New Home for LTCI Unit”

“Humana Finds New Home for LTCI Unit,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “Humana Inc. is paying a unit of HC2 Holdings Inc. $203 million to provide a good home for its stand-alone long-term care insurance business. Continental General Insurance Company, an insurance company subsidiary of HC2, is paying Humana $10,000 to acquire the stock of Humana’s KMG America Corp. subsidiary. KMG America is the parent of Kanawha Insurance Company, a company that is providing stand-alone long-term care insurance for about 31,000 people. Humana has been running the Kanawha LTCI business as a ‘closed block’ business, meaning that it continues to administer existing policies but
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Categories: Humana, Industry News, and Long-Term Care.

“Financial Caregiving’ Is Widespread and Expensive”

“‘Financial Caregiving’ Is Widespread and Expensive,” by Emily Zulz, ThinkAdvisor “While many aspects of caregiving have been previously studied, financial caregiving remains largely unexamined. A Merrill Lynch study, conducted in partnership with Age Wave — “The Journey of Caregiving: Honor, Responsibility and Financial Complexity” — finds that 92% of caregivers say they are also financial caregivers, performing at least one aspect of financial caregiving during their caregiving journey. . . . In fact, according to the report, after two years of receiving care, 88% of care recipients are no longer managing their finances independently.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.

Good News | Omaha Medicare Supplement Premium-Saving Features

  More Ways To Keep Money In Your Medicare Clients’ Pockets   Your cilents will appreciate your ability to keep money in their pockets with the premium saving features of Omaha’s Medicare supplement plans: 12% and 7% Household Discounts Your clients can save premium dollars when they are eligible for our household discount. Click for more details or see the Med supp application for state specific eligibility. Plus, High Deductible Plan F and Plan N are both good options for people, especially those coming off Medicare Advantage plans. Click here for more information. Click to Watch Omaha Medicare Supplement Training
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Categories: GoldenCare News, Industry News, Medicare Supp./Adv., and Mutual of Omaha (& Affiliates).

AIG Operations: Service Improvement Plan, Final Update & What’s Next

Service Improvement Plan: Final Update, and What’s Next Earlier this year, we recognized there were challenges with our new business turnaround times and other service issues — and we committed to getting them right for you. While we’ve made great strides, we recognize that we have more work to do. We promised that by September 30 we would meet or exceed standard times for our Service Level Agreement and establish a path to future improvements. Thanks to your support and partnership, we’ve improved turnaround times across the board. We’re also positioned for additional improvements as we continue to add resources,
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Categories: Accident Insurance, American General, and Critical Illness.