Sourced from USIC email communication on 5/17/23:
Effective June 1, 2023 Union Security will be discounting the USIC Medicare Supplement offering in all states.
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If you have any questions concerning USIC products or contracting please contact your CSM rep.
Sourced from Cigna broker email communication from 5/16/23:
At Cigna Healthcare, we believe that the Primary Care Provider (PCP) and patient relationship is of vital importance to drive better health outcomes and increase customer satisfaction and retention.
For this reason, we are making changes in how payments are earned through our Value Based Enrollment (VBE) digital application program to further promote the PCP and patient relationship and continue to encourage the collection of a customer email address. This change applies to June 1 effectives and beyond.
New VBE payment amounts
Here’s how you can continue to earn up to $50 per approved digital application for new Cigna Healthcare Medicare Advantage (MA) customers:
• Earn $30 for including a valid in-network PCP on the digital application.
• Earn $20 for including a valid customer email address on the digital application.
For more information on this change to our VBE program, please feel free to review our VBE Program Broker FAQ after logging in to Producers’ University.
Benefits of this program change
Capturing a customer’s valid PCP and email address at the time of enrollment gives Cigna Healthcare Medicare important information to provide better care for your customers.
Better care results in higher customer satisfaction and retention rates, as well as higher net promoter scores (NPS). This means you can spend more time selling and growing your business and less time addressing customer concerns.
Important Message
Effective Immediately, UCT is voluntarily suspending the acceptance of new applications for all products due to last quarters filings that showed UCT has dropped below the minimum statutory surplus limit.
Customer service will continue to service existing policies/policy holders/providers. In addition, the processing of claims will not be affected and will continue as usual.
Questions?
Contact your Cornerstone Senior Marketing Team
614-763-2255
Are you looking for a carrier that offers commissionable Part D (PDP) plans?
You are in the right place. Cornerstone Senior Marketing welcomes Clear Spring Health to its family of carriers. See what makes Clear Spring Health a must-have for your Medicare sales portfolio.
Clear Spring PDP
• Medicare Part D plans include an extensive list of generic and brand-name prescription drugs at affordable prices.
• Offers a 5 Tier Formulary that covers over 3,300 medications
• Nearly 30K pharmacies in the preferred network and over 70K retail pharmacies nationwide.
• Drug Pricing Tool – look up any drug to find the current cost at participating pharmacies wthin a 10-mile radius
• Sponsors Prescription Drug Plans in all states except NY.
About Clear Spring Health
• Clear Spring Health is an entrepreneurial, second-generation Medicare insurance company offering consumer focused products and innovative healthcare tools.
• The Company built a platform in a high barrier to entry space, demonstrated explosive growth and presents unique capabilities relative to their Prescription Drug competitors.
• Clear Spring is one of the fastest growing plans in the country and have tripled membership during the most recent Medicare Annual Enrollment Period.
• Clear Spring Health is part of the Group 1001 family of insurance companies with ~60 billion in assets under management.
CMS has made an update to the Definition of Marketing as it relates to Medicare Advantage/PDP. Any content included in a MA/PDP piece (mailer, flyer, television, social media, website, etc.) that a beneficiary can receive/view that includes mention of benefits such as Dental, Vision, Hearing, and cost-savings, will meet the standard definition of marketing. Previously, unless a specific dollar amount was listed, these mentions in a piece would not meet the content standard for marketing and the piece would be considered ‘generic communication’.
Beginning July 10, 2023, any material or activity that is distributed via any means (e.g., mailing, tv., social media, etc.) that mentions any benefit will be considered marketing and must be submitted for review/approval by CMS.
What do I need to do?
Review any client-facing assets in-use/planned to use on/after July 10, 2023, either created in-house, through a third-party vendor, or from the Marketing team at Cornerstone Senior Marketing (mailers, flyers, brochures, ads, web pages, social media, etc.). If any contain benefit information, (ie: mention of dental, vision, hearing, travel, cost-savings, etc. in relation to MA/PDP) and have not already been filed with CMS for review/approval, discontinue use or modify, removing benefit information, on or before July 10, 2023.
Alternately, you may send any such materials to Cornerstone Senior Marketing to submit to CMS for review/approval. Please note the review and approval process may take upwards of 75 days to complete and use of the material on/after July 10, 2023, must be suspended until approval is granted.
Compliance Services from Cornerstone Senior Marketing
Client-facing materials for the Medicare market, specifically those that include information about MA/PDP, can be submitted for a compliance review prior to use, by sending via email to: compliance@cornerstoneseniormarketing.com.
We highly recommend submitting scripts with storyboards for television/video prior to recording or development of these projects to ensure compliance and avoid potential, costly re-work if the content requires changes in order to be compliant.
CMS Official Communication from 5/1/23:
What you need to know:
The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency is to end on May 11, 2023. The ending of the Public Health Emergency may impact an individual’s coverage of COVID-19 tests. We encourage you to know these changes and share the New Consumer Fact Sheet on COVID-19 tests.
Consumer Fact Sheets:
What to tell consumers:
Before May 11, 2023
If you have any type of health insurance, you can get up to eight over-the-counter tests per month with no out-of-pocket costs. Over-the-counter tests are available in most pharmacies and may also be available online for delivery.
After May 11, 2023
Laboratory tests for COVID-19 that are ordered by your provider will still be covered with no out-of-pocket costs for people with Medicare. Over-the-counter tests will still be available, but there may be out-of-pocket costs. Coverage of over-the-counter tests may vary by your insurance type, as described below.
What does this mean for Medicare Beneficiaries?
Generally, Medicare doesn’t cover or pay for over-the counter products. The demonstration that has allowed us to offer coverage for COVID-19 over-the-counter tests at no cost ends on May 11, 2023.
However, if you are enrolled in Medicare Part B, you will continue to have coverage with no out-of-pocket costs for appropriate laboratory-based COVID-19 PCR and antigen tests, when a provider orders them (such as drive-through PCR and antigen testing or testing in a provider’s office).
If you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, you may have more access to tests depending on your benefits. Check with your plan.
What does this mean for people with Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program?
If you have coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, you will have access to COVID-19 over-the-counter and laboratory testing through September 30, 2024. After that date, coverage of testing may vary by state.
What does this mean for people with Private Insurance?
If you have private insurance, coverage will vary depending on your health plan. However, private plans won’t be required by federal law to cover over-the counter and laboratory-based COVID-19 tests after May 11, 2023.
If your insurance chooses to cover COVID-19 testing, they may require cost sharing, prior authorization, or other forms of medical management.
Silverscript Agent Email Notification from 5/8/23:
On Friday May 5, 2023 there was a trend identified of brokers receiving emails in error with the subject “Subject: Your client’s SilverScript application was cancelled.” After researching, the members were still enrolled. 11,704 emails were sent in error.
The email shares the following information:
Please note that the SilverScript enrollment application you submitted on behalf of your client XXXXX XXXXXX has been cancelled. Most likely this occurred because of one of the following reasons:
We suggest that you contact your client to make sure he or she is aware of this cancellation and that they have arranged alternate Part D drug coverage. If your client still wants to enroll in a SilverScript PDP, then please complete a new enrollment application, validate that the client is entitled to Medicare Part D, and that all fields on the application are correct.
Thank you for your efforts.
SilverScript Insurance Company
Unfortunately, this email is an automated notification, which is unable to receive replies. If you have questions, please contact your agency or upline administrator.
The verbiage below was added into the portal and to our Broker Support reply backs regarding the erroneous emails. We wanted to share in case you receive any questions. If a broker has questions regarding their member’s enrollment status, please direct them to broker support. We will verify if they were sent the emails in error and advise on their member’s enrollment status.
Cigna Medicare Advantage Network is Growing in Ohio!
We are constantly working to expand our network to meet the needs of our customers. Some exciting network expansions are happening in your area! Please see below to learn more.
We have recently added the following providers to our network in the Ohio market:
Clinical Social Work
• St Elizabeth Physicians
• Christ Hospital Medical Associates LLC
Orthopedic Surgery
Plastic Surgery
Family, General, and Internal Medicine
As a reminder, you can search Cigna’s online provider directory to view the most up-to-date provider listing in your market. Click here to access the directory.
Questions? Reach out to your Cornerstone Senior Marketing Rep!
Oakstreet Health Agent Update May 2, 2023 2:15 PM:
We are excited to share with you that CVS Health’s acquisition of Oak Street Health is complete and Oak Street is now part of CVS Health. It’s an exciting step forward to advance our mission to rebuild health care as it should be and to provide the highest quality primary care to patients.
Oak Street Health will remain a multi-payor healthcare provider. As always, Oak Street accepts most National and Regional plans, Medicare Beneficiaries with Part B and Disability regardless of age, supplements, and traditional Medicare. Your clients are not required to change their PCP for their first visit with us. As part of CVS Health, we will be an even stronger collaborator to you and your clients as it enables us to increase our investments in growth, quality, and patient experience to drive even better results.
Thank you for your support. We’re excited and confident about the future ahead and look forward to continuing to work with you. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your regular Oak Street Health contact.
Your Friends at Oak Street Health
Based on data compiled information from the NAIC and other sources, CSG Actuarial is reporting total earned premiums in the Medicare Supplement market in 2022 totaled $36.1 billion, a 1.4% increase over 2021.
Report Highlights:
The total Medicare Supplement lives covered in 2022 decreased slightly to 14.3 million. CSG Actuarial believes this decrease was due to increased competitive pressures from Medicare Advantage plans and a decrease in the overall Medicare growth rate due to Covid deaths in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Top 12 Carriers in terms of 2022 Medicare Supplement Premiums:
The 2022 overall Medicare Supplement market loss ratio of 80.4% returned to normal historical levels due to a rebound in utilization of non-Covid medical care the past two years.
Fifteen of the top 20 Medicare Supplement carriers reported a decrease in in-force Medicare Supplement lives in 2022.
*Data Source: National Association of Insurance Commissioners, by permission. The NAIC does not endorse any analysis or conclusions based upon the use of its data.