Anthem Commission Change to PDP Enhanced Plans

/in , /by

ANTHEM BROKER ALERT: Commission Change to PDP Enhanced Plans

Anthem announcement as of 9/17/2020: 

Personal Producing Agent (PPA) commission schedules for 2021 Medicare Advantage (MA), Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MAPD) and Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs) were distributed in August 2020. Recent business decisions will result in changes to the previously distributed schedules.

Beginning with policy effective dates of January 1, 2021 and beyond, there will be no base commission paid on new sales or plan changes for PDP Enhanced Plans in all applicable states. All other PDP plans will continue to pay commission as previously communicated. Additionally, we will continue to pay commissions on Enhanced Plans sold prior to January 1, 2021 policy effective dates.

This change is necessary as we continue to make every effort to deliver strong service to our PDP members and prospects. Revised PPA commission schedules will be distributed soon.

We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this has caused and appreciate your continued support.

MediGold’s Network Addition for 2021!

/in , /by

MediGold’s 2021 Network Addition:

 

Effective 1/1/2021, Premier Medical Group will join MediGold’s large network of doctors and hospitals in the Metropolitan Dayton, Ohio areas!

 

MediGold is proud to offer a large network of doctors and hospitals that now includes facilities and specialists.
Also, MediGold has created a Frequently Asked Question document to provide to brokers on how to order sales kits, to logging on the MediGold broker portal.

DOWNLOAD MEDIGOLD FAQ DOCUMENT HERE

Medical Mutual September 2020 Updates

/in , /by

Medicare Updates (Over 65)

  • Be sure to review MMO’s 2021 Medicare Advantage products. They have made several enhancements to current portfolio to meet your clients’ needs. In addition, MMO will be offering a new $0 monthly premium plan in select counties and have expanded the Secure HMO plan into 44 counties. Click here to view our First Looks Medicare Advantage plan overview.
  • Medicare Advantage kits are available for agents who are currently certified. Follow these steps to order:
    • Visit MyBrokerLink and log in.
    • Go to the Order Supplies tab.
  • If you are not currently Medicare Advantage-certified, please follow these steps to access Medical Mutual’s 2021 Medicare Advantage certification training:
    • Visit MyBrokerLink and log in.
    • Go to the Sales & Quoting tab and click Medicare Advantage.
    • Select Training and Certification.
Note: If this is your first time getting certified, you will need to complete the Medicare Advantage addendum.
  • Don’t forget! Medicare Supplement and Medicare Advantage plan members have access to SilverSneakers®. Check out these SilverSneakers fliers and PowerPoint presentation to share with your clients. Included is information on the Tuition Rewards program available to SilverSneakers members.
  • As a reminder, effective July 1, 2020, Medical Mutual is waiving copays for in-network primary care provider (PCP) visits and in-network lab and diagnostic testing performed on the same day as PCP visits for all Medicare Advantage members through Dec. 31, 2020.
  • For Medicare Advantage members wanting to receive acupuncture treatment – MedMutual Advantage members can receive 12 acupuncture sessions for the first 90 days of treatment, with an additional eight sessions if improvement is seen in the member’s condition. A maximum of 20 acupuncture sessions per year will be covered.
  • Effective Jan. 1, 2021, all PCPs, specialists and facilities associated with the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSU) — including Ohio State University Hospital, Ohio State East Hospital, The James Cancer Hospital and The Ohio State University Physicians — will no longer participate in Medical Mutual’s Medicare Advantage network. To communicate this change and provide options for members to find new in-network providers, letters were mailed in August to Medicare Advantage members with recent claims from OSU providers. Those utilizing OSU for PCP-related services also received alternative provider contact information for in-network PCPs.

Lumico’s New Agent Portal Updates: 9/16/20

/in , /by

Lumico is hearing all the agent feedback on the new eApplication…

 

Transparency is an integral part of who Lumico is and are committed to ensuring that they are always transparent with partners, agents and especially our customers.

 

As you may be aware, Lumico’s new e-Application launched this past Monday (9/14) and they have been hearing a lot of feedback directly from the agents. You most likely have also heard the feedback that there have been registration issues, technical flaws in the eApplication and higher than expected call volumes to ou the support line.

 

Lumico has been working diligently to resolve agent issues and  plan to proactively communicate to the agents to ensure they are doing everything that we can to support them through this eApplication migration.

 

As such, Lumico plans to:

  • Send a targeted communication to agents who currently have applications in progress – checking in with these agents in case they are experiencing technical issues in submitting (targeted for 9/17)
  • Send a communication to agents who have either reached out to Lumico or Integrity regarding the new eApplication  – checking in with these agents on how they are doing (targeted for 9/22)

 

If you have any questions please reach out to Michelle Kapp with Cornerstone. 

SureBridge: Reinstating Policies Suspended Due to COVID-19 Premium Relief

/in , /by
 
SureBridge: Reinstating Policies Suspended Due to COVID-19 Premium Relief
SureBridge recently communicated that since March, there were a number of policies suspended in conjunction with State regulated COVID-19 premium relief guidelines that had reached their suspension maturity date and were lapsed the week of August 24th. There is a final group of approximately 2,000 policies that are currently suspended at the request of the customer that will be maturing on September 18, 2020 that will also lapse.

In an effort to allow agents to contact customers to reinstate these policies, they will be sending each impacted agent an email that will outline the reinstatement process and include customer information for any policies that were suspended due to COVID-19 premium relief efforts. SureBridge will allow any policies that were suspended or lapsed as a result of COVID-19 premium relief to be reinstated outside of the normal 45-day guideline through December 31, 2020. These policies fall under two categories:

Policies with a paid-through date less than or equal to 3 months:
If the customer approves reinstatement of the policy using the current payment method, the agent can email a request for reinstatement to ProducerSupport@SureBridgeInsurance.com with the subject line “COVID REINSTATEMENT”. Once received, the necessary premium amount (up to 3 months of premium) will be drafted to bring the policy up-to-date and the policy will be reinstated.

Please note: The agent must receive approval from the customer for the draft and reinstatement of their policy(ies). The agent must also ensure the customer is aware that we will draft their account for up to 3 months of premium to bring the policy to a current paid status.

Policies with a paid-through date greater than 3 months:
The customer must contact Customer Service at (800) 815-8535 to complete an authorization form and discuss repayment options.

Please note: The agent cannot authorize payments or request reinstatements on behalf of the customer. The customer must provide the authorization to complete this type of payment and reinstatement.

Please contact SureBridge Producer Support at (888) 797-4447 if you have any questions.

Aetna Supplemental: NEW Silverscript PDP Options Available for 2021

/in , , /by

Have you seen Aetna’s PDP plans?
This Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP), you have new options to help your clients meet their prescription drug needs.

Cross-selling with Aetna just got easier! They now offer SilverScript prescription drug plan (PDP) as part of Aetna’s Medicare solutions.

 

READ MORE HERE

UnitedHealthcare Renewal Rate Increase for 2021

/in , /by

UHC is excited to announce that starting in 2021, for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans with effective dates of 2020, UnitedHealthcare will pay renewals at the current Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published Fair Market Value (FMV) renewal year commission amount!

Example of how it works:

  • If an agent sold a plan effective in 2020, the renewal amount in 2021 would have been $255.
  • With this change, the agent will instead get $270 as the agent’s renewal rate in 2021 ($22.50/month).
  • For 2021 that is $15 more dollars for each MA plan sold in 2020.
  • State specific rates apply.

What does this mean for agents?

  • For MA plans that became effective in 2020, starting in January 2021, monthly renewal commissions will be paid at the 2021 CMS FMV renewal rate instead of at the renewal rate that was in effect on the date the plan became effective.

Retaining members and paying you competitive renewal rates for your commitment to UHC members is important to UnitedHealthcare.

 

If you have any questions please reach out to your Cornerstone representative. 

Humana No Longer Accepting ASEC Form Effective 9/1/20

/in , , /by

Effective 9/1, Humana can no longer accept an Agent Statement of Enrollment Correction (ASEC) form for corrections to contract/PBP numbers. This is considered a plan change and requires Humana to send a correction to CMS, which we are no longer able to do. Humana must comply with these new guidelines.

  • For plan corrections, a new application must be submitted. In the case that it is after the effective date of the plan, the member will need to submit a new application for a future effective date using a valid election period.
  • We are able to accept ASEC forms for other errors, but not plan corrections.

This change was reflected in the IGNITE Newsletter  sent to partner agents on August 27th.

 

If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to your Cornerstone representative.

IMPORTANT CHANGES COMING: Mutual of Omaha 2021 PDP’S

/in , /by

 

Per Mutual of Omaha press release on September 8, 2020:

Coming Changes in PDP Plan Offerings for 2021

For the 2020 plan year, Mutual of Omaha Rx offers two Prescription Drug Plans – the Value and Plus plans. For
2021, we will continue to offer the Plus plan but will be ceasing the Value plan and introducing a new low premium
plan called Premier.

We are discontinuing the Value plan due to poor claims experience, which would have forced us to increase
premiums significantly in 2021. These premium changes would have made the Value plan uncompetitive.

 

READ FULL PRESS RELEASE

Anthem’s 2021 Virtual Roadshows & AEP Readiness Webinars!

/in , , , /by

REGISTER NOW for one of  ANTHEM’S 2021 VIRTUAL Roadshows and AEP Readiness! 

 

Register via the Anthem Broker Connection website at https://www.anthembrokerconnection.com/home.  (You will need to use Google Chrome web browser)

Note:  All times shown are EST:

 

Register via the Anthem Broker Connection website at https://www.anthembrokerconnection.com/home.  (You will need to use Google Chrome web browser)

 

Scroll under the Google Map, under Upcoming Events and type ‘Anthem’ or ‘OH’ into the Search Line and click Enter: