UCT’s Dental-Vision-Hearing Plan Updated Rates Effective 3/1/2020

UCT will be adjusting their rates effective 3/1/2020 for their DVH plan. Click here to review new rates.

Please note anything effective before 3/1/200 will receive old rates or present ones.

If you have any questions please reach out to our Cornerstone Senior Marketing rep.

Attend Humana’s DSNP Trainings – Schedule Below

DSNP Trainings

Please join Huaman for a deep dive into the dual eligible Medicare/Medicaid Market to learn more about product offerings that can help improve your clients quality of life and grow your Medicare business year round.  For 2020 Humana has Dual-Eligible plans statewide in Ohio with many exciting benefits including a $25 monthly food card in many areas! Each meeting will run roughly an hour.

 

  • Wednesday, 2/19 – Toledo – 10am – Hilton Garden Inn, 6165 Levis Commons Blvd. Perrysburg, OH –Register
  • Tuesday, 2/25 – Cleveland – 10am – Holiday Inn, 6001 Rockside Rd. Independence, OH –Register
  • Wednesday, 2/26 – Columbus – 10am – Humana Office, 485 Metro Place S. 5th Floor, Dublin, OH –Register
  • Thursday, 2/27 – Canton – 10am – Hyatt Place Canton, 5421 Whipple Ave. NW, Canton, OH –Register
  • Tuesday, 3/3 – Cincinnati – 10am- New Humana Office, 3252 Geier Dr. Cincinnati, OH –Register
  • Wednesday, 3/4 – Dayton – 10am – Staybridge Suites, 10110 Landing Way, Miamisburg, OH –Register
  • Thursday, 3/5 – Youngstown – 10am – Fairfield by Marriott, 801 N Canfield Rd. Austintown, OH –Register

 

For more information or questions please reach out to your Cornerstone Senior Marketing rep.

 

SureBridge: Updates on Producer/Agency Emails & DocuSign

SureBridge has some changes that were recently made to their Producer and Agency Welcome emails and DocuSign Account Activation Reminder emails.

Welcome Emails

  • Users will now receive 2 emails:
    • The first email will be the same Welcome email they receive today, with the exception of “Your password will be delivered in a separate email” replaced the Password line.
    • The second email will contain their temporary password.
  • Welcome email will CC the immediate reporting authority and BC the top level agency and Producer Onboarding.
  • Password email will only be sent to the activated user.
  • Welcome email will be sent from NoReply@SurebridgeInsurance.com.

DocuSign Account Activation Reminder Emails

  • Email will no longer CC the immediate reporting authority and BC the top level agency. It will only be sent to the activated user.
  • Reminder email will be sent weekly to any account with the status ‘Activation Sent’.
  • Email will be sent from SureBridge@surebridgeinsurance.com.

 

Mutual of Omaha Updates

|   Life Insurance
iGO e-App Training
New to the iPipeline e-App? Need a refresher on the instant decision process? Take a look at our agent training videos for Living Promise and Term Life Express e-Apps featuring Automated Underwriting – our instant decision process.
Help Clients Understand Their IUL Express Allocation Options
Use our client-approved Indexed Interest Allocation Options flyer to help your clients determine which strategy may work best for them.
Take Advantage of ‘Age Last Birthday’ Underwriting
Don’t make your clients older than they are. With our ‘age last birthday’ underwriting, you’ll help save your clients money and time.
 
|   Medicare Solutions
Prescription Drug Plan Commissions
There has been a delay in PDP Commission and Renewal payments, view the schedule.
New Med Supp Customer eNewsletter
In January Mutual released a new e-Newsletter exclusively for their Medicare supplement policyholders. Learn more.
Spotlight on Dental- Our Product
Our dental insurance may be the answer to your clients healthcare needs.
Rate Release for March 2020
View March 1, 2020 Rate Releases.
Upcoming Rate Adjustment
View upcoming Rate Adjustments.
 
|   Long-Term Care
LTC Commission Timing and No Cash with Application Update
Beginning February 23, 2020, compensation will be paid at the time the first premium payment is received, all PIRs are complete and the case is considered placed. As we implement these changes, there are important dates and details to remember.
Rate Adjustments Effective May 1, 2020
We will be implementing long-term care rate adjustments for Hawaii on May 1, 2020.
 
|   Disability
Save Time with the DI Tele-Application!
Streamline your application process and get paid faster.
 
|   Critical Illness
Walk Through Life Stages with Critical Advantage℠ Products
The Critical Advantage Portfolio has products for multiple stages of your client’s life.

Aetna Med Supp February Updaes

February 2020 Updates:

A few callouts for Aetna Medicare Supplement online quoting and enrollment tool. Here is how it works:

New underwriting process and application tracker

Aetna’s underwriting process will give you faster decisions for underwritten Aetna Medicare Supplement applications. Aetna has not altered their underwriting philosophy in any way. Most applications will have a decision within a few minutes. This exciting change also comes with an updated online application tracker, to give you clearer visibility to those decisions.

Changes: Point-of-sale telephone interview and voice signature option

To help make the underwriting process even easier for you, Aetna will no longer require or offer a point-of-sale telephone interview as of October 1, 2019. We’ll also be discontinuing the voice signature option.

  • If any point-of-sale interviews are still pending after October 1, the phone line will still be available to use until those interviews are complete.
  • Instead of a voice signature, you’ll continue to have 3 easy signature options for your electronic applications: security question signature, in person signature, email signature.

Our new underwriting process

Once Aetna receives your Medicare Supplement electronic application, they will provide one of the following underwriting decisions within a few minutes:

  • Approved
  • Needs further review
  • Declined

Aetna will also provide decisions on your paper applications once they have verified all required information has been included with the submission. This review may delay how soon the decision is displayed on the website.

    • Approved applications will be processed as normal.
    • If an application needs further review, the application will be reviewed by our underwriting staff.  And if necessary, our associates will call your client with targeted questions for clarification. This new telephone interview process will be easier for your client, as we will not need to review all health questions.
    • If an application is declined, we’ll send the applicant (and you) a letter with details about how to get a copy of the information used to help with the underwriting decision. The application tracker on the agent website will show if an application is declined. A copy of the letter will be accessible within 24 hours.

Aetna Med Supp MACRA 2020 has been a huge success thanks to you! They have launched their MACRA 2.0 strategy in 16 states.

August launches for MACRA 2020 – SC, IL, LA, AZ and TN

July launches – AL, GA, IA, MI and MS

September launch – FL and DE

October launches – OH, NC, KS and PA

What does all this mean? Aetna’s plan F rates will be on average within $15-$20 a month of our plan G rates and our plan F rates have been lowered.

Why is Aetna putting out rates that are so competitive on plan F? There are tens of millions reasons why.  After 1/1/20 anyone on a Medicare Supplement currently or Medicare eligible by 12/31/19 will still be able to purchase plan C, F and HIF after 1/1/20.

These clients that would like to receive a very competitive plan F rate with us will need to go through underwriting so this with be a very healthy group of insureds which can mean lower rate increases.

 

REMINDERS:

  • AETNA MED SUPP has a new agent services phone number: 866-272-6630
  • Clients can now purchase just the Cancer or just the Heart Attack and stroke benefit separately.
    • Also added a recurrence benefit and changed the look back period from 10 years to 5 years.
  • Aetna now has the ability to refund premiums directly into your clients accounts via EFT. No longer will it take 10-4 days to receive a refund.

 

If you have any questions please contact your Cornerstone Senior Marketing rep.

 

 

 

Anthem Ohio Feb. Updates & Reminders

Agent of Record (AOR) Important Reminder:

  • Agent of Record (AOR) changes will not be accepted via a form letter or typed letter. Members requesting an AOR change must send a signed, hand-written letter to Anthem Inc., either by mail, fax or email attachment.  This process applies to Medicare Supplement, Anthem Extras and Medicare Advantage policies, including Part D.The letter must include:The letter must include:
  1. The letter must include:
    1. The member’s name and policy number,
    2. The name and encrypted tax ID or agent ID of the new Agent of Record, and
    3. Must include a signature date indicated in the letter.
  2. Anthem reserves the right to contact the member in order to validate all Agent of Record changes. The AOR request may be denied due to lack of confirmation.
  3. For like-to-like plan changes, such as a change from a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan to a different MA Plan, Anthem will maintain the original Agent of Record associated with the new policy, even when a new agent submits the new application.
  4. An exception to item #3 will be made if a member specifically requests a new AOR by submitting a signed Agent of Record letter to Anthem requesting the AOR be changed. Once Anthem confirms the request from the member, the AOR change request will be honored. Remember, form letters will not be accepted.
  5. For unlike plan changes, such as a member choosing to move from a Prescription Drug Plan to an MA plan or an MA plan to a Medicare Supplement plan, the Agent of Record as indicated on the new application will be assigned as the Agent of Record for the member.

View Full AOR Article Here

 

Provider Network Updates:

  • Agreements have been reached with no lapse in network status for the following providers:
    • Emergency Medicine Phys of Cincinnati – ER group at Mercy facilities in Cincinnati
    • Emergency Medicine Phys of Cuyahoga County – ER group at Summa Health facilities
    • Memorial Health System Marietta

 

Blue View Vision Network Change Effective February 1:

  • National optical retail stores Sears Optical, JCPenney Optical and Stanton Optical will no longer be in our Blue View VisionSM eye care plan network beginning February 1, 2020. Clients with Blue View Vision still have access to more than 37,000 eye doctors at more than 25,000 locations nationwide. That includes local independent eye doctors, regional optical stores and national brand stores – Glasses.com, ContactsDirect, 1-800 CONTACTS, LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Target Optical, Eyemart Express and America’s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses. We’ll continue to add new providers to our vision plans throughout the year.

Medicare Supplement 6 Month Rate Guarantee:

  • In several states, Medicare Supplement premiums will not change as a result of their birthday or state approved premium changes for a minimum of six months. View flyer here.
    • The premium guarantee is available to all new enrollments with policy effective dates of 01/01/2020.

View the updated Medicare Supplement Quick Reference Guide

 

2020 Medicare 101 presentations are NOW available:

  • Educational events and one-on-one presentations are a great way to interact and build relationships with prospective members. This presentation showcases your role as a Medicare Expert and provides an easy-to-understand explanation of Medicare. The presentation is concise, compliance-approved, customizable and ideal for those events where your audience is new to Medicare.
  • The updated 2020 Medicare 101 Presentations are available in the Sales Toolkit. Just look in the MA/MAPD or Med Supp sections in the Presentation folder.
  • The presentation can be personalized (slide 35) with your contact information.
  • NOTE: Slide 1 of the presentation includes notes that are required by compliance to be mentioned during the presentation. Be sure to delete the slide before your presentation.

 

Anthem YouTube:

  • Anthem has two new short recordings for our “Anthem” YouTube site:
    • The link: (https://youtu.be/ypPgkjAgXo0)  will link to a 10 minute recorded review of basics of Understanding Low Income Subsidy. It helps to explain the difference between Low Income Subsidy (LIS) and Low Income Cost Sharing (LICS).
    • The link: (https://youtu.be/u_BOlokFo7w) reviews some of the advantages found in many of our plans as a result of our commitment to the Social Determinates of Health benefits program. It lasts approximately 14 minutes

Medical Mutual of Ohio February Updates

Medical Mutual of Ohio has provided some February updates and info for our brokers. Please see below:

  • SilverSneakers recently updated their College Save program; the new program is called SAGE Scholars Tuition Rewards. Members will be required to create new accounts for this program, however, all previously earned points will carry over. For more details about the program update, click here.
  • Effective Feb. 1, 2020, the EyeMed network will no longer include Sears Optical, JCPenney and Stanton Optical. All Medicare Advantage members and Medicare Supplement members enrolled in the MedMutual Supplement Plus product are impacted. To review a list of alternative EyeMed provider locations, click here.
  • We mailed out all Medicare Advantage Member Kits to new and existing members on Jan. 20, 2020. All Member Kit brochures include personalized benefit information based on the member’s plan type. To view the kit, click here.
  • Medicare Advantage members and Medicare Supplement members with Supplement Plus coverage received an email notification about the new SuperDental network. This email was sent in error. The dental network for Medicare members is not changing in 2020 and remains the DenteMax network. We sent an apology email to the impacted members.

 

If you have any questions reach out to your Cornerstone Senior Marketing rep.

UHC Dual Product Training

CSM Cleveland Office – February 21st, 10am – 12Pm  

Take advantage and learn more about dual product opportunities to target new clients.  

Information will include:

  • UHC Dual Product, What’s the benefit advantage as compared to MyCare Ohio?
  • Where and how to prospect for Dual Eligibles
  • Understanding steps regarding the “Opt-Out” passive enrollment process
  • Open discussion.

 

REGISTER:  mailto:danielle.flesch@cornerstoneseniormarketing.com

LifeStation medical Alert System Benefit

Clarification: To start using the LifeStation medical alert system benefit, members should call Member Services

Members with the Aetna Medicare Plus Plan (HMO) in Southern California have a benefit that allows them to get a LifeStation medical alert system at no charge. This benefit is available in the following counties: Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego.

To start using this benefit, members should call the Aetna Member Services Department by dialing the number on their Aetna member ID card. 

Please note: During recent 2020 product trainings, we told you that members should call LifeStation directly to activate this benefit. However, this was incorrect. Please help educate members that they need to call the Aetna Member Services instead.

 

What steps do members have to take to use the LifeStation benefit?

  1. To get the LifeStation equipment, a member must call the Aetna Member Services. Members will then be transferred into the Care Management Engagement Hub to go through the eligibility process.
  2. Eligible members will be connected to a Lifestation representative to order the device and finalize the process.
  3. Members will receive the equipment by mail.

 

2020 WellCare Updates for Aetna Legacy Book of Business

Sales Commission and Book of Business Updates for Aetna Legacy Membership:

  • WellCare was not responsible for paying out all renewals and commissions through the end of 2019.
  • WellCare has received the complete legacy membership file, including which agents/agencies are associated with each member, and will begin paying sales compensation for all legacy members who are still active and have not changed their plan.
  • Commissions for this membership will be paid out on January 31st, 2020. Due to your current commission assignment, you will not receive payment or a statement directly. If you have any questions regarding these legacy payments, please reach out to your commission assignee.
  • These legacy members will not be visible in the book of business within the Agent Connect portal. However, this information will be listed on your commission assignee’s commission statement. Please reach out to your assignee with membership related questions.
  • We recognize this is an inconvenience. We are working to correct our system limitations to provide this information in the future.

Premium Withholding Options:

Legacy members who utilized premium withholding option (PWO), Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) have been signed-up for direct pay with WellCare and were mailed coupon books in December. If these members would like to sign up for EFT, please advise them of the following:

  • The fastest, most effective method for EFT sign-up is via the EFT election option on the member portal.
  • Alternatively, a copy of the EFT form can be returned to WellCare by mail
  • The form can be downloaded by clicking here WellCare EFT Form.

Members can call Customer Service (833) 207-4241 for assistance with:

  • Requesting a copy of the EFT form to be mailed to the member that must be returned to WellCare by mail
  • Assistance in utilizing the online member portal to complete their EFT election

Legacy members whose premiums were deducted from their Social Security (SSA) or Railroad Retirement (RRB) checks, will continue to be deducted for WellCare plans. There is no action needed by these members.

Thank you for your continued partnership!