It’s a Friday before Labor Day, just brewed some coffee and I’m trying to decide what changes to make to my Medicare Solutions page of this website. I like to make the page an easy place to shop for health insurance and see all your options.
What’s new for the open enrollment period this fall is CMS (Center for Medicare Services) is requiring us to record our sales calls. What’s a sales call? Any phone discussion that results in a sale. Rather than try to decide when to record, we’ve set up call recording on all calls and then go back later and download the calls we believe will be examined later by CMS or an insurance carrier doing an audit.
I have always enjoyed working with prospective clients and clients and the rapport that we create. I wish we didn’t have to have the cloud of recording hover over the conversation, but you have to follow the rules. I’m a worrier by nature, always wanting to do what’s best for the customer, but this will probably be fine. If you don’t want to be recorded, we’ll happily and cheerfully set up a time for you to come in or a zoom-ish call (that seems to be outside the rule, so far).
Secondly, Medicare requires that we give this disclaimer on our website, in email and on the phone:
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.
I contract with every company I can, and what makes sense for my customers. Sometimes there’s a low cost plan with great coverage, I’ll add that horse to the stable if I can. Some carriers don’t sell their products through agents, so I can’t offer every plan.
What that statement does is direct Medicare people to Medicare, not a bad idea as there’s lots of helpful information there. But if I had a nickel for everytime someone went there to sign up for plans and all of a sudden got routed somewhere to some questionable salespeople that kept calling them.
You won’t get that here! We’re looking out for YOU.
I haven’t posted like this on my website, but it’s a great way to drop some quick thoughts, so stop here often and you might just hear something interesting!
Enjoy the last official weekend of summer!!