- What is a Sales Appointment?Lesson 102:10
- Permission to Contact and Initial ContactLesson 202:55
- Medicare EducationLesson 302:27
- Verifying EligibilityLesson 401:58
- Scope of AppointmentLesson 501:54
- Narrowing Down the OptionsLesson 602:56
- Dive into Specific ProductsLesson 703:26
- Taking the ApplicationLesson 802:26
- Next StepsLesson 900:54
Dive into Specific Products
Once you have identified what plan type fits your client’s preferences, now it is time to dive in and find the specific plan that will fit their needs.
While each plan has some nuance in how you’ll present the content, these general guidelines will help provide a good foundation to build on!
Two of the first items to check are prescriptions and providers.
Regardless of how your client receives their Part D coverage, you should ensure that they are in a plan that covers all their prescriptions for a reasonable cost.
The Drug Cost Estimator on the Ritter Platform is a great tool to securely store your client’s prescription information, as well as compare prescription coverage and costs for Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans!
In addition to covering their prescriptions, your clients may be looking for a plan that allows them to see their preferred providers.
Examples of these providers could be a doctor they’ve seen for years, or even just a top-rated hospital they’d like to have access to.
Once you’ve narrowed down the plans that include their prescriptions in the formulary and give them access to their preferred providers, it’s time to look at plan details.
You may still have multiple options that could be a good fit for your client, so review and compare the following details to find the right fit!
Review costs in the plans including the premium, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses for various services.
Not sure how to compare? The good news is there are great resources you can use to review and compare plan specifics.
For Medicare Supplements you can use the outline of coverage to easily see what’s covered by Medicare, what’s covered by the Medicare Supplement, and what’s covered by the beneficiary.
For Medicare Advantage, you’ll use the summary of benefits for this review.
Tools like Shop & Enroll give agents the ability to review Medicare Advantage plan benefits side-by-side for easy comparison.
As you’re reviewing these benefits, it could be beneficial to ask if your client has any specific health conditions that they’d like more coverage information on.
This could also help you identify if there are any costs they are particularly concerned about, like if they’d need to be admitted to a hospital.
During the plan comparison, you should also review a plan’s star ratings.
Each year, CMS assigns these star ratings to Medicare Advantage and Part D plans based on a review of certain factors like customer service, member experience, and member complaints.
These plans are scored from one to five stars, with five stars indicating excellent performance.
So, if you have multiple plans that cover their prescriptions, have their providers in network, and fit their needs for coverage and costs — then the star rating could be a good tie breaker.
After you’ve walked through this process, you and your client should both understand what plan is the right fit for them.
Now you’re ready to make it official and take the application.
Head over to the next lesson to learn more!
