Medicare Café – $0 Premium Policies & Why it Scares Clients
Medicare Café - $0 Premium Policies & Why it Scares Clients
There is no such thing as a free lunch.
When it comes to people aging into Medicare or current beneficiaries who are looking at Medicare Advantage plans for the first time, they may be leery of a $0 premium (or “free” in their mind) policy.
Many people have heard “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” or “there is no such thing as a free lunch,” which will cause hesitation or even bypass enrollment into a plan even if it is a great fit for them.
How can you work with these clients who may be thinking there is a hidden catch into a Medicare Advantage plan?
Here are two methods:
1. It’s just like their group plan.
Most of your clients will be coming off group plans that were funded in-partial or fully by their employer or group. Medicare Advantage plans work very similarly, except instead of an employer funding the premium, we have Medicare taking over that roll. There is a premium there; it is just up to Medicare to pick up the tab and the insurance carrier to administer all the benefits and claims.
2. It’s not all great.
For the hard skeptics out there, you can talk about the downside of insurance. The perfect policy does not exist, and here are some of the areas to keep in mind. This of course, will vary depending in the plan you are offering.
You can use the cancer benefit (chemotherapy), where the beneficiary would be responsible for 20% of the chemo treatments up to the plan’s maximum-out-of-pocket. This compared to Medicare where the client will still pay 20% however have no maximum out-of-pocket.
There is also the fact these plans are network-based. However, this is just like their group plan that was more than likely based on a PPO or HMO system.
These plans also change annually to yearly reviews would be necessary, but that is where you can highlight having you as their insurance agent and be there for them each year so they can make the most informed decision for their healthcare plans.
If you are finding clients hesitate over a $0 premium, step back and highlight why it has a $0 premium or some of the areas where the plan is weak to help them move forward!
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