- Understanding Medicare Advantage IntroLesson 11:13
- Medicare Advantage BasicsLesson 21:32
- Types of Medicare Advantage PlansLesson 36:23
- Medicare Advantage CostsLesson 43:24
- Enrollment PeriodsLesson 56:57
- Medicare Advantage vs. Medicare SupplementLesson 64:05
- Requirements to Sell Medicare Advantage PlansLesson 72:19
- Next StepsLesson 80:45
Requirements to Sell Medicare Advantage Plans
We’ve talked a lot about how Medicare Advantage plans can benefit your clients, but let’s shift our focus to you.
What do you need to do as a health insurance agent to offer these products?
Well first, you need to be contracted to offer these plans.
Some carriers allow you to contract directly with them, others will require you to contract through a field marketing organization, like Ritter. Regardless of which contracting path you take, at the end of the day, you still need to be contracted.
After your contracting has been processed, there are a few more steps that are required to be considered ready-to-sell or RTS for short.
One of these steps is completing an annual general Medicare training either through AHIP or another accepted provider. Be sure to verify that the carriers you are contracting with accept the general training you choose to prevent having to do extra work. Additionally, you must complete a Fraud, Waste, and Abuse training to cover detection, reporting, and the human and financial costs of these actions.
Finally, most carriers will have specific training modules that must be completed and are based on the current coverage year products.
All three of these steps are required annually, however, in most cases the general Medicare training does not require you to complete the entire training again. You’ll be able to take a shortened review version.
Certification for the next calendar year’s products usually becomes available in mid-June. Some carriers do require that training be completed by a specific date to sell these products during AEP, so your best bet is to complete them as soon as they become available.
This may seem like a lot, but these certifications are in place to make sure you understand Medicare and the products you are selling. You’ll then be able to provide your clients with accurate and up-to-date information, which is in both your clients and your best interest. Once you’re contracted and complete Medicare and carrier product certifications, you’ll be ready to sell Medicare Advantage plans.
