Top Compliance Mistakes in Home Visits for MA Agents
As RBI’s Director of Training and Compliance, I hear all the time from agents that have gotten into compliance trouble. So here’s my shortlist of the biggest compliance mistakes in home visits for Medicare Advantage Agents.
Number 1: Failure to collect the Scope of Appointment before presenting the product.
As odd as this sounds, many agents still struggle with the SOA requirements. The CMS requirement is to obtain scope of appointment at minimum 48 hours prior to the appointment whenever practicable. Many agents still fail to complete one prior to the appointment.
Number 2: Failure to complete a needs analysis.
Many agents view MA sales as an order taking exercise.
- Are your doctors covered?
- Are you drugs covered?
- Is the premium/copay less than what you have now?
While those are good questions to ask, you need to find out what is most important to the member. Find out what services they use most often. Are they worried more about premium or unforeseen costs? Do they plan to travel? If you do this step properly, you will avoid allegations and grievances by vetting them out on the front end.
Number 3: No Cross Sell of Other Products.
I still talk to agents every day that are very wary of cross selling any product during an MA appointment. Cross selling is perfectly fine as long as the products are agreed to on the SOA form. Hospital Indemnity pairs perfectly with MA plans and in many cases can double or more your first year commission on that member. Just remember you can only cross sell health related products. See our blog posts for more info. No Life, burial or annuity sales allowed in the same appointment.
Number 4: Did Not Ask for Referrals
There is a common compliance misconception going around regarding asking for referrals in appointments. In fact, several carriers have been training agents to never ask for a referral in an MA appointment. While soliciting names and phone numbers is prohibited, you can absolutely ask clients to refer their friends and family to you. Many agents leave only one business card and don’t follow up with a letter or even a call after enrollment. Leave at least 5 business cards at every appointment, even if you don’t enroll them and always include a few in any letters you send to your clients. Not only will you get some word-of-mouth marketing, but this ensures that you answer any lingering questions that otherwise may cost you in a disenrollment.
Are you concerned about compliance? RBI is here to help! Our contracted agents get access to our support team, including Rob Bever, Director of Training and Compliance. If you would like to get started today, click here to see a list of carriers. You can also call and speak to the team or Rob directly, at 1-800-997-3107.