February 21st, 2012

UPMC East Not Available To Highmark Members

UPMC East, a new 156 bed facility in Monroeville which is scheduled to open in July 2012, will not be available to Highmark members.  In a statement, Highmark has refused UPMC’s request to sign a one year contract to allow Highmark members to utilize the facility as an in-network provider.

Highmark has taken the position that in the absence of a long term agreement, for which they have been seeking negotiations with UPMC, that it does not make sense to add UPMC East for one year.  While some think that the motivation may be Forbes Regional Hospital, which is owned by West Penn Allegheny Health System, others believe this may be Highmark trying to utilize the new hospital opening to drive UPMC back to the bargaining table for a new comprehensive network agreement.

February 17th, 2012

New Group Vision Product in Pennsylvania

United Concordia has announced a new group vision product, UCVision. UCVision is available to new groups effective for March 1, 2012 effective dates.  Groups currently enrolled with United Concordia Dental will be offered the product as an add-on effective for the May 2012 renewals.

UCVision highlights:

  • Four plans available for groups of 10-50 lives; One plan available to groups of 2-9 lives
  • Consolidated Administrative Task – One contract, one rate, one bill, and one card for both dental and vision.
  • Utilizes the Davis Vision network; Walmart is a participating provider
  • Simplified application process when purchasing dental
  • Customer service available 7 days a week

Here are some of the preliminary documents about the products:

UCVision is not available to Individuals or as a stand-alone group product. If you would like to know more about UCVision, please contact Mary Ann Cannon, Patti DeSimone, or Christine Kaercher at 800-562-7733 or by email at healthdivision@neishloss.com.

February 9th, 2012

UnitedHealthcare Acquisition of XLHealth Completed

UnitedHealthcare has announced that they have completed their acquisition of XLHealth, which is the parent company of Care Improvement Plus, in a statement today.  The original acquisition agreement was completed in November of 2011.  This deal seems to signal that UnitedHealthcare will look to increase its presence in the Chronic Illness SNP market, a segment that they have deemphasized over the past few years.  It will also potentially strengthen their Dual Eligible SNP delivery system, one of the strengths that Care Improvement Plus has displayed over last 3 years.

The full details on this can be read on the Market Watch website.

There has still been no firm plan given to distribution about the integration of the XLHealth broker distribution with UnitedHealthcare’s existing field force.  If this acquisition is handled as recent others have been — Unison, Americhoice, Physician’s Health Choice — agents will need to be contracted with UnitedHealthcare in order to sell.

As a Field Marketing Office (FMO) for both UnitedHealthcare & Care Improvement Plus, Neishloss & Fleming is positioned to assist our agent regardless of which integration plan is selected.  Agents can view contracting or product information for both carriers on their corresponding product pages.

February 8th, 2012

Sell Medico’s STC Product Over The Phone

Similar to Medico’s Medicare Supplement Plan, you can now sell the Short Term Care Plan over the phone.  Imagine making two Medico sales without ever having to leave the office!

Medico is making it easier than ever to write one of the leading Short Term Care Products in the country.  Below you will find the Remote Sales Process (RSP) Checklist for both the Medicare Supplement & Short Term Care products.  These outlines show agents exactly what the requirements are, and how they must to completed to use this fantastic sales method.

Please Note — Only Underwritten Medicare Supplement applications can be submitted through RSP.  Open Enrollment & Guaranteed Issue applications must use the traditional sales process.

February 7th, 2012

Medico To Merge With American Republic

Medico has announced that they are entering into a merger with American Enterprises. Although this deal has just been announced, Medico has released information pertaining to the agreement. You can follow this link to read full details.

February 2nd, 2012

New Materials Available for UPMC Individual Plan

We have just recently received a number of exciting materials for the new Individual Medical products for Western Pennsylvania, UPMC Individual Advantage.  This plan, which is available for sale for March 1 effective dates, is highlighted by some of the following features:

  • Preventive care covered at 100%
  • Varying levels of deductibles and copayments
  • Six underwriting tiers
  • Select routine maintenance medications not subject to deductible on HSA plans (copayment or coinsurance will apply)
  • Behavioral health coverage
  • Maternity coverage
  • Comprehensive network of more than 90 hospitals and 9,800 doctors

The new materials that we’ve received relating to this product are:

January 30th, 2012

Highmark Extends Group Medical Sales Incentive

Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield has announced that they are extending their New-to-Blue Sales Incentive program through June 30, 2012.  This program applies to new, fully-insured New-to-Blue group medical business with effective dates between 2/1/12 and 6/30/12.

Highlights of the program are:

  • Bonus payments that can be earned are attractive
    • 51-99 enrolled contracts = $1500
    • 100+ enrolled contracts = $2500
  • Payments will be sent directly to the actual direct writing producer
  • All business must be written through the existing GA relationship that is in place as of 2/1/12 in order to be eligible for the bonus

Full details on the program can be accessed by reading 2012 - HHIC - New to Blue Sales Incentive Extension (11).

January 27th, 2012

Issue Uncovered With Cigna 1099′s

Cigna has identified an issue with the 1099′s that were generated and mailed to producers for the 2011 Commission Year.  2010 data was inadvertently used to create the 1099′s.  This has resulted in incorrect 1099′s to be generated for 2011 calender year.

Cigna has identified all producers that have received the incorrect 1099′s, and is in the process of creating an email blast for all producers who received an incorrect 1099 and whose email addresses are on file.  Producers will be mailed a letter informing them to disregard the 1099′s previously mailed.  If they did not earn commissions in 2011, they will not be sent a revised copy of the 1099.  Those producers who did earn commissions in 2011 will be receiving a letter in the mail along with a revised 1099.

Most importantly, the issue was identified prior to Cigna sending the IRS the 2011 commissions.  Therefore, the 1099′s that the IRS will receive will have the correct information for all producers for the 2011 calendar year.  They are expecting all revised 1099′s — along with all stuffers and letters — to be mailed or emailed out to producers no later than Monday January 30, 2012.

January 25th, 2012

UnitedHealthcare Releases New Resources for Dual SNP

In the most recent edition of their producer newsletter, Focus News, UnitedHealthcare has provided some outstanding resources to their agents who are working to generate Dual Eligible SNP.  As you know, Dual Eligible’s can enroll into Medicare Advantage & Prescription Drug Plans at any time using a Special Election Period (SEP).  Many agents focus on writing these types of consumers to ensure year-round income from Medicare Advantage sales.

The first item, 2012 - UHC - Tips for Identifying Dual Eligible Consumers (35), is a fantastic tool to assist agents in not only recognizing Dual Eligibles, but also being able to determine what level of Medicaid they may be receiving.  This has always been a tricky item for agents, as many individuals don’t walk around saying to themselves, “I’m a Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB).”  With self-identification being less than ideal, this tool will help agents ask the right questions to ascertain whether someone is eligible for an SNP.

The second item, 2012 - UHC - Dual SNP Field Marketing Resource Guide (26), gives agents a walk-through of all of the tools and resources that are available to help them find and educate prospects for the Dual Eligible SNP.  Included is a guide to the UnitedHealthcare re-branding strategy, instructions on how to login & produce marketing materials on the Agent Toolkit, and a number of outstanding items.

If you haven’t ever written Dual Eligible SNP before, you may want to check out a webinar we did last year on SNP’s and how they work.  You can access that in our Webinar Archive.

January 23rd, 2012

Bonus Available for Group Dental Sales

Don’t forget about the Neishloss & Fleming Group Dental Cash & Gas promotion for 1st Quarter of 2012!  In an effort to reward agents who are consistently promoting the value of Group Dental programs to their clients, our Health Division team wants to pass out some extra incentives.

Quote any Group Dental (United Concordia, UPMC or Health America) with effective dates of 2/1/12 or 3/1/12 and automatically be entered into our drawing for a $50.00 Gas Card.  All quotes must be produced by February 15, 2012.

Sell any Group Dental (United Concordia, UPMC or Health America) with effective dates of 2/1/12 or 3/1/12 and receive a $5.00 per contract bonus – payable directly to you – for each contract in force effective 2/1/12 or 3/1/12.  All sales must be submitted by February 29, 2012.

The drawing for the Gas Card will be held March 1, 2012.  Bonus payments will be released during the March.

Start Quoting Today with our new 2012 - Group Dental Quote Request Form (13).

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