Why Should I Work with a Medicare Agent?

By planmedicare1 - April 14, 2021

The benefits of working with a Medicare agent

Working with a Medicare agent is enormously beneficial to individuals turning 65 or those who are newly Medicare eligible. They act as an unbiased third party, helping you navigate the confusing Medicare landscape, with only your best interest in mind. How is it possible that Medicare agents are truly unbiased? Because agents get paid from the insurance carriers directly, not from individual clients.

In addition, Medicare agents are licensed with many different carriers and can help find clients the best possible plan with the most extensive coverage at the lowest cost. They are able to “shop” the plan options around at the local level to find the best Medicare Supplement, Medicare Advantage and Prescription drug plan.

Most importantly, the team of agents at Plan Medicare are here for you 24/7. We have a direct, local number that you can call, where one of our agents picks up the phone and can answer your questions directly. Unlike calling a 1800 number, and waiting on hold for hours, our team can get you help quickly.

Plan Medicare has local Medicare offices in Manhattan New York and Long Island New York and our agents are available for in person meeting Monday-Saturdays and virtual meetings over zoom 7 days a week. The benefit of working with a local agent, either in person or over the phone, is because they are experts in the region and have knowledge about pricing and plans specific to your area of residence.

Do I pay a fee for the help of a Medicare Insurance Agent like Plan Medicare?

No, there is no additional cost to using a Medicare agent.  The price you pay for your insurance is exactly the same whether you buy it direct or through a Medicare agent.

How are Medicare agents paid?

Medicare agents work for themselves. Similar to a travel agent, they are experts in the field of Medicare. They have information and access to many insurance carriers and can look at the whole Medicare landscape, instead of just one specific carrier.  When you pay your monthly premium to the insurance company, you do not pay any extra to your Medicare agent. The Medicare agent is paid by the insurance carrier (typically a standard rate across all companies), so there is no incentive for them to sell you any specific plan.

If you decide to enroll directly through the insurance company, the company will keep the commission and you lose all of the free, extra services that an agency partner like Plan Medicare will provide. The bottom line is when you go direct, you pay the same and get much less value.

How much does an insurance agent make?

The commission a Medicare agent makes, depends on the plan type and the state in which the policy is sold.  A Medicare insurance agent may have different commission levels with different insurance companies as well, depending on how many clients they have with any given company. An agency like Plan Medicare, has hundreds of clients enrolled at many different companies and therefore has no allegiance to any specific one. We look to enroll clients’ in the best possible plan at the local level.

How do I know that you aren’t just offering me a plan that pays the largest commission?

We get this question a lot. And it’s because it’s a good one, especially in the healthcare industry, individuals are dubious and the lack of transparency is real.

Our agents are open with our clients. We will always recommend the best possible plan for an individual because we fully believe that a client who is happy with their insurance plan will stay on the plan longer, and refer their friends and family to our agency. Referrals are a huge part of our business and we take our reputation very seriously. Also, look at our data! 78% of our clients as of 2021, are enrolled in plans that pay a lower agent commission. We would never stay in business if we went for making more money. Our Medicare agents are trained to do the right thing and knowing that the money will follow after.

If our team were to quote you a policy that costs you more per month because of a small commission difference for us, then we risk losing your business to another broker who quotes you the cheaper policy. Then there is no commission at all, so that wouldn’t be a wise business decision.

Also, many of our agents who work on the front line helping people like you with a policy, do not know what the agency’s commissions are for one carrier over another. So there is no option to be bias up front.

Though there are many carriers for Medicare SupplementMedicare Advantage and Medicare Part D plans, we carefully vet each new carrier that we decide to do business with before deciding to offer it to clients. We will not work with insurance companies that do not have good customer service, and make it difficult for agents to do right by their clients. We don’t go for only big names, we look at smaller players as well that may be more competitive in certain markets nationally. We also look to company’s who value Medicare agents, and see the benefits of working with us, because we find they tend to offer better service to us and therefore allow us to better service our clients.

Get help from a New York Based Medicare Insurance Agent

The insurance agents at Plan Medicare work full-time on Medicare-related insurance products and solutions. We are Medicare obsessed! This means we do not try to upsell or cross sell other insurance products. We are laser-focused on being the top Medicare educators and agents in the New York and Tri-State area. Because of this, we feel confident that our staff members are among the most well-educated Medicare insurance brokers around. All of our Medicare agents take their expertise seriously, we take annual courses and attend seminars to keep up to date on all of the latest information at both the local and national level.

The bottom line is, we make Medicare easy! We walk you through the entire education and enrollment process and will make transitioning onto Medicare smooth and simple.

Best of all – we charge NOTHING  for our services. Plan Medicare is 100% free to clients.

Request help with Medicare today by calling us directly 516-900-7877 or filling out this simple form.

Be confident knowing you are in the best possible hands.  Talk to one of our independent Medicare advisors today.

Speak to a Licensed Advisor in Medicare today

Book an Appointment Call: 516-900-7877