“ It ’ s not a surprise after two years of being housebound , seniors have become more comfortable using technology . In many cases , they are ahead of insurers and many independent brokers .”
Jesse Slome
Adding convenience
Face-to-face
To get the perspective of an advisor who does a lot of work in the senior market , I spoke with Chris Eilers , founder and president of Aspire Financial Partners in Sunrise , Florida . Mr . Eilers spoke to the biggest challenge he ’ s been facing . “ The toughest challenge ,” he said , “ has been meeting with seniors since the pandemic began . It has been a challenge to do face-to-face meetings , and trying to use Web-based meetings has been tough too . Because of those issues , I would say I ’ m seeing less interest among clients in senior products .”
Jesse Slome , director of the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance ( https :// www . medicaresupp . org /) pointed to changes related to technology , but he feels it ’ s not so much the clients and prospects who are challenged by tech . “ The biggest transformation we ’ ve seen is the importance of technology as it impacts both buyers and sellers . It ’ s not a surprise that , after two years of being housebound , seniors have become far more familiar and comfortable using technology for the purchase of everything from hard goods to financial and insurance products . I would say that , in many cases they are ahead of insurers and definitely ahead of many independent brokers .”
Tom Yakopin is general agent / owner of West Penn Life & Health and New Era Health Plans , Inc . He has been active in the healthcare and financial services business since 1985 , and his firms serve consumers and agents in 28 states , helping solve problems in the life , health , Medicare , and retirement markets . For Mr . Yakopin , the biggest change he ’ s seeing since the pandemic began is in Medicare Advantage prescription drug ( MAPD ) plans . “ I see MAPD plans adding virtual primary care as an added convenience , which benefits the consumer . I also see where they are making the virtual sales process more acceptable and even preferred ; allowing seniors to adapt well to the new reality .
“ The interest , in my opinion , has remained virtually the same ,” Mr . Yakopin continued , “ as the senior market is driven by specific enrollment periods . I do not believe it is harder for consumers to enroll in plans or benefits . We run a brick-and-mortar office and have done both in-person enrollments along with virtual enrollments successfully all through the pandemic .”
Difference of opinion
There have been concerns expressed throughout the insurance business regarding the challenge of large numbers of policyholders using the benefits of their senior plans . Mr . Yakopin stated , “ I do believe there was a cessation of utilization during the heightened period of the pandemic , which is resulting in a rush to make up missed preventive care .”
Mr . Eilers hasn ’ t seen that increase , but shared a different concern . “ I am not seeing more clients tap into their benefits . What I am seeing is carriers offering below-average support to clients , and carriers that are backlogged with long waits on hold when clients call .”
Mr . Yakopin , however , sees it a little differently . “ I think carriers have made the necessary adjustments for agents in the field to successfully educate consumers overall . The biggest challenge has been helping them embrace virtual sales and enrollment capability for the field .”
Senior market continued on page 22
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