So you want the government running health care?
Then you need to know something very important. I sell insurance and I sell Medicare Advantage which is HEAVILY monitored and controlled by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services. They determine who I can and can't sell to, how much I get paid and when I get paid, how I ENROLL members into benefits including all sales materials , language and presentation of the material and I AM NOT ALLOWED TO TALK ABOUT ANYTHING OTHER THAN THAT PLAN FOR 48 HOURS EVEN IF THEY WANT TO! They control whether or not the enrollee is accepted and when the coverage begins and what the plans cover. This is a nightmare for everyone especially the enrollees.
In the past 6 months this office has dropped several of my clients, (BY MISTAKE) missed applications and disenrolled one of my clients out of Medicare altogether because they confused her eligibility by trying to assess her benefit account to her first husband instead of her second husband. It took an act of GOD and Social Security and myself 41/2 months to get her coverage back.
They now have, for 13 weeks screwed up all the records for payment for EVERY LICENSED AGENT IN AMERICA and kept us all from getting paid our DUE COMMISSIONS for everyone of our clients and new enrollees. I just spent the last 120 minutes trying to get an answer from someone at CMS and finally gave up and called 2 of my companies to get some information. I got the same answer that they have been e-mailing me for weeks. Below are copies of some of those e-mails from two companies:
Important Update: CMS Error in Release of First Year Commissions
We recently informed you that on April 29, 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the release of the first report that identifies initial Medicare Advantage enrollments (ICEP) and Part D Prescription Drug Plan enrollments (IEP) with a January 1, 2009 effective date. This also included beneficiaries who were previously enrolled in Original Medicare and elected to enroll in a Coventry Health Care Medicare Advantage plan.
In keeping with our commitment to you, our valued brokers and agents, Coventry acted promptly on those files and released commission payments via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) on Monday, May 25, 2009.
However, we have learned from CMS that there were issues with the data files that were provided to us. Because of this news from CMS, Coventry held the mailing of the paper commission checks due to the CMS error. That means that some of you have not yet received any initial year commission payments if you elected to receive commissions by paper checks. For those of you who received an EFT, we may need to make adjustments accordingly, either through charge-backs or further payments.
The extent of the issue is not currently known, nor do we have a timeframe from CMS as to when they will provide further direction. However, once we receive the information, rest assured that we will act in a timely fashion to adjust the payments, to notify you of any charge-backs, and to distribute correct paper checks (to those who do not receive EFTs). We will also share with you updates related to the issue as we receive them.
Update: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Renewal Rate Determination
First and foremost, thank you for your support and patience throughout the CMS initial-year commission process. We recognize the inconvenience that has been caused, along with the critical importance of the timely and accurate payment of commissions. We remain committed to paying commissions appropriately, accurately and as quickly as possible based on the data received from CMS.
Along with the rest of the industry our valued agents in particular, we at UnitedHealthcare have been closely following the updates from CMS regarding initial-year commission payments. Representatives from UnitedHealthcare continue to have dialogue with CMS regarding this information and we will provide updates as they are made available to us. We have processed the data received thus far and have conducted commission adjustments for January 1, February 1 and March 1, 2009 effective dates accordingly. We have the data for enrollments with April and May 1, 2009 effective dates and are processing payments this week/weekend. Going forward, our understanding is that CMS plans to provide the remainder of the reports for January through June effective dates by the end of June. CMS has further stated that beginning in July, reports will be released monthly during the third week of the month.
Most recently, we have been made aware of the CMS interpretation that consumers enrolled in Original Medicare with a stand-alone PDP who are then enrolled in an MA or MAPD plan in 2009 are considered "renewals". On Friday, June 19, 2009, CMS confirmed the following information regarding qualification for initial-year commission payments. CMS stated that the November revisions to the compensation policy indicate that in 2009 there are only two situations in which an initial compensation amount should be paid:
1. When someone is new to Medicare (e.g. an age-in) or
2. When someone enrolls from Original Medicare (i.e. they were not previously enrolled in an MA, Program for All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), cost or Part D plan).
All other enrollments should be paid the renewal amount.
Please note that UnitedHealthcare cannot interpret the data or in any way make judgment calls on which enrollees do or do not qualify as initial enrollees according to CMS. The published reports stand as-is.
Although CMS has not provided an appeal or escalation process for this situation, we are accepting and compiling information from agents and providing it to CMS.
Thank you for your continued support and dedication to our members.
Sincerely,
June 22, 2009
These communications are internal and I could lose my contract for publishing these but you know what? Right is always the thing to do!
If ANYONE thinks Obama and the rest of those bureaucratic SCREW-UPS in Washington are capable of running something 8 times larger then they are as stupid AS THEY ARE INCOMPETENT!
The Conservative Party Principles
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
What did I tell you!
The new Obama care coming soon to a hospital and clinic near you!
"The following is reprinted from the AP"
(Obama planned to tell the American Medical Association's annual meeting in his hometown on Monday that overhaul cannot wait and that bringing down costs is the most important thing he can do to ensure the country's long-term fiscal health, a senior administration official said.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the president's remarks before they were delivered.
The nation's doctors, like many other groups, are divided over the president's proposals to reshape the health care delivery system. The White House anticipates heavy spending to cover the almost 50 million Americans who lack health insurance and has taken steps in recent days to outline just where that money could be found.
For instance, Obama wants to cut federal payments to hospitals by about $200 billion and cut $313 billion from Medicare and Medicaid. He also is proposing a $635 billion "down payment" in tax increases and spending cuts in the health care system.
To an audience of doctors Obama plans to say the United States spends too much on health care and gets too little in return. He says the health industry is crushing businesses and families and is leading to millions of Americans losing coverage, the administration official said.
Obama's turn before the 250,000-physician group in his latest effort to persuade skeptics that his goal to provide health care to all Americans is worth the $1 trillion price tag it is expected to run during its first decade.
The president plans to acknowledge the costs. But he also will tell the doctors it is not acceptable for the nation to leave so many without insurance, the official said.
Unified Republicans and some fiscally conservative Democrats on Capitol Hill have said they are nervous about how the administration plans to pay for Obama's ideas.
The New York Times reported Monday that Obama has been quietly making a case for reducing malpractice lawsuits to help control costs, long a goal of the AMA and Republicans. Obama has not endorsed capping jury awards
Obama has been speaking privately with lawmakers about his ideas and publicly with audiences, such as a town hall style meeting last week in Green Bay, Wis. Obama and his administration officials have blanketed the nation in support of his broad ideas, and Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday said it's up to Congress to pin down the details on how to pay for them.
"They're either going to have to agree with us, come up with an alternative or we're not going to have health care," Biden told NBC's "Meet the Press."
"And we're going to get health care."
In Chicago, the president's remarks are likely to focus on how his ideas might affect the medical profession.
His proposed cuts in federal payments would hit hospitals more directly than doctors, but physicians will be affected by virtually every change that Congress eventually agrees to. Many medical professionals are not yet convinced Obama's overhaul is the best for their care or their pocketbooks.
Broadly, the AMA supports a health care "reform" -- a term that changes its definition based on who is speaking -- although the specifics remain unclear.
In a statement welcoming Obama, AMA president Dr. Nancy Nielsen said the medical profession wants to "reduce unnecessary costs by focusing on quality improvements, such as developing best practices for care and improving medication reconciliation."
She also said doctors need greater protection from malpractice lawsuits and antitrust restrictions.
Many congressional Republicans, insurance groups and others oppose Obama's bid for a government-run health insurance program that would compete with private companies. On Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., described a government plan as a "nonstarter."
"There are a whole lot of other things we can agree to do on a bipartisan basis that will dramatically improve our system," he said.
To that end, lawmakers were considering a possible compromise that involved a cooperative program that would enjoy taxpayer support without direct governmental control. The concessions could be the smoothest way to deliver the bipartisan health care legislation the administration seeks by its self-imposed August deadline, officials said.
"There is no one-size-fits-all idea," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.
"The president has said, 'These are the kinds of goals I'm after: lowering costs, covering all Americans, higher-quality care.' And around those goals, there are lots of ways to get there."
Momentum might be on Obama's side. Aaron Carroll, an Indiana University medical professor who has surveyed doctors' views on U.S. health care delivery, said 59 percent "favor government legislation to establish national health insurance," an increase over a previous poll's finding.
He noted that many doctors are not AMA members, and therefore the association's views should not be overrated.)
Charles Babington, Associated Press Writer
On Monday June 15, 2009, 6:49 am EDT
NOW THE TRUTH!
They are hammering that last point heavily that 59% of doctors are in favor of health care reform but what they are not telling you is that the reform they are in favor of is a complete re-structuring of the fee schedule and to provide for more screening and early diagnosis which is not covered by Medicare or Medicaid. With Medicare you get ONE welcome to Medicare physical and then your annual or semi-annual exams are out of your pocket unless you have additional coverage like a Medigap policy.
Living here in Gainesville we have access to world class health care and Shands alone employs 20,000 people and I have several who are friends and clients and NONE OF THEM have told me that they SUPPORT the Kennedy health care plan. They do agree with one point in this report and that is Tort reform needs to be included in any health care reform legislation.
My foster mother who passed several years ago became a physician at a time in her life when most people are thinking about not working, the cost for her malpractice insurance kept her from practicing medicine as a doctor!
If this regime really wants to affect change let them start with their parasitic brethren that are destroying this countries medical care costs with their pandemic of lawsuits against anyone they perceive to have the financial resources to go after.
If they want to reign in costs stop the bedroom relationship between doctors and drug companies and require doctors to prescribe alternative therapies that are not pharmaceutical but are proven effective in treatment.
I have been involved in health care insurance from the very beginning of my getting my license to sell insurance and investments, I have been a Medicare Supplement and Senior Health care specialist for a reason, IT IS TOO IMPORTANT TO TOO MANY PEOPLE!
60% of all bankruptcies are due to medical costs that were not covered or not covered enough, the exposure to just one catastrophic health concern can wipe out anyone, and Obama wants to add 47.9 million more people to an already over burdened and under funded program. And almost half of these people can afford to pay for their own coverage but refuse to because they would have to sacrifice their lifestyle to do so. So you and I pay for their health care while they buy the new clothes and cars and big screen TVs, they get to go to movies and dine out and continue their lifestyle unaffected. These are the same parasites that YOU NOW ENJOY PAYING THEIR MORTGAGE FOR THEM while they make no adjustment in their standard of living.
This is too important to leave up to Washington to fix, their track record on these matters is horrendous ( Amtrak anyone?) We must all call our representatives and tell them how we feel and what we want them to do, not the other way around, somewhere along the way this countries representation has forgotten who the hell is really in charge, IT IS YOU AND I, NOT THIS REGIME AND THEIR CRONIES!
Keith C. Westbrook
"The following is reprinted from the AP"
(Obama planned to tell the American Medical Association's annual meeting in his hometown on Monday that overhaul cannot wait and that bringing down costs is the most important thing he can do to ensure the country's long-term fiscal health, a senior administration official said.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the president's remarks before they were delivered.
The nation's doctors, like many other groups, are divided over the president's proposals to reshape the health care delivery system. The White House anticipates heavy spending to cover the almost 50 million Americans who lack health insurance and has taken steps in recent days to outline just where that money could be found.
For instance, Obama wants to cut federal payments to hospitals by about $200 billion and cut $313 billion from Medicare and Medicaid. He also is proposing a $635 billion "down payment" in tax increases and spending cuts in the health care system.
To an audience of doctors Obama plans to say the United States spends too much on health care and gets too little in return. He says the health industry is crushing businesses and families and is leading to millions of Americans losing coverage, the administration official said.
Obama's turn before the 250,000-physician group in his latest effort to persuade skeptics that his goal to provide health care to all Americans is worth the $1 trillion price tag it is expected to run during its first decade.
The president plans to acknowledge the costs. But he also will tell the doctors it is not acceptable for the nation to leave so many without insurance, the official said.
Unified Republicans and some fiscally conservative Democrats on Capitol Hill have said they are nervous about how the administration plans to pay for Obama's ideas.
The New York Times reported Monday that Obama has been quietly making a case for reducing malpractice lawsuits to help control costs, long a goal of the AMA and Republicans. Obama has not endorsed capping jury awards
Obama has been speaking privately with lawmakers about his ideas and publicly with audiences, such as a town hall style meeting last week in Green Bay, Wis. Obama and his administration officials have blanketed the nation in support of his broad ideas, and Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday said it's up to Congress to pin down the details on how to pay for them.
"They're either going to have to agree with us, come up with an alternative or we're not going to have health care," Biden told NBC's "Meet the Press."
"And we're going to get health care."
In Chicago, the president's remarks are likely to focus on how his ideas might affect the medical profession.
His proposed cuts in federal payments would hit hospitals more directly than doctors, but physicians will be affected by virtually every change that Congress eventually agrees to. Many medical professionals are not yet convinced Obama's overhaul is the best for their care or their pocketbooks.
Broadly, the AMA supports a health care "reform" -- a term that changes its definition based on who is speaking -- although the specifics remain unclear.
In a statement welcoming Obama, AMA president Dr. Nancy Nielsen said the medical profession wants to "reduce unnecessary costs by focusing on quality improvements, such as developing best practices for care and improving medication reconciliation."
She also said doctors need greater protection from malpractice lawsuits and antitrust restrictions.
Many congressional Republicans, insurance groups and others oppose Obama's bid for a government-run health insurance program that would compete with private companies. On Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., described a government plan as a "nonstarter."
"There are a whole lot of other things we can agree to do on a bipartisan basis that will dramatically improve our system," he said.
To that end, lawmakers were considering a possible compromise that involved a cooperative program that would enjoy taxpayer support without direct governmental control. The concessions could be the smoothest way to deliver the bipartisan health care legislation the administration seeks by its self-imposed August deadline, officials said.
"There is no one-size-fits-all idea," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.
"The president has said, 'These are the kinds of goals I'm after: lowering costs, covering all Americans, higher-quality care.' And around those goals, there are lots of ways to get there."
Momentum might be on Obama's side. Aaron Carroll, an Indiana University medical professor who has surveyed doctors' views on U.S. health care delivery, said 59 percent "favor government legislation to establish national health insurance," an increase over a previous poll's finding.
He noted that many doctors are not AMA members, and therefore the association's views should not be overrated.)
Charles Babington, Associated Press Writer
On Monday June 15, 2009, 6:49 am EDT
NOW THE TRUTH!
They are hammering that last point heavily that 59% of doctors are in favor of health care reform but what they are not telling you is that the reform they are in favor of is a complete re-structuring of the fee schedule and to provide for more screening and early diagnosis which is not covered by Medicare or Medicaid. With Medicare you get ONE welcome to Medicare physical and then your annual or semi-annual exams are out of your pocket unless you have additional coverage like a Medigap policy.
Living here in Gainesville we have access to world class health care and Shands alone employs 20,000 people and I have several who are friends and clients and NONE OF THEM have told me that they SUPPORT the Kennedy health care plan. They do agree with one point in this report and that is Tort reform needs to be included in any health care reform legislation.
My foster mother who passed several years ago became a physician at a time in her life when most people are thinking about not working, the cost for her malpractice insurance kept her from practicing medicine as a doctor!
If this regime really wants to affect change let them start with their parasitic brethren that are destroying this countries medical care costs with their pandemic of lawsuits against anyone they perceive to have the financial resources to go after.
If they want to reign in costs stop the bedroom relationship between doctors and drug companies and require doctors to prescribe alternative therapies that are not pharmaceutical but are proven effective in treatment.
I have been involved in health care insurance from the very beginning of my getting my license to sell insurance and investments, I have been a Medicare Supplement and Senior Health care specialist for a reason, IT IS TOO IMPORTANT TO TOO MANY PEOPLE!
60% of all bankruptcies are due to medical costs that were not covered or not covered enough, the exposure to just one catastrophic health concern can wipe out anyone, and Obama wants to add 47.9 million more people to an already over burdened and under funded program. And almost half of these people can afford to pay for their own coverage but refuse to because they would have to sacrifice their lifestyle to do so. So you and I pay for their health care while they buy the new clothes and cars and big screen TVs, they get to go to movies and dine out and continue their lifestyle unaffected. These are the same parasites that YOU NOW ENJOY PAYING THEIR MORTGAGE FOR THEM while they make no adjustment in their standard of living.
This is too important to leave up to Washington to fix, their track record on these matters is horrendous ( Amtrak anyone?) We must all call our representatives and tell them how we feel and what we want them to do, not the other way around, somewhere along the way this countries representation has forgotten who the hell is really in charge, IT IS YOU AND I, NOT THIS REGIME AND THEIR CRONIES!
Keith C. Westbrook
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