Ok, this is sort of a big announcement: we are now licensed in the state of California.
I decided to make a whole video about licensing and expansion and business philosophy because the addition of California is 100% due to our YouTube channel.
Stick with me and I’ll give you some behind the scenes Medicare plan broker secrets in this video.
Confused about your Medicare coverage options? Watch our free video: How to Find the Best Medicare Coverage Without Paying More Than You Need To…
Thank You!
First, I want to thank you. Thank you for watching. Thank you for asking questions. Thank you for providing feedback. Thank you for calling. And thank you for becoming clients.
I started this channel about a year ago to try to communicate clear answers to common Medicare questions. There’s so much incorrect information about Medicare floating around. And it’s not just irritating. It costs people money. It costs people time. It gives them stress. It’s awful.
The goal here is always to provide information that is correct and unbiased so you can look at your options objectively and find the Medicare coverage solution that fits you best.
Medicare Plan Sales Philosophy
There’s never a reason for high pressure sales tactics or sales quotas with Medicare plans. If you work hard and are honest in this business, you will make a decent living.
If you talk people into buying a bunch of insurance products they don’t need just to get more commissions for yourself, you might make money for a little while, but in the long run, clients will figure out you aren’t acting in their best interest, and you probably won’t have lasting success.
Licensing
Insurance producers have to be licensed in individual states. There are fees and rules and paperwork for each state. Here are the states we currently serve: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
Are those all in the Midwest?
No, they are not.
I’ll explain the geography.
Company History
To do that, here’s a little company history. Benefit Consultants – Midwest has been operating since 1976. I have not. I’ve been a licensed insurance producer for about 17 years.
The company started in the northern Midwest.
If you’ve been to the northern Midwest in say, February, it’s cold. It’s not uncommon for clients to move to warmer states. So as clients relocate, more state licenses are added.
Why not all 50 states?
There are a few reasons.
- Some states are easier to work with than others. That is true for humans living in those states and for insurance producers. We have to decide on a state by state basis whether the bureaucracy is something we want to deal with or not.
- Every state has different laws about some Medicare plans. The goal is to always give you accurate, unbiased information. Adding states one at a time allows time for studying the laws, regulations, and insurance companies in that state. Every state has a different combination of Medicare insurance companies and plans available. The plans available even vary from zip code to zip code within the same state. There are so many local variations that if you don’t do your homework, you could give clients bad information.
- There’s a little bit of a financial aspect to this too. Every state charges a licensing fee. Some are very cheap, and some are expensive. Also, some marketing platforms charge fees for each state where you want to market Medicare plans, so unless there’s a compelling reason, we don’t add a state.
- Ok, here’s a secret: Medicare plan brokers don’t need clients in every state. There are so many people on Medicare or soon to be on Medicare that plenty of brokers have very successful careers with clients in just a few, or even just one, state.
We Can Help You
If you don’t live in one of our 11 licensed states, we will still answer your questions. Many people in the past year have called from states where we don’t have licenses, and that’s ok.
We can answer your questions. We just can’t enroll you in a plan.
So keep calling. Keep commenting. Keep sending messages. We’re happy to help. And just like California, if we start getting a large enough volume of calls from your state, we might add it.
I love this business because it’s not a sales job. If I had to sell something, I would have quit long ago.
Medicare plans are in almost everyone’s best interest. The question is which type of plan and which particular plan from which company is the best choice for you.
That doesn’t require the ability to sell something. That requires the ability to explain something. If you educate people about how Medicare works and what their choices are, all you have to do is put the best choices among the available plans in front of people, and they get to choose. It’s great!
Because we contract with so many companies, I don’t care if today someone enrolls in a plan from Company A and tomorrow someone enrolls in a plan from Company Z. The commissions are all about the same, so what’s in your best interest is in our best interest.
Education instead of selling is why Benefit Consultants – Midwest has been around for over 45 years. Our clients know we’re trustworthy, so they send their family members and friends to us.
As always, if you have any Medicare questions, please feel free to give our office a call at 877-312-1414 or schedule a free, no obligation Medicare Plan Consultation.
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