{"id":4448,"date":"2022-03-07T15:53:03","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T20:53:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yourcarerep.com\/?p=4448"},"modified":"2022-03-07T15:53:03","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T20:53:03","slug":"dont-get-sucker-punched-by-dishonest-agents-this-oep-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yourcarerep.com\/agent-clone-template\/dont-get-sucker-punched-by-dishonest-agents-this-oep-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Get Sucker Punched by Dishonest Agents this OEP Season"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As we enter the final month of the Open Enrollment Period (OEP), it seems that unscrupulous agents are feeling desperate with their time running out, since it ends on March 31st<\/sup>. If you think now that you have three months since the end of AEP (annual enrollment period), which ended on December 7th<\/sup>, that the calls would end\u2026think again. Not only are they still calling, but they are also becoming more shrewd. So, as I\u2019ve written previously, if anyone calls you that isn\u2019t your agent (for my clients receiving this, that\u2019s me), and the word Medicare crosses their lips \u2014 hang up and block their number.<\/p>\n

One of my future clients and dear friend is scheduled to speak with me in April, when his Initial Enrollment Period (IEP) starts. In the meantime, an untrustworthy agent called him. He accidentally answered, as he avoids calls from people he doesn\u2019t know, and they told him they were calling to help him with his Medicare, since he\u2019s starting his IEP in April. So far, standard call; nothing wrong.<\/p>\n

My friend, let\u2019s call him Doogie for the sake of having a name, tells them, \u201cThank you for calling, but I already have an agent I\u2019m working with.\u201d Now, it\u2019s at this point that an ethical agent would say what I tell people who I speak with when they notify me they are working with an agent.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re working with an agent? I don\u2019t want to step on that relationship. However, please allow me to send you my eBusiness card, in the event your agent moves on or if you\u2019re ever unhappy, you can reach out to me. Have a blessed day!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s not what happened. It went more like this:<\/p>\n

Unethical agent:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWell, do you know that your agent is a captured agent?\u201d<\/p>\n

Doogie:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWhat do you mean by a captured agent?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dirty agent:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cIt means he works for an insurance company and is paid to push only their products.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doogie:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t think so. He told me he was a fiduciary agent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dirtbag agent:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI\u2019m sorry to say he lied to you. Of course he\u2019s going to say that, how else would he get your trust?\u201d<\/p>\n

Doogie:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cHe doesn\u2019t need to gain my trust; he already has it. We are longtime friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lying agent:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThat\u2019s sad that a friend would do that. We can help you by looking at all the companies available to make sure you get the best plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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SIDE NOTE:<\/strong>\u00a0No agent has ALL available plans. There a so many and each one requires training and certification annually because there are changes every year. Therefore, we cherry pick which ones we believe are the best in the areas we serve. By the way, I contract with eight (8). They are:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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  • Aetna<\/li>\n
  • CarePlus<\/li>\n
  • Cigna<\/li>\n
  • Devoted<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    \n
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    • Florida Blue<\/li>\n
    • Humana<\/li>\n
    • UnitedHealthcare<\/li>\n
    • WellCare<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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      Okay, back to the conversation\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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      Doogie:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWell, I am certain he is a fiduciary like you. He told me he represents multiple carriers.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Swindler Agent:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cMany people will tell you that so you use them, but when it comes time to enroll, you will see he will only show you one plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Doogie:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cHow do I know you\u2019re not doing that right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Conniving agent:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWe would NEVER do that; it\u2019s misleading and unethical, which is why I am shocked you want to stay with your friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Doogie:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cNo, he showed me multiple carriers he works with, so I think I will stick with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Stinker agent:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cWell, good luck then\u2026you will need it. Don\u2019t say I didn\u2019t warn you!\u201d<\/p>\n

      So, make sure you avoid calls from anyone who is not your agent or actual insurance company. Remember, if they utter the words Medicare, health insurance or benefits, hang up and block their number. If you engage with them, you can have your plan changed without your consent, or be convinced to change it only to learn it wasn\u2019t in your best interest. After all, anyone who would be willing to use these kinds of tactics can\u2019t be trusted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      As we enter the final month of the Open Enrollment Period (OEP), it seems that unscrupulous agents are feeling desperate with their time running out, since it ends on March […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12737,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yourcarerep.com\/agent-clone-template\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yourcarerep.com\/agent-clone-template\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yourcarerep.com\/agent-clone-template\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yourcarerep.com\/agent-clone-template\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yourcarerep.com\/agent-clone-template\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yourcarerep.com\/agent-clone-template\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yourcarerep.com\/agent-clone-template\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yourcarerep.com\/agent-clone-template\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yourcarerep.com\/agent-clone-template\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yourcarerep.com\/agent-clone-template\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}