There are certain questions you should be asking yourself every day, including:

• How can I compliantly reach Medicare beneficiaries during the lock-in period?
• What is my competition doing?
• How can I become more successful?

The answer is that a successful agent is always coming up with new ways to leverage their lead opportunities and generate new business. You may think that you are limited on how you can reach Medicare clients because of the compliance restrictions, but there are many ways to compliantly build your book of business and ultimately earn that steady flow of referrals throughout the year.

​As I sit down to jot my thoughts on some encouraging news relative to individual and family health insurance plans in Pennsylvania, it is not lost on me that most of us who have worked in this segment thought we were long ago left in the dust, just like the customers we serve. However (and yes, here it is... the paradigm shift), with the 2016 relatively modest release of the Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement (QSEHRA) and the 2019 Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA), along with Pennsylvania's move to a State Based Exchange (SBE) for January 1st 2021 enrollments, I think the individual and family health insurance market is worthy of some renewed serious contemplation.

It's hard to believe that we have put another Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP), and decade, to bed. It's now time to focus on 2020. We have had some disruptions sprung on us in the Medicare world (hello, Medicare.gov Plan Finder changes!), but we have been relatively lucky to have been given a head up of changes to come. Below we have outlined the major changes that will be affecting your clients beginning in 2020.

Independent agents and organizations prep for months leading up to the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP). It's a chaotic few short weeks of consumers shopping their rates, carriers advertising their plans for the new year, and agents scrambling to grow their book of business, while most are asking themselves how to make best use of their time. We're here to help you prioritize this AEP.

​We scoured the internet for the best podcasts for people who not only want to be entertained, but also informed. If you don't know what a podcast is, first of all, welcome to 2019. We hope your decades long coma was refreshing. Second, if you want a better concept of what a podcast is, check out this informative graphic that explains (in painstaking detail) what podcasts are and how they work.