Are you struggling with how to help your clients during a health pandemic, an area completely outside your area of expertise?
As a Medicare BackOffice® partner, you’re in good hands – because we provide you the support you need to help your clients with Medicare health insurance and cost-related questions. Whether you want to help newly unemployed Medicare-eligible clients maintain coverage or to help clients understand recently expanded Medicare coverage due to the COVID-19 crisis, the Licensed Insurance Agents at Medicare BackOffice are here for you. We even have a letter you can send by email or in the mail to show the extra value they get working with you.
So where do you start?
First, it’s important to address – and not ignore – what may be at the forefront of your clients’ minds. Even though your area of expertise might be investments, for example, the scary reality of the novel coronavirus – getting ill and how to pay for treatment – may be dominating the thoughts of clients. Because people age 65 and older are at a greater risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19, this especially may be what some older clients are most worried about.
Even if you do not sell Medicare, you should know the very basics of what Medicare covers in terms of COVID-19, in case your clients express concerns or ask you about it. In a nutshell: testing for COVID-19 is covered under Medicare Part B when it is ordered by a doctor or another health care provider that accepts Medicare and if the test was ordered after Feb. 4, 2020. Medicare also covers all medically necessary hospitalizations, including if your client is diagnosed with COVID-19 and might otherwise have been discharged from the hospital under an inpatient stay, but instead they need to stay in the hospital under quarantine.
If clients express fear about going to the doctor, you can share that telehealth options are available that enable them to speak with a doctor without leaving their homes. Medicare has temporarily expanded its coverage of telehealth services to respond to the current public health emergency. During this time, your clients will be able to receive a specific set of services through telehealth including evaluation and management visits (common office visits), mental health counseling and preventive health screenings without a co-payment if they have Original Medicare. If they have a Medicare Advantage plan, some may offer expanded telehealth benefits. Advise clients to check their plans.
Telemedicine has long been touted as a way to get help quickly instead of waiting days to see a doctor, but COVID-19 is highlighting its many benefits, including avoiding the crowded doctor’s office. While Medicare’s expanded telehealth coverage means some telehealth services are fully covered for now, some of your clients might want to set up a service that makes telehealth easy and affordable now and in the future for other conditions.
Medicare BackOffice now offers a telehealth service that gives clients access to doctors for only $9.95 a month and affordable co-pays. One of the benefits of this service that is not available under Medicare’s expanded COVID-19 telehealth services is its family coverage – Medicare BackOffice’s telehealth service will allow your client to share the service with up to five loved ones.
As a Medicare BackOffice partner, you get access to a customizable email or letter that:
All you have to do is add the date, client name and your name, and send it as an email, or as a letter on your letterhead.
Sending this letter shows that you care for your clients’ well-being and that you have resources that differentiate you from other advisors or agents. It’s one of the many Medicare BackOffice resources that position you as your clients’ go-to person, so they remember your value and refer you to friends and family as their trusted advisor.
If clients express any COVID-19 concerns during a phone call or virtual meeting, you can simply tell them to call Medicare BackOffice at 1.877.385.8083, or refer them by filling out this form with their consent.
Medicare BackOffice is here for you and your clients during the coronavirus crisis.
If you would like to become a Medicare BackOffice partner, register here.
