2019 Certifications & Benefit Previews
Find out which carriers are coming soon, and learn more about those available now. Read more.
Register now for the 2019 Medicare Connections Conference
The 2019 Medicare Connections Conference will be held on September 5th at the Hershey Lodge. Register now.
Expand your insurance services to better serve your clients
You worked hard all AEP to make sure that your clients Medicare needs are met. Don’t lose them to another agent who offers products that you don’t. URL has created our Orion Concierge Advisors program to help you retain your clients and you will be compensated for generating the opportunity! See details.
Why URL Should Be Your FMO
As you're gearing up for the Annual Enrollment Period it's time to re-evaluate your relationship with your current Medicare FMO. Watch our video.
Medicare Communications and Marketing Guidelines (MCMG)
The Medicare Communications and Marketing Guidelines (MCMG) interprets and provides guidance on the marketing and communication rules for Medicare Advantage (MA-only, MA-PD) plans (also referred to as “plans”), Medicare Prescription Drug plans (PDP) (also referred to as “Part D sponsors”), and except where otherwise specified, Section 1876 cost plans (also referred to as “plans”) and employer/union-sponsored group MA or Part D plans. Read more.
Highmark Update: Member Education on Recent Court Decision
As you probably know, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently decided to end Highmark’s Medicare Advantage Security Blue HMO and Freedom Blue PPO members’ in-network access to UPMC hospitals in Pittsburgh and Erie at the end of 2018. Read more.
UPMC Court Decision
Today, July 18, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court’s ruling that supported Highmark’s Medicare Advantage Security Blue HMO and Freedom Blue PPO members’ in-network access to UPMC hospitals in Pittsburgh and Erie through 2019. Read more.
New Era 2019 Winter Escape
Escape your Winter blues for some tropical views! Score a trip to set sail to Cozumel this Winter with New Era! Read more.
Mutual of Omaha Med Supp Broker Bonus Program
Mutual of Omaha is continuing the Med Supp Broker Bonus Program… with a few tweaks. Read more.
New Era Life Summer Cash Bonus Contest Has Begun!
New business cash bonus. Read more.
2018 Aetna Hidden Oasis Senior Supplemental Sales Contest | Spring 2019
Experience Hollywood's playground, Palm Springs... Aetna-style. Read more.
Win Big with Lead Concepts
Lead concepts - helping businesses find and retain customers since 1991. Read more.
2018 Cigna Sales Incentive Trip | June 21-25, 2018
Come escape with us to Canada’s “Castle in the Rockies.” We’re welcoming our top producers to the world-famous Fairmont Banff Springs resort. Read more.
2019 Mutual of Omaha Dominican Republic Sales Leader Trip | March 13-18, 2019
You are eligible to earn the Mutual Sales Leaders trip to Dominican Republic based on the business you place with Mutual of Omaha as a Brokerage Producer. Read more.
Aetna | Want to earn some extra dough?
Your Medicare Supplement applications could earn you EXTRA CASH during 2018! Read more.
Highmark 2019 AEP Rollout Meetings
Highmark Senior Markets is hosting five rollout meetings throughout Pennsylvania in August to prepare agents for the upcoming Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP), which runs Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, 2018. Read more.
Dems court conservative firebrand in Medicare drug fight
Democrats pushing to lower drug prices for seniors have found an unusual proponent in the fight: Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows. Read more.
Study: ‘Medicare for all’ projected to cost $32.6 trillion
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for all” plan would boost government health spending by $32.6 trillion over 10 years, requiring historic tax hikes, says a study released Monday by a university-based libertarian policy center. Read more.
CBO underestimates Medicare Part D savings by $4 billion due to oversight lapse
Modern Healthcare reports the Congressional Budget Office initially estimated that the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 would save Medicare $7.7 billion over a decade, but it later discovered “the law’s changes to the drug discount program would actually save $11.8 billion during that timeframe.” The CBO “vowed to ramp up oversight of its cost-estimate process.” Despite the revised estimate showing the change potentially saved Medicare billions of dollars, Republican groups “have launched a grassroots effort to void the Part D changes now that they know the their true financial impact,” arguing the “increased financial burden on drugmakers could reduce the number of products they’ll offer under Part D.” Read more.
Medicare Advantage Is About to Change. Here’s What You Should Know.
Medicare Advantage plans will be allowed to cover adult day care, home modifications and other new benefits. But they may not be available to all enrollees every year. Read more.
Sniffles? Cancer? Under Medicare Plan, Payments for Office Visits Would Be Same for Both
The Trump administration is proposing huge changes in the way Medicare pays doctors for the most common of all medical services, the office visit, offering physicians basically the same amount, regardless of a patient’s condition or the complexity of the services provided. Read more.
CVS-Aetna Deal Could Raise Drug Coverage Costs in Some Places
CVS Health Corp.’s proposed acquisition of insurer Aetna Inc. could attract the attention of the Justice Department because it appears likely to reduce competition in at least some of the Medicare prescription drug plan markets in which the two companies currently compete. Read more.
Medicare Pay Uncertainty Limits Gender Reassignment Surgery
Lack of guidance from the Medicare agency to doctors on how to bill for gender reassignment surgery has created access barriers for transgender beneficiaries who want to undergo the procedure. Read more.
Medicare's diabetes prevention program slows to crawl
Senior officials at CMS are dragging their feet over expanding services for diabetes prevention programs that evidence shows can reduce insurance costs and improve the health of millions of Americans. Read more.
House Democrats form 'Medicare for All' caucus ahead of 2018 midterm elections
At least one-third of House Democrats are formally pushing for the U.S. to adopt a government-funded healthcare system in which all residents of all ages would be covered under Medicare. Read more.
Medicare won't cover all your health care expenses. Here's how to prepare
For all those baby boomers approaching their 65th birthday, it's time to plan for Medicare. Read more.
Medicare Advantage outperforms traditional Medicare for chronically ill, report shows
Patients with certain chronic conditions enrolled in Medicare Advantage -- the managed-care option in Medicare -- experience better health outcomes and similar or lower costs compared to those enrolled in traditional fee-for-service Medicare, according to a new report from Avalere Health. Read more.
CMS proposes change in the drug payment amount under Medicare Part B
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Thursday proposed a change in the payment amount for new drugs under its Part B program, amid the Trump administration’s attempts to tackle escalating prices of drugs. Read more.
Study: Medicare Advantage Cut ER Visits 33% Compared To Fee-For-Service
Seniors enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans had one-third fewer emergency room visits and 23% fewer stays in a hospital than those enrolled in traditional fee-for-service Medicare, a new study by health research firm Avalere Health shows. Read more.
CMS Sends Clear Message to Plans: Stop Hiding Information from Patients
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sent a letter to companies that provide Medicare prescription drug coverage in Part D explaining that so-called “gag clauses” are unacceptable, as part of the Administration-wide “American Patients First” initiative to lower prescription drug costs. Read more.
