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Avoiding the “Managed Care Ripple Effect”

[By Dr. David Edward Marcinko; MBA, CMP™]

The healthcare industrial complex represents a large and diverse industry, and the livelihood of other synergistic professionals who advise doctors depend on it as well. These include insurance agents who themselves wish to avoid the collateral ripple effects of the current healthcare debacle.

The Name Game

As a registered health underwriter, insurance counselor, long term care or life insurance agent, it seems that almost every insurance agent is also acquiring a general securities license, or CFP®, in addition to the CLU or ChFC after their name.

The Transition

Currently, about 240,000 life insurance agents, down from more than one million in 1965, are being pressured to move toward financial planning, as distribution of insurance products over the Internet spreads like wildfire.

Meanwhile, the same insurance and investment companies that are knocking on your door are also courting the medical professionals with their practice enhancement programs.  Even if you are not interested in going into the financial planning business, you have seen the status of the American College erode of late, even as your own business has declined because of the World Wide Web and various discounted insurance companies.

More Competition

And, in the eyes of your former golden-goose doctor-clients, you may have become a charlatan with the recent mortgage, insurance and banking industry collapse of 2008. Now, it seems as though everyone is clamoring for a piece of your insurance business and cloaking it in the guise of the contemporary topic of the day; medical practice risk-management and financial planning.

If you think this is an exaggerated statement; think again? More than a decade ago, an October 1997 survey conducted by Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group of New York, found insurance agents ranked last in having the trust of a wide selection of the public! The insurance debacle today only exacerbates this opinion.  

Regaining Trust

But, how do you regain this lost trust, and what about this new entity known as managed care. How do you learn about it at this stage in your career?

What ever happened to whole-life insurance; or traditional indemnity health insurance, with its deductibles, co-payments and 80/20 patient responsibility? It was so easy to sell, provided good coverage and the agent made a nice profit.

As an insurance agent, all you want to know is, can I still sell insurance and make a living?  Like all struggling collateral advisors, you find yourself asking, how do I “talk the talk, and walk the walk”, in this new era of insurance, transparency and liability turmoil?

Assessment

Slowly, as you read about the Certified Medical Planner™ online educational program, you become empowered with knowledge and ideas for new insurance product derivatives that actually provide value to your physician clients www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.com

After the proscribed course of study, you are no longer just an insurance salesman, but a trusted risk-management advisor and Certified Medical Planner™ for the healthcare industry. You have avoided the “managed care ripple effect.”

Disclaimer: Dr. Marcinko, a former insurance agent and Certified Financial Planner™, is Founder of the Certified Medial Planner™ program for all fiduciary consultants in health economics, finance and medical practice management.

Conclusion

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Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

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Filed under: "Advisors Only", Insurance Matters, Quality Initiatives, Research & Development, Risk Management | Tagged: insurance agents | 3 Comments »