Covered California has estimated that nearly 100,000 households have started an application but have not selected a health plan. To help “Jump Start” these stalled applications Covered California will be distributing the contact information of these stalled applications to Certified Agents to call the applicants and offer assistance to help them make a health plan selection for an effective date of January 1, 2014.
Covered California requests help from agent
In a bold move outside of Covered California’s carefully crafted marketing strategy they will be distributing the contact information of the stalled applications to their general agency partners. Certified Agents who volunteer to participate in the Jumpstart January lead program will be sent only the contact information in order to call the applicant and offer assistance. The general agencies initially partnered with Covered California to promote and coordinate enrollment into the small business group SHOP program.
Moving households closer to enrollment
The Certified Agents must attempt to make contact with the applicant within 24 hours of receiving the information or lead. The agents will report back to the general agency they are affiliated with about the disposition of the application. If they are successful in helping the applicant select and ultimately enroll in a health plan offered by Covered California, the agents will become the “broker of record” and receive a commission from the carrier. In all cases, the agent must adhere to the Covered California contract that they will represent all the health plans equally.
In-Person Assister program stalled
Originally, Covered California anticipated an army of “In-Person Assisters” or Certified Enrollment Counselors would be doing much of the heavy lifting with the enrollment along side call center staff. The CEC program hasn’t gotten off the ground with less than 1,500 certified counselors as of November 19th. By contrast, there are more than 7,000 certified agents across California. Covered California will be hosting a webinar on improving the “In-Person Assister” regulations and process in early December in a effort to jump start that program.
Covered California call centers at capacity
In the mean time, enrollment staff at the various Covered California call centers is at capacity for assisting incoming calls. They don’t have the time to follow up on applications that have been nearly completed and eligible for premium assistance but have not selected a health plan. There are numerous reasons why an applications hasn’t been finalized –
- Confusion over if their plan is being cancelled.
- Their plan has been extended by Commissioner Dave Jones until March 31, 2014.
- They don’t know how to choose a health plan.
- They are still doing research and checking to see if their physicians are in-network.
- They found out they aren’t eligible for premium assistance.
- They are already working with an agent to purchase off-exchange plans
Jumpstart January agent webinar
Commitment to helping consumers
On a webinar about the Jumpstart January lead distribution program for agents, Covered California’s Ken Wood made it clear that this was a unique marketing strategy to help enroll households that have started an application. In response to the question “Why is Covered California doing this now?” they emphasized –
We want every Californian who wants coverage for January to get that coverage. Recent news events have confused some consumers. We need our professional agents to help consumers over the finish line. Together, we can Jumpstart January!
Smart deployment of resources
I can’t imagine that Covered California ever anticipated having so many applications just sitting in the ether of some computer system’s memory. A successful business will adapt to unexpected market conditions brought on by consumer demand or indifference. The best laid marketing plans of Covered California have not materialized. They have found themselves with an abundance of certified health insurance agents and they have decided to leverage those assets to meet their goals. Good for Covered California for thinking outside the bureaucratic box.
Agents are skeptical of Covered California
The next question is how many of the 7,000 plus certified agents will participate? I have talked to several agents that would be willing to participate in such a program. Normally, health insurance agents may pay $10 – $15 for an internet lead of questionable value. The Covered California leads are no charge and are truly in the vein of helping a consumer select a plan since they have already completed most of the application. This last minute marketing program might prove to be one of the best as Covered California mends broken fences with agents and shows that the bureaucracy can be flexible to changing conditions.
Hi, my name is …
Each participating Certified Agent has been promised 2 households to contact. But if the number of stalled application is really close to 100,000, then agents may be receiving 10 or 15 contacts. While the consumers who started the application may not appreciate the phone call from an insurance agent, authorized by Covered California, the Jumpstart January program is more customer service than a “cold call” sales effort. Reportedly, agent will be receiving the lead in early December and making calls through December 23rd. Maybe you’ll be on my list to call…Ho, Ho, Ho!
Jumpstart January – Helping Consumers over the Finish Line, Agent Webinar, 11/27/2013