Certificates mean nothing if you don’t have the integrity to back them up.
Once healthcare reform or the Affordable Care Act was upheld by the Supreme Court on last Thursday, I was waiting for the marketing wagon to start rolling. The first of the marketing crap to hit my inbox was a solicitation to become certified as a Healthcare Reform Specialist. All I had to do was travel clear across the country to Florida, pay $600 and pass a test that has not been vetted by anyone but the organization that wants my money.
Putting lipstick on a pig
Now all the health insurance agents that hate the ACA and actively blogged against it will now have the opportunity to put a little button on their website saying they are “certified” in healthcare reform. How does the old adage go, “If you can’t beat them, join them.”?
Even though I have read most of the original PPACA text, blogged in support of the ACA, have a page dedicated to healthcare reform benefits on my website and sent out thousands of tweets on the #ACA, I’m not a real specialist until I pay $600. As a comparison, it cost me $20 to take an 8 hour on-line course to be certified to sell annuities in California.
Here’s a novel idea for my fellow health insurance agents, go to www.healthcare.gov and study what’s in the legislation and how it will impact your current and prospective clients. Better yet, if you support the repeal of the ACA stop selling health insurance. Go make a living selling something you believe in.
Let the scare tactics begin!
To all the potential individuals, families and businesses that will be looking for health insurance in the future, beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing. Someone sporting a certificate that they are a healthcare reform specialist is nothing more than a marketing gimmick to gain your trust. If the sales person doesn’t believe in the ACA they will be attempting to sell you something they make the highest commission from, not what is right for you.
I am sure this is just the first wave of marketing gimmicks and scams that will dribble into my email folder. My larger concern is the waterfall of disingenuous marketing that will be aimed at consumers scaring them to buy insurance without knowing all the facts of the ACA.