Liberty Bankers Life Insurance 

Plus Series Product Line is Approved in New States

Hospital Indemnity: Indiana

Accident/Cancer/Critical Care/Heart & Stroke: Montana, Mississippi, Tennessee

Effective Thursday, March 14, 2024, Liberty Bankers Life Insurance Company's expanded supplemental health product line will be available in additional states. Hospital Indemnity Plus coverage is now available to start selling in Indiana. Additionally, Accident Plus, Cancer Plus, Critical Care Plus, and Heart & Stroke Plus is now available in Montana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

If you are currently contracted to sell the Plus Series product line, do not forget to register to have access to the Agent Portal at AGENT.LBIG.COM. If you are not currently contracted, please contact your upline.

Aetna Senior Supplemental 

Aetna now offers Recovery Care - Short Term Facility Care Insurance Plans in Pennsylvania. 

Sales materials are now available to download/order. Just go to the agent side of AetnaSeniorProducts.com and click Products > Order Supplies.

It's easy to start selling
Get quotes on the go, straight from your phone with our free mobile app. It’s easy to install the app on your mobile device from both the Apple App Store and the Android Play Store. Just search for "Quotes on the go."

Note: The last application submission and signature date for the existing Nursing Facility Care plans in Pennsylvania will be May 28, 2024.

National Association of Dental Plans

NCD Elite by MetLife is now available in New York and Connecticut!

• Broad range of max benefits: $1,500, $3,000 and $5,000
• High Basic coinsurance of 80% in the first year
• No waiting periods on Preventive and Basic care
• Large national network
• Quick and seamless claims process: most claims processed within 24 hours!

And that's IN ADDITION the outstanding service and support you and your clients receive from NCD and MetLife!

Don't Delay: Start Selling NCD Elite by MetLife Today!

American National Insurance

New Annuity Suitability Form Required March 13th

Effective March 13, a new version of the 4465 form series, the Annuity Suitability form, will be required for all new annuity applications.

To ensure a smooth transition, all applicable electronic platforms will be automatically updated to accommodate the new form. ExpertForms will be updated on the same day, providing you with the latest tools for your annuity sales process.

Please Note: Beginning March 13, the old version of the form will no longer be accepted. It is crucial to use the updated form to avoid potential delays in business operations. Remember to check the revision date on the bottom right corner of the form, which should be marked as RV 12-23. 

New revision dates will be applied to the following affected forms:

• 4465-NAIC RV 12.23
• 4465-NAIC-MN RV 12.23

Access the new suitability guide here!

In addition to this change, the 4394 form series will be removed for annuity new business only. Moving forward, ExpertForms will be transitioning to the industry standard:

ACORD 1035 EXCHANGE / ROLLOVER / TRANSFER eFORM

This change will align paper with our electronic applications and help the annuity new business team streamline these requests on one form.

Attention Oregon Agents:
New form available starting March 13: 11207-OR

Wellabe

New application requirements

Beginning April 1, 2024, you will be required to provide the Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) for all new Health and Final Expense insurance applicants. This requirement will help streamline the application process by improving instant-decisioning and straight-through processing. SSNs and ITINs are a reliable and universal way to verify a person’s identity and will allow them to determine if someone already has coverage while reducing the number of duplicate accounts. Wellabe will also be able to properly identify household discount allocation for customers with multiple policies and verify coverage threshold.

If you have any questions, please call Wellabe's agent support at 800-547-2401. 

American Equity

American Equity is proud to offer simple, transparent products at competitive rates within the industry. They remain committed to helping our contract owners protect their retirement dollars.

GuaranteeShield 3 & 5 Rates

Their rates on GuaranteeShield 3 & 5 fixed annuities will change effective Wednesday, March 13.

For clients to qualify for the current rates, applications along with cash or 1035/Transfer paperwork must be received by 5:00 p.m. CT on March 12, 2024, and transfer funds must be received by 5:00 p.m. CT on April 11, 2024. 

UnitedHealthcare Medicare Plans

2024 Florida rate information is now available for AARP^® Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans insured by UnitedHealthcare^® Insurance Company (UHIC).

Effective June 1, 2024, the rates in Florida will change. Please click on the button below to view rates for new enrollees with initial plan effective dates of June 1, 2024, to May 1, 2025.

Head over to Jarvis
Jarvis is your one-stop shop for information, including premium rates, premium rate percentages, and more! Find state-specific rate information on Jarvis under Knowledge Center > Portfolio Overview > Medicare Supplement Plans > Rates and Underwriting > Choose a State > Annual Rate Change.

Find helpful resources 

Use LEAN™ for an easy enrollment experience or continue to use your state’s current Enrollment Kit until new ones become available, remembering to quote the applicable rate based on the requested plan effective date.
 

Find state-specific Enrollment Kits and Producer Handbooks on the Sales Materials Portal, accessible viaJarvis.

Find AARP Medicare Supplement Plans state-specific trainings on Jarvis under Knowledge Center > Training & Certifications, then under the Training Calendar header, click on Local Market Training. You can also access trainings HERE .      

Check out Learning Lab within Jarvis to discover helpful guides, job aids, on-demand learnings, and more.

Member billing information
New Personalized Billing is here! Members who pay by check will receive the individual monthly account statement by mail monthly. Members who pay by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), pay annually, or otherwise, will receive a statement by mail only when something on their account changes or action is required. Members can also view their statement online.

Here to help
For questions, contact the Producer Help Desk (PHD) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (include your agent Writing Number in the subject line) or your UnitedHealthcare Regional Director of AARP Medicare Supplement Growth. To speak with the PHD, call 888-381-8581, or for Spanish, call 866-235-5990.

Manhattan Messenger/Golden Link - MAC (MD)

Please click here to view Golden Link's Medicare Supplement rate change. 

Ameritas Dental Network Expansion News!

Ameritas is excited to announce the expansion of their Ameritas Classic dental network through a new network-sharing arrangement with United Concordia Companies Inc. (United Concordia) effective May 1, 2024.* They anticipate this will increase their dental network access points by more than 5,100, while improving our network utilization by approximately 2%. Actuarial will release state-specific network numbers in March.**

This network expansion will increase claim savings for your members, help close the network gap, and increase your sales opportunities.

There will be no changes to member ID cards and the new providers will be added to the provider online directory.

Contact your Ameritas sales representative to learn more!

In case you missed the news, Liberty Medicare Advantage is live in 5 new counties!

Great news!  Liberty Medicare has expanded their geographic coverage again in 2024 to include Pitt, Wayne, Wilson, Greene, and Lenoir Counties. These counties will become commissionable on 3/1/2024 for all plan effectives 4/1 and beyond!

This is an important announcement for agents with customers in California, Florida, North Dakota, and Washington and for those with business in these states. The counties below are under a federal or state designated SEP due to an emergency.

Please note: A disaster SEP application is only valid while the SEP declaration is in effect. If an end date is not listed below, please refer to our Ongoing SEP tracker in Producers’ University for the most up-to-date information. Any SEP applications submitted outside of that SEP’s declaration date will be rejected.

IMPORTANT:

• Please be aware this does not mean that active marketing can occur.
• The SEP is only for the purpose of providing a SEP to impacted individuals who had a valid election during the incident and were unable to make that election due to the emergency.
• This does not mean that Cigna Healthcare initiates waiving of authorization or referral requirements.
• This does not extend waiving of prior authorizations, referrals etc. 
   

SEP for Government Entity-Declared Disaster or Other Emergency

42 CFR 422.62(b)(18)

(Rev. 2, Issued: August 12, 2020; Effective/Implementation: 01-01-2021)

An SEP exists for individuals affected by a disaster or other emergency declared by a Federal, state or local government entity who were unable to, and did not make an election during another valid election period. This includes both enrollment and disenrollment elections.

Individuals are eligible for this SEP if they:

• reside or resided at the start of the SEP eligibility period where a federal, state or local government entity declared a disaster or other emergency. 
• were eligible for another election period at the time of the Disaster Election Period (DST) eligibility period.
• did not make an election during that other valid election period due to the disaster or other emergency.

The SEP starts on the date the declaration was made or the incident start date whichever is earlier. The SEP ends two full calendar months following the end date identified in the declaration or the date the end of the incident is announced, whichever is later.

 
California

Declaration information NEW

FEMA declaration: Severe Storm and Flooding

SEP incident dates: 01/21/2024 - 03/19/2024

This SEP declaration is effective: 01/21/2024 - 04/30/2024

Impacted counties for SEP purposes: San Diego County

Florida

Declaration information UPDATE: Renewal

State declaration: Hurricane Nicole

SEP incident dates: 11/07/2022 - 05/17/2024

This SEP declaration is effective: 11/07/2022 - 06/30/2024

Impacted counties for SEP purposes: Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Indian River, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington Counties

North Dakota

Declaration information NEW: Retro approval

FEMA declaration: Severe Winter Storm and Straight-line Winds

SEP incident dates: 08/18/2023 - 03/15/2024

This SEP declaration is effective: 08/18/2023 - 04/30/2024

Impacted counties for SEP purposes: Barnes, Cass, Dickey, Grant, LaMoure, Logan, McIntosh, Ransom, Richland, Sargent, Steele, Stutsman, Traill Counties

Washington

Declaration information NEW: Retro approval

FEMA declaration: Wildfires

SEP incident dates: 08/18/2023 - 03/15/2024

This SEP declaration is effective: 08/18/2023 - 04/30/2024

Impacted counties for SEP purposes: Spokane County

Updates to Cigna's DST application process

Two key updates:

• The date of the disaster is no longer required on any DST applications. 
• The missed election period is not required on most applications. See clarification below.

Keep in mind: Some missed election periods will still require you to input the missed election period AND the date of the missed election period on the application. Some examples include MOV (moving) or LEC (losing group coverage). The application will contain an "open" date field next to the SEP selections that still require a date to help you know when it is required.

Please read below for important application instructions.

For all applications, ensure that the following fields are completed:

• Select "SEP" in the Select Enrollment Period field.
• Enter code "DST" in the SEP Code field.
• If applicable, enter the date that applies for the missed election period. For example, a date is needed only if the missed SEP already required a date, such as moving, losing group coverage, losing or gaining Medicaid, etc. If the missed SEP or election period does not require a date on the application, the missed election period is not required. However, adding it on the application will expedite our review process. (i.e., AEP, OEP, LIS, MDE).

DST is not a stand-alone election period. For questions about DST eligibility, please review Cigna's Election Period grid, found in the Resource Center of Producers' University.