Watch for Direct Mail that Looks like it was sent from Medicare, but is a ploy to sell you products.
A Medicare Coach member stopped by my office this morning andshowed me a mailing his wife received that looked very official. I could tell immediately that is was a marketing gimmick used by a product sales person to sell something. Be on the lookout for mailings like this and don’t respond unless you are prepared to be contacted by a licensed insurance agent to hear a sales pitch.
Here are some tips on what to look for:
1. Examine the part carefully that has your mailing address label on it and look closely at the bottom of the piece. This marketing person used a clever almost invisible ink that one could hardly read and it said: “Not affiliated with any Government Agency”, but it looked like this…. Not affiliated with any Government Agency. My client would have needed a magnifying glass to notice it.
2. Look at the return address, and don’t assume that a WashingtonD.C address means it came from Medicare. This mailing looked very official and it used 325 Pennsylvania Ave S.E., Washington, D.C. 2003 as the address. Look for return addresses that say: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Often times a Baltimore address is used, or other collection return centers located throughout the country.
3. Beware of headlines that are designed to scare you. This one had a heading that said: Important Projected Medicare Changes.. then a direct mail firm cleverly placed the members name at the top of the message to make it look very personal…. example Mary Smith, wow they even used my first name in the salutation..
4. Question the message if it talks about increasing premiums anddecreasing benefits. Here’s the message read by my client: Proposed cuts to existing government programs include a significant reduction in the Federal Medicare program resulting in an increase in premiums and fees that you must pay…. And a decrease in some benefits. This new cut back in the federal Medicare program means that you will become responsible for an even greater portion of your health care expenses… expenses that were previously paid by Medicare.
For more information about these changes and how they will personally affect you and your present health care coverage simply complete and return this postage paid card today. There will be no cost or obligation for this information.
X____________________________ Your Name and address are printed here
Signature
Age____ Spouse_________________
Then in very tiny letters if says You may be contacted by a licensed insurance agent. But it looked like this You may be contacted by a licensed insurance agent.
This type of mailing and trickery is what gives insurance agents abad rap and every time I see one of these, I wonder why some agents are communicating with vulnerable seniors in this way. It is a ploy to get an appointment. First they try to scare you hoping you’ll respond, then they will come in and try to sell you Long-term care or other products to make a buck.
This is another reason why our Medicare Coach program is all about process and not product. So beware of scare tactics. No government agency would send a marketing appeal like this in the first place. If you are already a member of our program, call me or send me any appeals that you receive with messages like this. Another form of trickery to get you to reply….. the marketing person uses a postage paid reply envelope with a heading National Processing Center and a Washington DC address.
Be smart and don’t fall for this type of crap if you get an appeal like this in the future. The person using these tactics is desperate to make a sale and has paid for a marketing list that could cost up to $1500 for the mailing. All they want is to get into your pocket so they can receive a commission. What a lousy way to earn a living at the expense of scaring seniors instead of helping them make good decisions.
Coach
