Once the Annual Election Period (AEP for short) is complete, the common misconception in the Medicare market is that an agent can no longer sell Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans. Throughout the year, there are plenty of opportunities outside of AEP to write clients into Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans. These specific opportunities are known as special election periods or SEPs. When working with Pinnacle Financial Services, we make sure our agents understand the various opportunities you have to place a client into a plan that may better suit their needs. The following are some of the most frequently used special election periods:

• The client moved to a new address that is no longer within a plan’s service area (typically a different county)
• Loss of employer or union coverage
• Loss of Medicaid eligibility
• The client becomes eligible for Medicaid (and Medicare)
• Client qualifies for extra help or low-income subsidy

This is only a select few, to see the full list of different SEP options you can view them here. As an agent, you can also help to qualify clients for programs that can trigger these special election periods. For instance, there is a website called Benefitscheckup.org that is sponsored by Aetna, which can help identify if your client can qualify for any state and federal-based assistance programs. Pinnacle Financial Services offers agents various ways to learn how to understand these tools through media like webinars and blogs. We also have a dedicated sales and support staff that can help you through any of the difficult situations that may arise with a prospective client.

Pinnacle Financial Services offers the best support, technology, and service in the industry.