Why You Should Sell Medicare Dental Plans
You probably know by now that Original Medicare does not cover dental services, but did you know that one in five seniors have untreated cavities? In fact, one in five seniors has lost all of their teeth!
In 2019, about 1/3 Medicare beneficiaries have Medicare Advantage. Many of those Medicare Advantage plans might include dental, but what do the people without Medicare Advantage do? That’s too big of a statistic for you to not sell dental plans to Medicare beneficiaries. Plus, bacteria from oral disease can move throughout the body and lead to other health problems, like heart disease.
Dental Coverage
Original Medicare will cover dental procedures that are directly related to other services. For example, if a patient has jaw surgery in a hospital or a procedure that involved the mouth, it can be covered under Part A. However, cleanings, tooth pullings, fillings, dentures, and other dental work requires a stand-alone dental plan or a Medicare Advantage plan with dental coverage.
How To Sell Dental
Thankfully, most major carriers do offer dental plans. You can start by revisiting your clients outside of AEP and asking if they’re seeking dental care.
The best lead generating tools for dental plans are partnerships with dental offices. We’ve even put together a guide on how to market yourself to dental offices. A good way to start is to walk into your local dental offices and ask if you can leave business cards, brochures, and other materials urging their patients to call you. If the dental office is interested in taking the partnership further, you can suggest a sort of referral partnership. You can refer your clients to the dentist, and the dentist can refer patients with insurance concerns to you.
Marketing Outside of AEP
Stand-alone dental is an ancillary product, which of course means you don’t have to wait until AEP to sell it. With that in mind, you should take advantage of the extra time you have to do some marketing. Create new business cards, maybe make a flyer specific to the dental plans you can sell, and start making phone calls. Take advantage of this “down season” before AEP picks up again.
If you aren’t great in Photoshop or don’t know how to order business cards, we can help. When you contract with Senior Market Advisors, you contract with our marketing team. We’ve created hundreds of flyers, business card designs, direct mail pieces, and more that you can use. To learn more, just give us a call at 844-452-5020.
