Turmoil has scared some distributors out of the Medicare plan market, but three companies that are still in it say the upheaval could help annual enrollment period sales.
"These shifts are driving increased shopping for new plan options," Vijay Kotte, the chief executive officer of GoHealth, told securities analysts Thursday during a conference call.
Worries about the market and cash-flow problems have also slashed some distributors' spending on Medicare sales leads. One market player, Primerica, was so concerned that it gave GoHealth e-TeleQuote, a Medicare plan distribution business with 400 agents, $90.5 million in contract assets and $22.5 million in cash, according to Brendan Shanahan, GoHealth's CFO.
Overall applications have been up 3%, but application volume through GoHealth's own career agents has jumped 46%, company executives said.
Executives at eHealth and SelectQuote also told securities analysts about seeing less distributor competition and strong consumer interest.
EHealth, a pioneer in web-based insurance sales, entered the Medicare annual enrollment period for 2025 coverage with many more sales appointments than it had scheduled a year earlier; plus, its call volume and website visits have been much higher during the first weeks of the current enrollment period, according to Francis Soistman, eHealth's CEO.
"The early indicators also point to increased effectiveness of our telesales organization, as we are converting demand at greater rates compared to a year ago," Soistman said during a conference call eHealth held Wednesdays.
Tim Danker, the CEO of SelectQuote, also reported seeing strong call volume.
The sales closing rates for the agents handling the calls have been very good, Danker said.
"It's certainly a different environment this year, and that was predicted," Danker said.
What it means: The market disruption making life difficult for clients enrolled in Medicare may improve the performance of the remaining Medicare plan distributors.
The history: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that oversees Medicare, runs the annual enrollment period to serve Medicare enrollees who want to buy Medicare Advantage plans or Medicare drug plans, or to return to Original Medicare from Medicare Advantage plans.
