Medicare Agents vs Brokers: Pros, Cons, & How To Choose

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Independent AgentsIndependent agents’ income is primarily from commissions — which may be up to 50% higher than those paid to captive agents. The content and tools created by RetireGuide adhere to strict Medicare and editorial guidelines to ensure quality and transparency. RetireGuide’s mission is to provide seniors with resources that will help them reach important financial decisions that affect their retirement. Our goal is to arm our readers with knowledge that will lead to a healthy and financially sound retirement. Terry Turner has more than 30 years of journalism experience, including covering benefits, spending and congressional action on federal programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

If it doesn't, ask the carrier whether they or you can add what's missing. Survey these factors when choosing a plan to offer and scrutinize them when shopping to meet a specific client's needs. Always know how each potential plan covers a client's medications. Every client will have their priorities when it comes to out-of-pocket costs.

Both Medicare brokers and agents, whether independent or not, are also required to thoroughly understand the marketing guidelines of Medicare. Now that you know what being “ready-to-sell” Medicare plans means, it’s time to start work toward achieving that status! We aim to make this process as easy and straightforward as possible for new and returning medicare agents with our free tools and blog posts like this.

First, Medicare Advantage plans are permitted to offer nonmedical benefits that are health-related, such as transportation services and meal delivery. Second, regulations make it easier for beneficiaries to switch into and within Medicare Advantage carriers and plans, compared with switching into a Medicare Supplement policy. To understand the quality of the plans offered through online search tools, we also looked at the representation of Medicare Advantage and Part D plans at these online agent sites by star ratings.

Brandon Clay, “How to Become a Medicare Insurance Agent,” redbirdagents.com, June 2, 2020. To identify additional advantages and disadvantages of the agent model from a beneficiary perspective, we conducted interviews with patient advocates from prominent Medicare advocacy organizations. We used descriptive statistics to understand what share of search results originate with different interests and organizations. We identified three online agent portals that allow for plan comparison. The agent–plan model can limit plan choice in ways that are not obvious to beneficiaries. You might qualify for a Special Election Period if you meet certain conditions, such as losing coverage as a result of moving out of your plan’s service area.

When comparing Medicare agents and brokers, it’s important to understand the two different types of agents as well — independent agents and captive agents. Brokers work as an intermediary between you and insurance companies. A broker reviews and researches several different Medicare plan options then recommends the best plan based on your needs and the plan’s price.