Beginning April 1, 2024, the following policy regarding annual state appointment fees will go into effect for New Era Life Insurance Companies(New Era Life Insurance Company, New Era Life Insurance Company of the Midwest, and Philadelphia American Life Insurance Company):

For agents actively writing business in a state for any of New Era Life Insurance Companies - If an agent is actively writing business in a state or receiving overrides, and their downline agents have issued and paid at least 2 indemnity policies in the past 6 months, New Era has agreed to cover the appointment renewal fee in that state.

For agents not actively writing business in a state for any of New Era Life Insurance Companies - If an agent is not actively writing business in a state, the agent will need to cover their own annual state appointment renewal fee. Any active agent appointed with the state will have their appointment automatically renewed with New Era. These fees, imposed by each state's Department of Insurance, will now be the agent's responsibility. The state appointment renewal fee will be deducted from the agent's commission account.

Declining appointment renewals in a state for any of New Era Life Insurance Companies - Please note that if an agent wishes to decline an appointment renewal in a state, the agent must notify New Era's licensing department at least 30 days before the renewal date. Once a licensing renewal fee is paid to the state, refunds cannot be issued to agents. Please see the state chart. This outlines each state appointment renewal fee, and the date appointment cancellation must be received by New Era.

If you wish to submit a cancellation request to New Era Life, please use the following to contact:

U65 Market: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   

Senior Market: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you have any questions, please contact New Era Life Insurance Companies agent support at  888.748.3035.

Ameritas Dental Network Expansion News!

Ameritas is excited to announce the expansion of their Ameritas Classic dental network through a new network-sharing arrangement with United Concordia Companies Inc. (United Concordia) effective May 1, 2024.* They anticipate this will increase their dental network access points by more than 5,100, while improving our network utilization by approximately 2%. Actuarial will release state-specific network numbers in March.**

This network expansion will increase claim savings for your members, help close the network gap, and increase your sales opportunities.

There will be no changes to member ID cards and the new providers will be added to the provider online directory.

Contact your Ameritas sales representative to learn more!

New Payment Options in Effect

Wellabe wants to ensure that our agents are well prepared for persisting business and protected from chargebacks. To eliminate clients’ unhonored payments caused by card failures and keep your hard-earned business on the books, Wellabe has updated its payment options. 

As of March 1, they will only accept valid automatic bank drafts for Final Expense initial payments. They will no longer accept credit cards, debit cards, and Direct Express card payments during the application process. That’s because MyEnroller® can instantly validate bank account information to protect your sales. Customers currently making payments via credit cards, debit cards, and Direct Express card payments will continue as they are today.

New Social Security Requirements 

Beginning April 1, 2024, all new Final Expense and Health insurance applicants will require a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). This requirement will help streamline the application process by improving instant-decisioning and straight-through processing. SSNs and ITINs are a reliable and universal way to verify a person’s identity. They will allow Wellabe to determine if someone already has coverage while reducing the number of duplicate accounts. Wellabe will also be able to properly identify household discount allocations for customers with multiple policies and verify coverage thresholds. 

Quality business gets you well rewarded.

When you’re in sales, it’s easy to focus solely on the quantity of business you’re generating. However, concentrating on the quality of your business is just as important for your bottom line and for building client relationships. When you prioritize quality business, Wellabe recognizes and rewards you. Explore the following tools to help you keep your business in good shape.

If you have any questions, please contact our Agent Sales Support at 866-252-5594, option 2, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time.

In case you missed the news, Liberty Medicare Advantage is live in 5 new counties!

Great news!  Liberty Medicare has expanded their geographic coverage again in 2024 to include Pitt, Wayne, Wilson, Greene, and Lenoir Counties. These counties will become commissionable on 3/1/2024 for all plan effectives 4/1 and beyond!

This is an important announcement for agents with customers in California, Florida, North Dakota, and Washington and for those with business in these states. The counties below are under a federal or state designated SEP due to an emergency.

Please note: A disaster SEP application is only valid while the SEP declaration is in effect. If an end date is not listed below, please refer to our Ongoing SEP tracker in Producers’ University for the most up-to-date information. Any SEP applications submitted outside of that SEP’s declaration date will be rejected.

IMPORTANT:

• Please be aware this does not mean that active marketing can occur.
• The SEP is only for the purpose of providing a SEP to impacted individuals who had a valid election during the incident and were unable to make that election due to the emergency.
• This does not mean that Cigna Healthcare initiates waiving of authorization or referral requirements.
• This does not extend waiving of prior authorizations, referrals etc. 
   

SEP for Government Entity-Declared Disaster or Other Emergency

42 CFR 422.62(b)(18)

(Rev. 2, Issued: August 12, 2020; Effective/Implementation: 01-01-2021)

An SEP exists for individuals affected by a disaster or other emergency declared by a Federal, state or local government entity who were unable to, and did not make an election during another valid election period. This includes both enrollment and disenrollment elections.

Individuals are eligible for this SEP if they:

• reside or resided at the start of the SEP eligibility period where a federal, state or local government entity declared a disaster or other emergency. 
• were eligible for another election period at the time of the Disaster Election Period (DST) eligibility period.
• did not make an election during that other valid election period due to the disaster or other emergency.

The SEP starts on the date the declaration was made or the incident start date whichever is earlier. The SEP ends two full calendar months following the end date identified in the declaration or the date the end of the incident is announced, whichever is later.

 
California

Declaration information NEW

FEMA declaration: Severe Storm and Flooding

SEP incident dates: 01/21/2024 - 03/19/2024

This SEP declaration is effective: 01/21/2024 - 04/30/2024

Impacted counties for SEP purposes: San Diego County

Florida

Declaration information UPDATE: Renewal

State declaration: Hurricane Nicole

SEP incident dates: 11/07/2022 - 05/17/2024

This SEP declaration is effective: 11/07/2022 - 06/30/2024

Impacted counties for SEP purposes: Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Indian River, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington Counties

North Dakota

Declaration information NEW: Retro approval

FEMA declaration: Severe Winter Storm and Straight-line Winds

SEP incident dates: 08/18/2023 - 03/15/2024

This SEP declaration is effective: 08/18/2023 - 04/30/2024

Impacted counties for SEP purposes: Barnes, Cass, Dickey, Grant, LaMoure, Logan, McIntosh, Ransom, Richland, Sargent, Steele, Stutsman, Traill Counties

Washington

Declaration information NEW: Retro approval

FEMA declaration: Wildfires

SEP incident dates: 08/18/2023 - 03/15/2024

This SEP declaration is effective: 08/18/2023 - 04/30/2024

Impacted counties for SEP purposes: Spokane County

Updates to Cigna's DST application process

Two key updates:

• The date of the disaster is no longer required on any DST applications. 
• The missed election period is not required on most applications. See clarification below.

Keep in mind: Some missed election periods will still require you to input the missed election period AND the date of the missed election period on the application. Some examples include MOV (moving) or LEC (losing group coverage). The application will contain an "open" date field next to the SEP selections that still require a date to help you know when it is required.

Please read below for important application instructions.

For all applications, ensure that the following fields are completed:

• Select "SEP" in the Select Enrollment Period field.
• Enter code "DST" in the SEP Code field.
• If applicable, enter the date that applies for the missed election period. For example, a date is needed only if the missed SEP already required a date, such as moving, losing group coverage, losing or gaining Medicaid, etc. If the missed SEP or election period does not require a date on the application, the missed election period is not required. However, adding it on the application will expedite our review process. (i.e., AEP, OEP, LIS, MDE).

DST is not a stand-alone election period. For questions about DST eligibility, please review Cigna's Election Period grid, found in the Resource Center of Producers' University.

LIBR adjustments on IncomeShield 7, 9 & 10, effective March 1!

American Equity is proud to offer simple, transparent products at competitive rates within the industry. They remain committed to helping their contract owners protect their retirement dollars.

American Equity will be making adjustments to their Lifetime Income Benefit Rider (LIBR) (details listed below). These adjustments are designed to help simplify income planning for you and your clients. This also allows for more options for your longer-term clients.

IncomeShield 7, 9 & 10 Adjustments

These adjustments impact the LIBR Options 3 and 5* for IncomeShield 7, 9 and 10. Options 1, 2, 4 and 6 are unaffected by these changes.

Options 3 and 5 will have an updated Income Account Value (IAV) rate and an increased accumulation period effective Friday, March 1, 2024.

*Option 5 not available in CA