Has anyone done the CMS certification and then attended an event where they try to sell you on care centers for the elderly? I'm scheduled to do one in October and I'm just curious what I've gotten myself into. I need to do the training by Monday and it sounds like it takes awhile - ugh. Not looking forward to that. And, the event is at a restaurant during the lunch hour. Am I to assume we will be fed there? It didn't say anything about it including lunch, but why would it be at a restaurant if lunch was not included? I certainly hope it is. Please help me feel better about signing on for this. :-)

I did something similiar, and yes, if it is in a restaurant you'll get something to eat. My last one was at an excellent restaurantin the morning, and we got to choose a dessert. The reports on these are long and involved (depending on the MSC). The one I did was for TS....you'll get through it.

Totally depends on the pay and how involved the test is. Up to you.

I did the shop today and I didn't think it was bad at all. It helped that they followed everything to the letter - made my report quite easy. And I thought the report was a cinch anyway. The scanning is what took awhile, but even that wasn't bad. I would enjoy more of these and hope I get some now that I took the time to go through the training. They served fresh fruit and cookies but I could see all of the restaurant patrons filling their plates over and over again (buffet restaurant) as I sat there for nearly two hours. That part wasn't so fun!

Two hours, wow! I had one yesterday that was only 40 minutes and in the last 3 years my longest was probably an hour and a half. The ones that take longer usually have a lot of attendees and a lot of questions. It always reminds me of the many meetings while in the corporate world. Without fail there are people who like the sound of their own voice and use the public portion of the meeting to ask questions which are specific to them and them alone.

I should clarify that it was not related to care facilities, rather it was insurance to supplement Medicare. And even though I'm more than a decade away from qualifying, it was informative. My parents are still living but I haven't been involved with their medical stuff, so I haven't known a lot about it. I do think being the only younger "single" in the room with other older couples was probably a dead giveaway about my presence, but oh well. Keeps them on their toes!

I was also talking about the Medicare Advantage shops and I'm also more than a decade away The group settings are easier since you don't really have to talk or give much information. In previous years I've used several covers. Myself qualifying for Medicare based on a disability (BTW, they are not supposed to ask too many questions about that), my mother and a spouse. I'm liking using the spouse this year. I just say he's getting ready to retire and while he's still working I'm stuck with the information gathering

Yes, this is the Annual Enrollment Period for making changes to Medicare whether it is with the supplements or a decision to go into or out of a Part C plan. I assume you discovered that no meal was served--it is not allowed. The CMS version of these is to make sure that insurance agents are giving a fair and balanced presentation of their plan, costs and benefits. I do a ton of these each fall, but I do them from the company side to help protect the agents from false claims that they used scare tactics, unduly pressured folks to enroll or spread lies about their competitors or false claims about their own product.

The Medicare shops your required to stay an hour, it usually ends afer an hour except for personal questions...and I agree, they could give you a little lunch. I took one test for TS, and thought the test fine, but the report lengthy and repetitive. You can't see the same person again.

I knew ahead of time that the presentation itself would last 90 min., and that I'd needed to stay for the Q&A afterward. There were only a couple of questions and then I was chatting with the presenter for awhile, asking for the required business card. The report was not lengthy at all and only one narrative with a very reasonable requirement. The scanning of the materials took the longest - I had 5 things, but still that wasn't bad. And yes, this was for TS.

I haven't seen a specific amount of time required, just stay until it's over. I stay for any type of public Q&A making my exit when people break up to talk to the agent individually. I avoid a lot of direct communication with the agent and around here they always have packets prepared which include the business card. My scanner is slow so I just take photos of the documents.

I simply said that my 75 yr. old mother was moving here from California and would need a new plan. Truth is, she is 82, has Alzheimer's, and lives in OR where they already have the plan that was presented. As I tell my husband, I'm not a liar, just an actor. :-)

And now for the rest of the story . . .

I received an email requesting a lot more information in the narrative than the guidelines indicate is needed. I just spent about 45 minutes adding all of the details that they are now indicating they would like included. That alone was frustrating because if the guidelines had been clear, I would have included them from the start. THEN, having added the additional information (the guidelines stated at least 6 sentences of at least 10 words each, then this response box had a max limit of 3000 characters and I had reached 2997), I hit submit and got an error response. I was just adding into the box provided so I did not have a Word document, etc., so it was a matter of "poof" and everything disappeared.

I just emailed them and explained what had happened and said I would not be adding any additional information at this point. I figure it's now a matter of cutting my losses. I doubt I would receive full pay after "having" to be contacted (even though their guidelines were not clear), and then having doubled the expected amount of time to do the report, I figure it's no longer worth it. It was their error on the site and their lack of clarity in the guidelines, so now I'm done. I had enjoyed the shop and thought the form was very decent, but I think my days with this MSC are over. This is not my favorite way to spend a Friday night, that's for sure!

I've done two of these and both of my narratives were around 1900 characters. I had a strong feeling they really wanted more than 6 sentences. BTW, the MSC that used to have these paid as much and sometimes more and weren't as picky about the narrative. I used to write just a few sentences and/or explain any no answers and was never contacted for clarification.

For my first on Tuesday the 11th the clarification regarded one answer which was inconsistent. I explained some confusion with the form had caused me to go back and change answers and it was missed. They paid me in full for that job yesterday. This week on Wednesday I completed a job and they asked me to rescan the business card and if the agent had introduced his assistant. Each report only took me about 45 minutes and the clarifications were okay except they specifically say to check back for 24 hours following. In both cases I did and in both cases they did not send their requests until late on Friday. Since they only work Monday through Friday I'd like to know why they wait 3 days and then send a notice with the expectation of a 24 hour turnaround after 5 pm on Friday.

I've done 4 of these and yes, they do take a long time. 90 minutes or until finished with Q & A; 45 minutes reporting/scanning. Travel time 15 to 30 minutes. Works out far less than expected.

On one of my reports I didn't scan a doc correctly and so they deducted $6.80 for the resend. Thinking this is not worth it. The other company that does these isn't paying much more than $20 and I am wondering if the report is the same.

With our expenses, time, energy etc it probably comes out to be 5.00 hr.

I must be lucky with the length of the seminars. This year one was 50 or 55 minutes and the other was 40 minutes. After receiving high marks for my first narrative I now just pull up the saved document and use it as my template. Where my first report took about 40 or 45 minutes, the second was probably around 20.

Assuming the "other" company hasn't changed their report, it always took me about the same length of time. While they didn't have an overall narrative there were at least 4 or 5 narrative boxes within the report. Add that to multiple page format instead of having it all on one and it is at least as tedious if not more so.

I'm confused about all the reports on deductions. I can't speak for my most recent since I just sent the "blurry" business card again yesterday (It was a bit out of focus, but perfectly readable) my other report had no deduction after the clarification request.

Certainly the standard on the seminars I attend is 55-65 minutes. They start on time and rarely do I stick around for the desserts that are served after. My first reports were taking around an hour and I got an email that I was telling them much too much. Since then a report is 20 minutes or less and I've had no further feedback. The lengthiest narrative includes information on the materials used and since identical materials are used at each seminar, that is a paragraph in Word to cut and paste in and then add any additional comments about how they were distributed, etc.

The additional info they requested from me would take more to write out than the allowable character limit. They wanted the questions that were asked at the seminar, the answers given, the rates quoted (an entire page of three columns of different rates - and I'm supposed to include all of that?), and pretty much everything that was said and done. Nowhere in the guidelines did it state that all of this was to be included. So, for a 90 minute seminar, just how do you cover EVERYTHING that was said and done in one narrative with a limit? I say, if they want that much detail, then ask for an audio recording. I could much more easily scan the page from the booklet with all of the quoted rates and send it to them, verifying that that is exactly what was quoted, than to type it all out for them to see. I'm sure they'll end up using my report because it's not like it can be reassigned when it was a one time event, and they can have it. The only way I will consider re-doing what disappeared is with an assurance of no deductions of pay, but I'm sure they won't do that, so I'm not giving any more of my time to it. Next time maybe they could include a sample narrative with all of the detail they're after, and then the shopper will know the expectation at the outset.

The estimation of about $5 per hour is right, or maybe even a little high. The training video was something like 40 min. long, then the test, then another few pages of reading and another test, then travel and attendance, the 40 min. to do the report with all of the scanning, etc. I wouldn't mind so much if it meant multiple seminars and a reasonable and clear expectation of what was to be included in the narrative. But there likely won't be a next time, and right now, I'm just fine with that.

I just signed for one (again), but with the same target that I did in Oct.
I don't care if I don't get it, but I want to prove myself, as last time, I was deducted 6.00 for a missing scan and the fact they had to ask for more information. I applied because it is in a nice restauant 3 miles from home,
and the dessert we got in the beginning was off the wall. I also want some more information, as I might be changing my plan.

They let you re-shop a target that soon? I'm surprised about that short a rotation. After reading this thread, I'm not sure I'd do all of this for that pay. Was the training paid?

Irene_L.A. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just signed for one (again), but with the same
> target that I did in Oct.
> I don't care if I don't get it, but I want to
> prove myself, as last time, I was deducted
> 6.00 for a missing scan and the fact they had to
> ask for more information. I applied because it is
> in a nice restauant 3 miles from home,
> and the dessert we got in the beginning was off
> the wall. I also want some more information, as I
> might be changing my plan.

No, there was no additional compensation. The pay was $34 total, including training time and everything else. If you do numerous events and only had to do that training one time, then that might work out just fine, but for one event, you're really making very little per hour.

TechSavvy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Was the training paid?
>
> Irene_L.A. Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------

Mine pay $20 and are basically KISS shops. They all use the same format, do the same things, use the same materials and follow the prescribed 'script'. I am not asked about the questions, but I am always impressed that they answer them well, properly and clearly. From time to time someone asks about another company's plan and the presenters indicate that they are not allowed to comment on other plans. The presenters know I am their shopper and greet me pleasantly when I arrive. This means I can do as many of these shops as I can schedule and my Word paragraphs can be pasted in with just enough alteration to have them apply to the specific seminar. I've done more than a dozen this month and have more than two dozen scheduled for next month.

Are these revealed audits, or do the presenters just put two and two together?


Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mine pay $20 and are basically KISS shops. They
> all use the same format, do the same things, use
> the same materials and follow the prescribed
> 'script'. I am not asked about the questions, but
> I am always impressed that they answer them well,
> properly and clearly. From time to time someone
> asks about another company's plan and the
> presenters indicate that they are not allowed to
> comment on other plans. The presenters know I am
> their shopper and greet me pleasantly when I
> arrive. This means I can do as many of these
> shops as I can schedule and my Word paragraphs can
> be pasted in with just enough alteration to have
> them apply to the specific seminar. I've done
> more than a dozen this month and have more than
> two dozen scheduled for next month.

Here they are mystery shops and don't allow us to see the same agent more than once in an enrollment period.

TechSavvy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Are these revealed audits, or do the presenters
> just put two and two together?
>

When they first started them this year I was to introduce myself as the shopper. Then they changed that I am NOT to introduce myself as the shopper. But all the agents know me anyway because last year all of them I was to introduce myself. The year before that I was anonymous and so only got to go to each agent only once during the 'season'.

I rarely do the seminars where you are anonymous because it is the same presenters over and over and over and it hardly justifies learning the specific requirements for that shop to only use them once or twice. My reaction is that NONE of these should be anonymous because if the presenter KNOWS you are there rather than just suspecting you may be, they will mind their restrictions a whole lot better and ultimately the goal should be a fair and balanced presentation to the public rather than a game of gottcha.

Certainly the anonymous ones I have done where they obviously did not suspect I was their shopper revealed the insurance industry bashing other providers and using scare tactics and misinformation at their worst. It is why when it came time to put my significant other into a Medicare plan this year there was absolutely no question of where to take him and who to have him deal with as an agent. And next year when I am eligible I will go the same route.

I've been handling my clarification requests well, up until now. When I was given a link to upload a clearer version of the business card there was another document showing. The upload apparently ended up overwriting the first document. Now I get asked to upload that again and the link shows the business card! I told them to provide me another way to upload this document. I'm not going round and round while they continue to overwrite each other. While I was at it I threw in their requirement to be available for clarifications 24 hours after submission and how I'm getting them 72 hours later and going into the weekends. I politely pointed out their office hours are Monday through Friday and mine are too!

Update: I got a fairly nice note saying that next time they'd like more detail, etc. It looks like I'll get either all or part of my pay afterall. I'm relieved. And surprised.

I don't know if I got it, I applied but haven't heard yet. Oct. paid $30.00, now it pays 34.00. No fee for training.
This target has them all over the place, I'll let you know if I get it.

TrendSource are the ones I primarily do. They are self-assign and I find their reports to be painless. I haven't done STN's yet. and

TS does state they want a minimum of 6 sentences, 10 words each. However, their sample narrative is about 4 to 5 times that amount. I compose my narratives in Word, but haven't actually done a word count. It would be difficult for me to report the requirements in 6 sentences, even if restricted. Training was painless, and beneficial. The quiz was mostly common sense. I don't know how many attempts are allowed, but the first time I took it, I missed one and it was highlighted.

These presentations are supposed to be held to one hour, followed by Q&As, at which time I am free to leave. The longest I have attended was 85 minutes, the shortest 65. Scanning - the first time, takes the longest. Subsequent shops normally have the same handouts, excepting the business cards. So, I don't don't need to scan all handouts again.

I did these shops last year as well and have not experienced agents doing too much incorrectly. No scare tactics, talking about other insurers, or plans not authorized. The revealed shops are not offered in my area. I guess it's a good way to assure that agents are minding their Ps and Qs. Although, it seems there's a weakness in the system if it takes a reveal to keep an agent honest.

Edited: First paragraph: I don't remember what was supposed to come after "and". Oh well.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2011 03:10AM by Mert.

I will be doing the same one as Mert, and my instructions say they take 90 minutes. Last one I did 6 sentences were not enough, I will stretch out info. on this one...uploading can be tricky, hope it goes well....I am actually looking for myself, as I want to change carriers, info. overload and remembering all needed...good thing, one can take notes.