The Fixed Indemnity market is robust and Affordable Choice and ManhattanLife are responsible for the marketplace being more viable than ever. Despite challenging circumstances this year, our Affordable Choice sales are on track for a record-breaking year.

And why shouldn’t they be:

Over the past few years we have significantly upgraded the product with:

• Two new plan designs to complement the current Classic and Elite offerings, including a $5,000 Daily Room Benefit;
• A new cancer benefit with per day amounts up to a total of 40 days per year;
• A new surgical schedule that pays based off a Medicare fee schedule;
• A new Building Benefit confinement feature, increasing the daily room benefit beginning in Year 2 of a policy when confined due to an accident;
• Increased Calendar Year and Lifetime Maximum amounts; and
• Additional doctor office visits with a rollover provision.

Today, I am happy to announce significant enhancements to our Outpatient Benefits and our Emergency and Urgent Care visit benefits.

Let’s start with a Before and After for ER and UC. Our prior version allowed one visit per year and a benefit amount ranging from $125-$375 depending on the plan. Our new version breaks out ER and UC with two ER visits allowed at $250 for Elite series and one visit for $250 for our Classic plans.

Urgent Care now has four visits at $250 for Elite plans and two visits for $250 for Classic. A nice upgrade.

 

Emergency Room or Urgent Care (Per day/limit of 1 daily benefit per calendar year)	$375	$250	$250	$125
Emergency Room (Per day /calendar year maximum)	$250/2 CY	$250/2 CY	$250/1 CY	$250/1 CY
Urgent Care (Per day /calendar year maximum)	$250/4 CY	$250/4 CY	$250/2 CY	$250/2 CY

 

The Outpatient Benefits (Preventative, Laboratory and Radiology have substantial upgrades as shown in the chart below.

 

	Before	After
Preventative Services
Colonoscopy	Up to $300	Up to $600
PAP	Up to $100	Up to $300
PSA	Up to $100	Up to $300
Laboratory Services
Surgical Pathology	Up to $100	Up to $300
Other Lab Services	Up to $50	Up to $50
Therapy Services
PT/OT/ST Therapy	Up to $25	Up to $75
Radiology Services
MRI	Up to $500	Up to $700
PET	Up to $250	Up to $700
CT	Up to $200	Up to $700
Mammogram	Up to $150	Up to $300
Other Radiology	Up to $75	Up to $250
Outpatient Benefits CY Max	Up to $3,000	Up to $8,000
Emergency Room (ER)	$375  1 CY  Max	$250 w/2 CY Max
Urgent Care (UC)	$375  1 CY  Max	$250 w/4 CY Max

And the good news keeps on coming…the Calendar Year Maximums have also been increased:

Outpatient Benefits Calendar Year Maximum
Plan Design	Prior CY Max	New CY Max
Elite Plus	$3,000	$8,000
Elite	$2,000	$6,000
Classic Plus	$2,000	$4,000
Classic	$1,000	$4,000

 

As of today, we have 14 state approvals and 14 additional states filed. The approved states include:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

What’s Next, You Ask, and When Can I Get Access to the New Benefits?

The New brochures, application and agent guide will be available via the Agent Sales portal (online) beginning Tuesday, September 8^st. In the approved states, our ManhattanDirect quoting tool will reflect new benefits and new premiums. The states that are not yet approved will still be available with all the prior, notable enhancements. We will notify you when new states are added.

Also, please note that existing clients wishing to change to one of the newly approved plans can do so at the policy year anniversary.

Our Marketing Team is ready to assist you with any questions. It’s a phone call away at 888-441-0770.

Please stay safe and as we head closer to the fourth quarter I wish you nothing but success. As always, your business is most appreciated.

All the Best,

Todd Hayden