Pros
Free lunches & excellent enrollment software applications
Cons
Warning – this is a long review. However, it is my sincere hope that it will reach the right person and prevent anyone else from leaving an existing lucrative sales position in favor of the carrot-dangling tactics used by eHealth hiring managers to bring in existing licensed, recent college graduates, or extremely hungry individuals wanting to establish a high-earning career in Medicare sales. This place is not it. If only one person reads this review and appreciates the insight given, then my job here is done. Chapter 1 – The Interview Expect to be told that you can earn upwards of six figures, easily, because you will be taking incoming calls from Medicare-eligible beneficiaries looking to enroll in plans. You’re insurance or sales expertise and experience will help you be successful in this role and there is room for growth within the company. The only truth about this is that you will be taking incoming calls – lots of them. Chapter 2 – The Job Expect to take an influx of incoming calls from apprehensive, distrustful or confused seniors. Some of these beneficiaries are incoherent, forgetful and hard-of-hearing, or losing their voices and can barely speak or should not be trying to enroll in plans on their own. Other callers are ineligible for Medicare plans period. Still others call for general information but don’t want to switch plans or will let you know up front that they have no intention of switching plans but just want to know what’s currently being offered. Or they call because they just want you to explain the difference between a Medicare Supplement or Medicare Advantage plan. Then there are the time-wasters who are in a whole different category of their own. These are the seniors calling in who already working with a broker or agent yet just saw a commercial wanted to know if the insurance advertised is better than what they currently have or just signed up for…or the beneficiaries who will agree to enroll in a plan with you, go through an the entire enrollment of verifying their information, answering numerous coverage questions, only to inform you right before the application is submitted that they have suddenly decided to stay with their current plan. Then there are the typical beneficiaries who need to check with their spouses, children, cousin twice removed, uncles/aunts, etc. before they decide to enroll. Chapter 3 – Bad Leads The good leads are distributed to specific agents selected by management. So for everyone else, that leaves the leads from those calling in response to a “partner” or “pharmacy” letter received and wanting to know if you can verify if their providers (PCPs & specialists) are in network for their current plans. It is not a Medicare Sales Rep’s job to verify providers for existing plan coverage, this is a customer service function however these calls are routed specifically to reps who are not part of the favorite’s club. These callers have no intention of changing plans, they just want help verifying benefits under their current plans. Chapter 4 – The Lowdown eHealth requires that you work long hours with short breaks. The pay is not commensurate with the job duties, functions, responsibilities, or emotional toll. A Medicare Sales Rep working for eHealth is exposed to an extremely high-pressure work environment from the numerous emails from management demanding for reps to stay on the phones, to the managers/supervisors constantly patrolling the aisles, break rooms or restrooms or the dishonest sales tactics used with the expectation that you will make a sale. The job itself is emotionally draining. Then there is the subtle injustices of the chosen favorite reps and call manipulation. You will consistently be lied to by management and told that all reps are in the same queue, that there is only “one queue,” yet calls from various states (E.g. service areas) are specifically routed directly to preferred reps. The managers intentionally route specific calls to preferred reps for successful enrollments; while purposely placing other non-favorite reps in the low-conversion queues making it impossible to make sales or bonuses. One rep could be sitting for 20 minutes waiting for a call, while another preferred rep receives back-to-back calls from good leads. There is no even playing field or fairness when it comes to the distribution of inbound calls. As a result, there is low morale, attendance issues and high turnover. At eHealth, you are treated like another number – you are nothing more than a warm body to remain available 90% of your time there to answer one call after another like you are a robot. The hours are long and the breaks are short (mandatory 10 hour shifts with 30 minute lunch breaks). The job will take a mental toll on you. You will work extremely hard and may not see the fruits of your labor. To say that that the job is extremely stressful would be an understatement. This job is not only mentally taxing, emotionally draining, etc. but you will develop high blood pressure or anxiety from all of the stress of the work environment created by management. The sales director is pompous and the managers blatantly lie about your first year income earning potential among other things. If you decide to leave eHealth, be prepared to be informed that the company will intentionally hold your insurance carrier appointments for up to 1 year after your resignation to prevent you from going to work for another brokerage firm. Chapter 5 – The Pay The compensation plan for Medicare Sales Reps at eHealth is a joke. The reps barely earn enough to cover day-to-day living expenses. Reps are paid an hourly rate of $16.00 in addition to so-called bonuses paid on a tier-level system that is adjusted to a much lower earning amount during specific enrollment periods (E.g. AEP). For example, the more enrollments a sales rep completes, the more money earned per approved application (E.g. if you complete 40 enrollments in a month × $45 per enrollment = $1,800 bonus taxed at 40% = $720 net bonus in your pocket). Now to an unseasoned sales rep this pay structure may seem great. Until you realize that according to CMS, independent licensed Medicare reps earn between $510-685 per enrollment (depends on carrier & service area), that it becomes apparent that eHealth is clearly cheating their Medicare sales reps out of what they should actually be earning. You do the math. Yet you are treated like you should feel lucky to be a part of the team. Chapter 6 – Other Details The climate control within the call center is extremely uncomfortable both in the winter and during warmer months. It’s too cold inside the office yet not uncommon to see reps and supervisors wearing coats, hats and gloves at their desks because the temperature is not adjusted properly. Training - you are trained on the basics of Medicare, how to use the script and to do what’s in the best interest of the beneficiary. However, when you reach the sales floor you are expected to deviate from what you were taught and instead utilize dishonest sales tactics to make a sale. I’m surprised this employer is not under the microscope of CMS; they should be for their dishonest practices just to make a profit. As a sales rep, you will be micromanaged to the highest degree – don’t step away from your desk for too long. Supervisors and managers will be lurking near the break room and restrooms to listen-in on conversations and to ensure that you are not complaining or talking negatively about the uncomfortable atmosphere that they’ve created. If you received a call from someone who meant to call their insurance carrier, Medicaid or Social Security, you are expected to sell them a plan – regardless of whether the caller dialed the wrong number. For example, my supervisor listened to a few of my calls just to confirm that were clearly wrong numbers as I had dis-positioned them. The supervisor then directed me to call each of those individuals back to let them know that I sold Medicare and to ask for their business. If I confirmed that the callers weren’t eligible for Medicare, then I was instructed to ask the caller if they knew anyone else who could be referred to me so that I could sell them a Medicare plan. Humiliating doesn’t even begin to explain how I felt behind the experience of being made to do something so demeaning. Until I began working at eHealth, I had never been in a position where I had to desperately beg for someone’s business - let alone place callbacks to individuals who clearly mis-dialed eHealth and ask these people if I could help with their non-existent Medicare needs.