Advisor Spotlight: John Dickey

What inspired you to become an advisor?

My desire is to help people understand, and navigate through, Medicare, Long-Term Care and Life Insurance, and their myriad of plan options within each.

What do you feel is your competitive advantage?

Resourceful, patient, diligent, professionally- courteous, the ability to explain complex terms and concepts in simple, easy-to-follow terms, and the practice of “cutting right to the chase” to save my clients hours of time and frustration.

What is the biggest misconception clients have about the process of getting insured?

That they need to become experts in ALL aspects of the ENTIRE process in order to simply understand the plan options that are applicable/available, appropriate and relevant for their situation. Also, too many prospects wrongly believe that independent Medicare brokers, such as myself, are only interested in enrolling clients in the plans that will generate the largest commission for us when the truth is that our commissions are exactly the same regardless of the plan (within the HMO or PPO category) selected as they are standardized and set by the federal government.

How do you stay up to date with industry trends?

Constantly studying Medicare information releases, such as bulletins E-mailed to me daily, from the federal government and from the many insurance carriers I am contracted with who issue Medicare plans. I also constantly attend webinars and seminars hosted by these same government agencies and carriers to stay on top of new developments, laws and regulations, and Medicare and Long-Term care plan offerings, which are constantly changing and evolving.

How do you think digitization will affect the future of the industry?

It will make it easier for me to help my prospective and actual clients understand Medicare since they will be able to view the same computer screens I am looking at, as I then explain the details behind all of their plan options as we compare them together.

What’s something about being an advisor you wish you knew earlier in your career?

That my clients will need to be contacted at least twice per year to ensure that their plan questions are being answered, any plan problems resolved, and that they are using their plans to their maximum advantage.

What is the major takeaway you’d like to leave your clients with when choosing you for their insurance needs?

That they can feel confident and assured that they can contact me anytime, now or in the future, with ANY questions about their Medicare plan and how to best utilize its benefits.

What are some personality traits that make for a great Advisor?

Being resourceful, patient, diligent, professionally-courteous, having the ability to explain complex terms and concepts in simple, easy-to-follow terms, and having the ability to “cut right to the chase” to save clients hours of time and frustration.

What was one of the most meaningful moments of your career?

Enrolling a client into a Medicare Supplemental (PPO) plan who was terminal with stage-4 cancer and obtaining guaranteed acceptance for her application, waiving the normal medical underwriting, which allowed her to receive almost-immediate treatment at two different world-renowned cancer treatment facilities; she has now been in remission for 7 years.

What challenges and opportunities do you foresee for yourself and the industry as a whole in the next 10 years?

Reducing prescription drug costs; staying fully informed on the 70+ Part C HMO plans, and hundreds of supplemental PPO plans, in southern CA; finding opportunities for hosting public and private Medicare 101 workshops; and staying in touch with my 600+ clients while helping them understand how to better navigate through the Medicare system and through their own plans, including finding new doctors and lowering their prescription drug costs.