In response to a previous blog posting (SEE POSTING HERE) we received an email from a primary care physician we know asking if insurance sales was an opportunity for him and “if so, how?”
“By Golly!” I thought, “He’s on to something!”
Independent PCPs live a tough life. Long hours, high overhead, all while breathing the same air as contagious patients in the suffocating confines of a 240 square foot examining room, five minutes at a time, all day long. “Mother never warned me about this!”
Before any income can be earned and a license to practice issued, primary care physicians must attend at least 11 years of schooling including four years of undergraduate school, four years of medical school and at least three years in a residency program. Some primary care physicians spend another one to three years in a fellowship program.
(Meanwhile, back at the ranch life is good and Saturday night comes around once a week)
More than a decade after sitting in a classroom from kinder to 12th grade, then sitting in a classroom for another 11 years, incurring student loan debt and dining on cold sardines from a can while dreaming of life on the other side, normal, functional human beings wonder “for what has life brought forth?”
You get a title. You are never called by your first name ever again. Your first name is “Doctor” and your last name doesn’t count anymore. Phd’s, on the other hand, earn the same title but in a third of the time as real doctors and always maintain their last name in any conversation with the less educated. Then, of course, there’s Doctor Dave who proves there’s a difference between a body-mechanic and a real mechanic and whose formal and free education ended shortly after his senior prom.
On top of a coveted title, you get community respect. You can’t buy respect at any price. Doctors are proof respect is licensable.
But alas the pay sucks. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the median average salary of a primary care physician was $207,380 in 2020. Doctor Dave makes more than that and so do many health insurance brokers we know.
Health insurance brokers can earn a lot more than many doctors. With each renewal brokers gain to earn more since their compensation is usually tied to a percentage of premium. With premiums as high as they are it’s not hard to imagine the kind of money to be made selling health insurance.
Our doctor friend seems to understand the income potential of health insurance brokers. “Why am I working my ass off as hard as I am when I can make an easy $500,000 with little or no overhead expense? he must be thinking.
He’s exactly right!
The average size PCP panel is 2,300. I’ve seen PCP panels much larger than that, especially in deep South ‘Texas. It’s not unusual to see a panel with as many as 4,000 patients. What if our doctor friend sold 4,000 health insurance policies over a period of time? What kind of money could he make?
If he becomes a BCBSTX broker and participates in the 2024 Agent Bonus program he may earn more than $1,000,000. Residual commissions, year after year, will likely be $1.2 million. With his title of respect and a license to prove it he will do well in sales and will enjoy a sales advantage over his new found peers.
“Mother never told me about this!”
FROM A PHYSICIAN (partially redacted)
You are wasting your talents! You need to train physicians who want to become insurance agents!
- Application process with intensive testing to exclude anyone who lacks the innate ingrained ability to exploit others for personal gain without remorse while simultaneously maintaining a firmly held belief in the unassailable value of commissions to the broader social good. (this is relatively uncommon in the physician population and you will need to carefully screen interested candidates to avoid wasting more time)
- One week Intensive led by tag team for serious brainwashing and permanent indoctrination through transfer of the most evil secrets of commission, bonus and override exploitation to create a human machine that will consistently excel at exploitation and income maximization through even the most arduous and convoluted inventive compensation scheme.
- Includes at least one day spent on how to fool anyone while maintaining the appearance of always acting in the unsuspecting client’s best interest.
- No risk to any applicant who makes it through the intensive testing process – if you are accepted into the program and don’t prove to be well suited to exploitation and income maximization, there is no charge.
- There is also no charge for those who successfully complete the program. Just a modest 10% of earnings on the first million, and only 1% on lifetime earnings after that….however, active supervision and/or return visits for re-indoctrination may be required if earnings performance falls below reasonable expectations.
