Brendan Murton of Wildcat discusses preparing an insurance agency for Open Enrollment, drawing on Agent Boost's Medicare and ACA kickoff. The conversation covers marketplace safeguards, carrier contracting across product lines, agency affiliations, and developing a stable book of residual income. It also explores the practical hurdles of coordinating agents and subagencies across group, individual health, and Medicare business.

In this episode

  • Open Enrollment preparation
  • ACA marketplace safeguards
  • Carrier contracting
  • Subagency operations
  • Residual income

Show notes

ACA agency owner Brendan Murton of Wildcat joins Dan and Mike to talk about what agents are facing heading into open enrollment. They start with a recap of the Agent Boost Medicare and ACA kickoff, which drew about 300 people each day, why the event centered on agents and agency owners instead of carrier pitches, and the live stream that went down when the building Wi-Fi crashed.

From there they break down the news that has the industry on edge: Federally Facilitated Marketplace certifications that are open for existing agents but still closed to new ones, a proposed moratorium nobody has explained, and NPN overrides where the official answer from CMS is apparently "maybe." They cover ACA enrollment sliding from about 19 million toward 16 to 17 million, Medicaid work requirements that could hit millions of people on January 1, and a marketplace call center that is moving away from taking calls from agents. Brendan then shares his path from Primerica and life insurance into health insurance, and how partnering with Agent Boost let him stop spending 15 hours of contracting admin per agent and focus on training his team.

The back half covers what contracting really takes behind the scenes, why switching uplines is nothing like entering the transfer portal, and how agents can avoid selling before they are appointed or licensed. Brendan explains how Wildcat structures overrides and sub agencies, what a real upline partnership should provide, and why ACA builds the best future Medicare book. They also get into the new authorization blocks that will slow agents down this open enrollment, why ACA is actually easier than when he started, and why there are no shortcuts in this business. They close with how to reach Brendan and Wildcat, plus the Japan trip he takes his top agents on.

Chapters

  • 0:00 Cold Open
  • 1:19 Welcome Brendan Murton
  • 2:20 Kickoff Recap: 300 Agents a Day and Casino Night
  • 4:42 Why the Kickoff Focused on Agents Instead of Carriers
  • 8:54 The Live Stream Crash
  • 10:21 Opportunity Zones and Waiting on Carrier Plans
  • 11:50 FFM Certs and the Proposed Moratorium for New Agents
  • 14:06 Fewer Agents When Consumers Need Help Most
  • 16:06 NPN Overrides and CMS Saying Maybe
  • 19:26 ACA Enrollment Drops From 19 Million
  • 20:08 Medicaid Work Requirements: A Political Nuke in January
  • 21:15 Marketplace Call Center Changes and the End of Three Way Calls
  • 22:45 The ACA Wild West and New Authorization Rules
  • 26:19 Brendan's Path From Primerica to Health Insurance
  • 29:42 Building Wildcat and the Admin Burden of Onboarding
  • 32:12 What Contracting Actually Takes Behind the Scenes
  • 35:03 The Transfer Portal Myth
  • 38:11 Agent View, Ready to Sell Status, and Unlicensed Sales
  • 40:42 No Contract, No Commission
  • 42:40 How Wildcat Structures Overrides and Sub Agencies
  • 44:38 What a Real Upline Partnership Looks Like
  • 46:30 Why ACA Builds the Best Medicare Book
  • 47:51 Open Enrollment Challenges: The New Authorization Blocks
  • 49:23 Why ACA Is Easier Than Ever
  • 51:46 No Shortcuts: Build It Brick by Brick
  • 53:37 How to Reach Brendan and Wildcat