Insurance Business Babes

Topflight Founder and CEO Joanna Wyckoff joined David Denning on The Modern Insurance Agent Podcast to talk about how independent Medicare agents can reinvent themselves as full-service life and health agents, and how AI and smart marketing are changing what it takes to compete.

Joanna shares her journey from the Air Force and Social Security to building a Medicare FMO from scratch in under two years, without private equity or an inherited downline. She explains why she leads with value instead of recruiting, why agents need to use their entire license, and how she uses AI tools to save time, catch missed commissions, and run her business more efficiently.

In this episode:
00:00 – Intro
01:21 – Meet Joanna Wyckoff
03:12 – From the Air Force and Social Security to insurance
08:17 – Starting the Insurance Ladies Facebook group
16:39 – Building an FMO by leading with value
19:32 – How carrier changes are affecting agents
24:51 – Why agents can’t just be Medicare agents anymore
25:47 – Getting past the stigma around sales
33:22 – Helping clients fill coverage gaps
36:58 – Advice for agents making the full-service shift
42:46 – How AI and automation are changing the business
50:53 – The biggest myth about Medicare compliance
53:09 – The long-term value of renewals
58:23 – Where to connect with Joanna

Credits [Special Episode]:
This episode originally aired on The Modern Insurance Agent Podcast, hosted by David Denning of Jumpstart Go.

All rights and credit belong to David Denning and The Modern Insurance Agent Podcast. Listen to more episodes and find the show notes at jumpstartgonow.com/podcast

For agent education purposes only. This is not intended for Medicare beneficiaries.

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Host: Joanna Wyckoff 
Guest: David Denning
Insurance Business Babes is owned by Cmed LLC.

Your clients might qualify for PACE, and they may not even know it.

Joanna sits down with Samantha, a licensed agent, PACE expert, NABIP Medicare Advisory Group member, and founding board member of Trusted Healthcare Alliance, to explain the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). It isn’t Original Medicare and it isn’t Medicare Advantage. It’s a separate program built for people who need nursing home level care but want to stay at home.

In this episode:

→ What PACE is and who qualifies (55+, nursing home level of care, living in a service area)

→ The 11-role interdisciplinary care team that coordinates everything

→ Prescriptions with no formulary, transportation from trained staff, meals, respite care, and DME

→ How agents can contract with PACE organizations and still get paid

→ Why agents shouldn’t fear “losing” clients to PACE

→ Caregiver burnout, loneliness, and the case for helping people age in place

If you serve dual-eligible or high-need clients, this conversation changes how you think about your role.

Chapters:
00:30 Meet Samantha
01:09 What is PACE?
03:13 Prescriptions & benefits
05:20 The 11-role care team
10:39 How agents get paid
13:13 Who qualifies
17:43 What PACE covers
29:22 How PACE is funded
32:02 Medicare-only enrollment & cost
33:30 Loneliness & aging in place
42:27 Marketing rules for PACE
48:00 Why agents should embrace PACE

#Medicare #PACE #InsuranceAgents #MedicareAgent #DualEligible #AgingInPlace #InsuranceBusinessBabes 
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Host: Joanna Wyckoff 
Guest: Samantha
Insurance Business Babes is owned by Cmed LLC.

Your PDP clients need a plan review this AEP, but what if you can't (or don't want to) do every one yourself?

Joanna and Kathe sit down with Melinda Caughill of HeyMOE, a Part D plan comparison tool built to help Medicare beneficiaries review their drug plans with confidence. Melinda breaks down how agents can point clients to a self-serve option without losing the relationship.

In this episode:

- What "HeyMOE" actually stands for

- How clients use HeyMOE and why it catches errors [Medicare.gov](http://medicare.gov/)

doesn't- Drug entry flags: levothyroxine tablets vs. capsules, metformin combos, OTC drugs, and Part B drugs

- Brand vs. generic toggles and seeing real-time savings

- Why comparing 20 local pharmacies can save clients hundreds

- How the agent affiliate program and dashboard work

- Client data privacy: does Hey Moe sell consumer data?
> > Chapters
> > 00:00 Intro: three PDP review options for your clients
> > 02:30 Welcome, Melinda Caughill
> > 03:18 What "HeyMOE" stands for
> > 04:16 How HeyMOE works for clients
> > 05:32 Signing up as an agent affiliate
> > 08:09 How the affiliate fee works
> > 09:48 Plan data and suppressed plans
> > 11:45 Drug entry guardrails
> > 18:37 2027 drug rules and biosimilars
> > 19:51 GLP-1s and the bridge program
> > 22:42 Part B drug flags
> > 25:22 Viewing your clients' results
> > 30:00 Pharmacy savings across 20 locations
> > 35:20 Future pricing for current subscribers
> > 39:38 Does HeyMOE sell client data?
> > 42:00 Wrap-up
Become a HeyMOE affiliate: https://certifiedmedicareagents.com/heymoe
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#InsuranceBusinessBabes #MedicareAgent #MedicareSeminars #InsuranceMarketing #AgentLife

Host: Joanna Wyckoff and Kathe Kline
Guest: Melinda Caughill
Insurance Business Babes is owned by Cmed LLC.

How do you fill a movie theater with 100 Medicare prospects without paying for it all yourself?
Steve Pomerantz and his team, Paula and Rachel, join Joanna to break down their sold-out "Medicare and a Movie" seminar. They had 130 RSVPs and about 100 people in the seats. They cover how they picked the movie, how they split the cost with a carrier and a provider, the Facebook ads that made seniors stop scrolling, and the follow-up system that turns attendees and no-shows into appointments.
They also share how Steve grew from writing 50 apps in one AEP to over 300 the next by investing in the right people.
In this episode:
Why nostalgic movies draw a senior crowd

What a 100-person movie event really costs (about $20 per person)

How to pitch carriers and providers to co-sponsor your events

Ad creative that stops the scroll, and why it doesn't have to be pretty

Writing better AI prompts for your ads and thumbnails

The $3.64 book that works as a lead generator

Why you should never give up on your no-shows

"Bring your mail": using the ANOC to create urgency

Inviting current clients as built-in social proof

Hiring and training your team before AEP, not during it
Chapters:
00:30 Welcome Steve, Paula and Rachel
00:45 The 100-person movie event
01:48 Choosing the right movie for seniors
02:36 What it cost
03:28 Splitting the cost with a carrier and provider
05:02 Facebook ads that stop the scroll
07:16 Multiple ad creatives and AI prompts
10:39 Keeping the room engaged for 45 minutes
12:36 The book giveaway
14:13 Follow-up and setting appointments
16:34 130 RSVPs, 100 shows
17:27 Don't write off your no-shows
19:28 Annual Notice of Change: tell them to bring their mail
20:34 What happens when a plan leaves the county
24:08 Newsletters and a calendar of events
26:31 Partnering with community lifestyle directors
30:03 From 50 apps to 300+: investing in staff
34:05 Current clients as social proof
36:18 Hire and train early
37:36 The fortune is in the follow-up
38:58 Every policy is a family served
"Every insurance policy is actually a family who is served and taken care of. It's not just a policy sold." – Joanna Wyckoff

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#InsuranceBusinessBabes #MedicareAgent #MedicareSeminars #InsuranceMarketing #AgentLife
Host: Joanna Wyckoff 
Guest: Steve Pomerantz, Paula & Rachel
Insurance Business Babes is owned by Cmed LLC.

If your appointments start and end with Medicare, you're leaving most of the relationship on the table. While Joanna's out, Kevin Sword sits down with TopFlight lead agent Mario Ortega to walk through the fact finder that turns a Medicare appointment into a full retirement conversation.

Mario covers his whole process: how he introduces himself at seminars so clients expect the bigger conversation, the personal questions that uncover hidden income and needs, and how to spot openings for long-term care, life insurance, critical illness and annuities without selling during the fact find.

In this episode:

• Why your process matters more than any form
• Positioning yourself as a retirement advisor, not "just" a Medicare agent
• How asking about marriage, divorce or widowhood can uncover Social Security benefits worth $1,200 to $1,500 a month
• Reading the client: teachers, engineers, doctors and government employees
• The deductible and out-of-pocket question that shows when a Med Supp beats the work plan
• Using family health history and parents' longevity to guide cancer, critical illness and annuity conversations
• Long-term care without fear tactics, and why every AEP is another chance to bring it up
• How the Heartland home health plan fits clients with long medication lists
• Life insurance reviews: spotting accidental death coverage sold as "whole life," and partnering with estate attorneys
• Real client stories: the pension question behind a $500K rollover, and the $80K old IRA that became the "dumbest luck annuity"
• Hidden income such as dividends and high-yield savings interest that pushes clients into IRMAA surcharges
• Why you should always close the Medicare sale first

Guest: Mario Ortega
Host: Kevin Sword (filling in for Joanna Wyckoff)
Insurance Business Babes is owned by Cmed LLC.

AEP is in the air and Kathe and Joanna are not entirely thrilled aboutit. In this episode, the ladies get into what's frustrating about thisseason (carriers releasing first looks in late September, non-commissionableplans, and plans being suppressed off Medicare.gov entirely) and whatagents can actually do about it. Then they shift to the part most agentsskip: getting yourself ready before October 15th hits.

What they cover: 

- Why waiting on carrier first looks has agents stuck in "hurry upand wait"

- Directing clients to Medicare.gov for PDP reviews and what to expectfrom the accuracy

- Guaranteed issue confusion, and why unlicensed guidance costs consumersreal money

- Why your business address should not be your home address (especiallyfor women)- Pre-AEP admin: license renewals, CE hours, FFM certification, carregistration. Do it now

- Health prep that protects your season: doctor appointments, mealprepping, grocery delivery, and walking while you work 

If your birthday falls during AEP, this one's especially for you. 

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Host: Joanna Wyckoff & Kathe KlineInsurance Business Babes is owned by Cmed LLC. 

Most agents are sitting on a book of business they never go back to.

In this episode, Joanna and Laura pick up last week's conversation and get specific: How do you call a client you enrolled years ago and offer them something new without feeling like a product pusher?

The answer starts before the sale. Laura walks through how she sets the expectation at the very first meeting: she's not there to sell a plan, she's there for the whole person. That framing is what makes the second, third, and fifth conversation possible years later.

They cover:

• Why the relationship has to start at the seminar table, not at renewal

• Getting your phone number into the client's phone before they ever need you

• How to read a client's medication list as a roadmap to coverage gaps

• Painting the picture: what recovery actually looks like after a stroke, and why family isn't a plan

• Using real client stories instead of product pitches
• Getting a benefit into the client's hands fast so they never second-guess the decision
• Tagging and organizing your book so you know exactly who to call next
• Why the no-shows on your seminar list are still leads you paid for
• The mindset shift: you're an entrepreneur offering solutions, not a salesperson pushing product
• Where life insurance and annuities fit for agents feeling squeezed on Medicare commissions

Laura's core argument: if you don't offer it, nobody will. And the client pays for that silence later.
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Guest: Laura Winningham
Host: Joanna Wyckoff & Kathe Kline 
Insurance Business Babes is owned by Cmed LLC.

You may as well be lighting your marketing budget on fire if you're not following up. While Kathy's away, Joanna sits down with special guest Laura Winningham to unpack the follow-up system that separates agents who fill their calendars from agents whose RSVPs go cold.

Laura shares her exact playbook from calling every lead before the event and using storytelling techniques that build instant trust, to capturing the cross-selling opportunities (cancer, home health care, life insurance) most agents miss.

In this episode:

• Why calling leads before the event sets the first impression and outperforms waiting for an inbound call

• How storytelling (not the ABCs) is what actually sells you in a seminar

• Reading the room: tailoring your pitch to teachers, federal workers, and union members

• The "Cancer Alley" hook and other stories that make prospects lean in
• Real client stories: the $10,000 deductible surprise, the wired-jaw dental gap, and the scooter that got denied
• How the Heartland home health care rebate mechanism works (and why clients love it)
• Using VAs and automations without losing the personal touch
• The permission-to-contact rule: why no-shows and old leads are still fair game
• Why your existing client list is a goldmine you're not mining hard enough

Guest: Laura Winningham
Host: Joanna Wyckoff 
Insurance Business Babes is owned by Cmed LLC.

Kathy's on a break this episode, so Joanna brings the show straight from a Monday Morning Live training session, joined by COO Kevin and guest trainer Emily Henderson, one of the team's top producers. Emily walks through a live role-play demo of exactly how she presents a Medicare Advantage plan review to a client, using Kevin as her practice client "Mr. Jones."

This episode is a masterclass in presentation structure: Emily shows how to walk a client through a summary of benefits line by line, premiums, deductibles, MOOP, hospital copays, specialist visits, and extra perks while identifying "the holes" in the plan as she goes, not after the sale is done. Joanna jumps in with the reasoning behind the technique: why you have to bring up gap coverage while the client is still feeling the "pain point," and why staying silent about it isn't neutral, it's a disservice.

In this episode:

• A full live walkthrough of how to present a Medicare Advantage summary of benefits
• How to identify plan "holes" in real time instead of circling back later
• Why bringing up hospital copay, dental, and cancer gap coverage during the pain point works better than pitching it afterward
• The "you're the expert" mindset: why offering gap coverage is a responsibility, not a sales tactic
• A simple way to reframe cost: showing clients they're often paying just a few dollars a month for extensive protection

If you've ever struggled with how to naturally bring up ancillary coverage without sounding like you're upselling, this episode gives you the exact language and structure to do it.

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  Hosted by Kathy Klein & Joanna Wyckoff

Medicare season doesn’t end when enrollment periods end—it’s time to start building for AEP. In this training, Joanna Wyckoff explains how top Medicare agents use the months leading up to AEP to fill their calendars, nurture existing clients, cross-sell additional products, uncover overlooked plan benefits, and build valuable referral partnerships. Learn how to reverse-engineer Medicare plan benefits to find dentists, DME providers, vision centers, gyms, realtors, and other community partners, while using events and ongoing outreach to create a steady pipeline of prospects. The focus is simple: get active now, build relationships, provide value, and create the foundation for a successful AEP.

Topics covered:

• Preparing for AEP Early
• Building a Full Activity Calendar
• Cross-Selling Your Existing Book of Business
• Reverse-Engineering Plan Benefits
• Building Referral Partnerships
• Community Engagement & Events
• Building a Prospect Pipeline
• Finding Special Enrollment Opportunities
• The Core Strategy