We are shaking things up! After years in Las Vegas, we are moving the annual conference to warm, sunny, and beautiful San Diego. Read on to learn what else is in store when we gather at the Manchester Grand Hyatt February 14-16, 2024.
Pack your swimsuits! The 2024 Medicare Marketing & Sales Summit is moving to “America’s Finest City” at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, a waterfront hotel in downtown San Diego. But our location isn’t the only thing that’s new. Check out why we can’t wait to attend our marquee Medicare marketing and sales event of the year.
New preconference workshops
We’re unveiling two preconference workshops for this year’s event.
The first workshop will go beyond sales in Medicare and will take a deep dive into marketing and sales for Medicaid, commercial, and exchange plans. Naomi Irvin, MBA, chief of staff-government markets, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina will help lead this all-day session.
A second afternoon session will focus on operationalizing new CMS rules for communications and marketing. The workshop will be led by Ana Handshuh, CHC, principal, CAT5 Strategies; Shelley Segal, CEO, Segal Medicare Experts; and Erin Ackenheil, owner, BlackPoint Insurance.
Additional registration is required for preconference workshops.
New conference track
We’ve added a new track for health plans to share their latest innovations. In addition to our always popular sales, marketing, member experience, and plan benefit and design tracks, our new track will serve as an innovation showcase.
Planned sessions in the track include:
- BayCare Health Plans’ case study on operation growth and how to create a five-year strategy to take your organization to the next level
- Turning patients into members: Five ways to maximize conversion
- Independence Blue Cross on local retail and affinity partnerships that bring value
- Kansas Assistance Network, LLC on achieving health equity through a nonprofit brokerage model
- Mass Advantage case study on how to go to market in 2.5 months without losing your sanity
- Tools and technology spotlights
Hot topic general sessions
Our main sessions will focus on CMS marketing and communication changes, AEP, health equity, and Star ratings.
A panel will interpret the latest CMS marketing and communication changes. Naomi Irvin, MBA, chief of staff-government markets, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Jotham Cortez, vice president of growth, CommuniCare Advantage, and others will serve on the panel. They’ll discuss how different plans are interpreting the new CMS guidelines and which changes are working and which are not; what the latest changes may mean for future plan years; and how other plans are pivoting and rebalancing their efforts and what their experience has been so far.
We’ll also do a post-mortem on AEP in 2023. Attendees will participate in an interactive review of AEP, including what went well, what didn’t, and lessons learned along the way.
Learn how to incorporate health equity performance into your plan’s marketing, interventions, and products. Ana Handshuh, principal, CAT5 Strategies, and Rick Whitted, CEO, U.S. Hunger, will discuss the impacts and implications of the new health equity index for MA plans that serve populations of members with certain defined social risk factors. They’ll also look at other health equity provisions proposed by CMS.
ATRIO Health Plans’ Melinda Walker, VP of sales, and Jessica Assefa, chief quality officer, will explain what Star ratings program changes mean for sales and marketing. They’ll explore how ATRIO health plan broke through organizational silos and optimized their sales team to “align the Stars” and improve health plan ratings. They’ll also explain how sales agents can bolster Star ratings during and outside of AEP, how to maximize the use of your telesales agents after AEP, and how to arm your sales team with educational tools to incorporate Star’s strategy into the work they do year-round.
Rock star keynotes
As previously announced, we’ve lined up two amazing keynotes.
Alexis Abrahamson, an Emmy and Gracie award-winning journalist and an expert in gerontology, will address how to capture the boomer consumer.
Her presentation will focus on strategy and effectively engaging the Baby Boomer generation to harness their substantial purchasing power and meeting their distinctive health and lifestyle needs. She’ll go beyond the cookie-cutter approach, spotlighting the nuances that characterize Boomers and the individual preferences that heavily influence their investment decisions in Medicare products. She will also layout practical tactics tailored to Boomers including how to build trust, how to craft personalized experiences, and how to effectively mix traditional and digital marketing to resonate with them.
Back by popular demand is author and growth expert Meridith Elliot Powell, CSP, CPAE. A keynote at our 2020 conference, she’ll return to the stage to present innovative techniques to open doors and powerful strategies to shorten the sales cycle, increase your close ratio, and build your reputation and credibility with clients.
Incredible location
What could be better than spending cold and wintery February in warm and wonderful San Diego? Only spending it in an upscale hotel in downtown San Diego with waterfront views.
In addition to the stunning location, the Manchester Grand Hyatt offers easy access to the best beaches, restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues in San Diego.
Better yet, extend your stay through the weekend and visit popular attractions, such as the USS Midway Museum, Seaport Village, Little Italy, Gaslamp Quarter, and Balboa Park.
The Medicare Marketing & Sales Summit will take place February 14-16, 2024, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego. Click here to learn more about the conference, including preconference workshops, the agenda, roster of speakers, cocktail receptions and networking opportunities, and how to register.