Ritter Insurance Marketing Unveils First CMS-Approved Website for Agent Use

HARRISBURG, PA--(Marketwired - October 02, 2014) - Ritter Insurance Marketing ("Ritter") is pleased to announce the debut of their consumer-facing website, Medicareful.com, which connects eligible Medicare beneficiaries with local insurance agents. Today, consumers are being exposed to increasing numbers of health insurance websites, including Medicare.gov, Healthcare.gov, and both public and private exchanges. Independent insurance agents haven't been able to stake their claim in this massively growing trend until now. Medicareful™ makes it possible for agents to utilize their own multi-plan, CMS-approved, generic websites to service Medicare beneficiaries.

Qualifying agents of Ritter Insurance Marketing will be given their own Medicareful website complete with their contact information, as well as their own customer relationship management software ("CRM"), at no cost. The website was filed with CMS to give different agents the flexibility to use the website while customizing it to themselves. Ritter has also built in variations for future joint marketing and co-branding opportunities. 

For agents, the most riveting feature of the new-and-improved website is its unique permission-to-contact form, which creates additional compliant marketing opportunities. Typically, permission-to-contact forms only give agents authorization to call people who fit certain criteria as determined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS"). The Medicareful permission to contact is embedded with permission to e-mail and is approved by CMS, making it a game changer.

Permission to e-mail is separate and apart from permission to contact and, according to CMS rules, an agent has to get it from their clients in writing. "Since the Medicareful permission-to-contact form actually includes e-mail, it's a huge advantage for agents in this increasingly digital industry," said Craig Ritter, President of Ritter Insurance Marketing. He continued, "We have the first and only CMS-approved, multi-plan use permission to contact that includes permission to e-mail. To my knowledge, there's no website like Medicareful available to agents today."

Other notable features of Medicareful include its CRM's ability to store client information as well as permission-to-contact forms for each agent. The website also includes a 10-question survey that asks consumers about their insurance preferences and needs. Based on their answers, a Medicare plan type -- Medicare Supplement, Medicare PPO, or Medicare HMO -- is automatically recommended to them. While Medicareful offers these services and more, agents can pick and choose which ones they'd like to link to their personal websites. Agents who don't have a website can also use it on a stand-alone basis.

The new Medicareful.com made its debut on October 1, 2014, just in time for the upcoming Medicare Annual Enrollment Period beginning on October 15th.

Ritter Insurance Marketing is a national Field Marketing Organization for Senior Insurance Products. Agents affiliated with Ritter produced more than 40,000 Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D enrollments during the 2014 Annual Enrollment Period from October 15 through December 7, 2013. With more than 83 employees and 12,000 actively appointed agents, Ritter solves the distribution needs of more than 70 insurance companies.