Her Story
About Lita
I've been in the health industry since May of 1998, and I specialize in Medicare. With 27 years of experience, I truly consider myself an expert in the senior Medicare market. My goal from the beginning has always been to help seniors, and that passion drives everything I do. I'm currently licensed in 30 states and work as a broker, which allows me to work with several different providers to find the best fit for each individual. I help seniors a lot during the annual enrollment time period, and I've given seminars at Ascension Hospitals in Chicago and all over Indiana, educating people on the phone across all 30 states where I'm licensed. I focus on educating seniors about their options and then, depending on their needs, that's where I place them in the market. I'm incredibly proud that I've never had a compliance issue in all these years. Before specializing in Medicare, I did health care for a municipality for 10 years, where I managed a $4 million healthcare plan and provided healthcare to police and fire departments. I educated myself on health maintenance organizations HMO, and learned how to help people save money by making smart healthcare choices, like going to urgent care instead of the emergency room. This field is very technical and very compliant, governed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Insurance, so there are a lot of laws that have to be followed. I also served under oath as Human Relations Commissioner for Lake County, Indiana where I became president of boards of the commissioners, and I educated myself extensively on EEOC and HUD. I was named Businesswoman of the Year for the State of Indiana in Washington, DC in 2005, which was a great honor.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Lita
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would encourage young people to start out and take all the tests to become a licensed agent, make sure that you're able to pass everything. Focus hard and set your goals. Some people cannot take tests, so you need to see if this field is for you. As people age and the baby boomers are all aging, there's so much opportunity out there to help others in the senior markets. I think that the senior market is not looked at as it should be compared to the younger market. The younger market's important, but it's important for them to be able to help the seniors, because they went through it all their life, and it's time for them to be rewarded. Make sure that you set your goals. This field is open wide. Not a lot of people want to go through all the tests. Every year, you have to take a test with AHIP, even if you are licensed, and you have to get 90% and you have 2 hours to finish it, if you want to sell Medicare advantage. There's not a lot of people that can do it. Setting your goals is important - you gotta focus. For me to say that I've never had a compliance issue in 27 years is hard for anybody to say. That's how picky I am. I would tell the young people to get into the field and try to mentor them and educate them. You gotta keep it up. Every year, just like attorneys, you have to get your CE credits for your license through the state. You have, 24 months to do that. There's a lot of rules in this field. It's not easy. Mentorship is really important. The younger people, if they're gonna get in this field, they gotta study, they gotta focus, they can't just think it's an okay job. The rules change, the providers change, the commissions change, the salaries change - everything changes, but it's rewarding to me.
02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Values are helping others. You always gotta educate what they have and how can you make it better. The values are morally, integrity and compliant education to make sure that they know what they're getting into. Those are the important factors for me. I think educating seniors and saving money for seniors is one of the most rewarding things. Giving seminars and educating the people to try to get them on a better path for their life when it comes to income and so forth - those are so rewarding, and I've done that so many times. Helping others is rewarding to me.
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