The CSI Life (and Central States Indemnity) electronic Medicare Supplement application offers three different ways to submit business, all faster than mailing or faxing. In the video below, I'll walk you through it step by step, and point out some important things to know.
How to access the app
Access the CSI Life agent portal by going to service.iasadmin.com/csilife and if you have an account, sign in. If not you’ll need to register. After logging in, you’ll find the e-App by choosing the “Online App” menu from the menu bar.
Get a quote
CSI Life e-App
| Online Quotes | ✔ |
| Electronic Signature | ✔ |
| Voice Signature | ✔ |
| Wet Signature | ✔ |
| Pre-Fill Agent Details | ✔ |
| Resume Later? | ✔ |
| Pre-Fill for client, then Print for wet sig? |
✔ |
| Upload Attachments? | ✗ |
| Add notes to UW? | ✗ |
If you’ve used the Central States Indemnity app in the past, you may recall seeing two buttons: Get a Quote, and Start Application. Those have been combined into one button, named “Get Started”.
By combining these, there’s no longer a chance of making it all the way through the app to find the client wasn’t clear on the rates. That is now shown early in the process.
After clicking the “Get Started” button, you are taken to the Get Quote screen. Here you’ll need to enter a few basic bits of information, then you’ll get quotes for all available plans in the client’s zip code.
Complete the application
To start the application, just choose “Apply Now” under the plan you want — Plan F for example.
Next is the basic Applicant Information, including name, address, and phone. The next screen is for Medicare Info, followed by height, weight, and sex.
The Health Questions follow. Answering Yes to questions 1-12 make the applicant ineligible. However, the app isn’t programmed to stop you from continuing. By comparison, Aetna’s app won’t let you continue if you answer yes to a “knockout” question. Questions 13-16 can be answered “Yes” but you’ll need to include an explanation in the field on that screen.
The Medications screen loads next. If your client has taken any prescriptions within the last 12 months, you’ll need to enter them here, including name, prescription date, dosage, frequency, and reason. Repeat this for each drug, then continue.
Moving on to the Replacement Questions, we answer Yes or No to each. If you are replacing another Med Supp policy, a screen will load where you’ll need to indicate which company and plan you’re replacing. As you type th first few letters of the company name, it will try to auto-complete it for you. Then you move on to adding the reason for replacement.
Next up — if you’re in Illinois or Kentucky — is the Policy Checklist. The numbers will be filled in for you, but check to make sure they’re accurate. If not you may change them.
Now, complete the Bank Draft Information. You can choose any draft date from the 1st to the 28th of the month. If you want a specific date, such as the 15th, you’ll select the last option, then choose the date from the dropdown list. The next screen asks for the bank account info.
Locking and signing the application
Finally, we get to the signature options. There are three options available: Electronic, Voice, or Wet Signature. The first two options require that your client has an email address — if they do not, Wet Signature is the only choice. The Voice Signature option is the easiest one by far, but let’s walk through each.
Electronic Signature
If you choose the electronic signature option, you’ll be presented with a checkbox asking you to attest that you’re the agent of record. Once you do, new fields become available, where you will enter your client’s email address (if you haven’t yet) and select whether you want electronic or paper delivery. If you choose paper, you may also choose who gets the policy - agent or applicant.
Once this is done, click on “Send UserID via Email”. After this you see a confirmation that the email was sent. Below that is a list of documents the client must review and sign, along with the status.
At this point, your client gets an email from CSI Life. The email will contain a link to the application. Once they click the link, they’ll need to enter their User ID, which in most cases will be their email address, along with their date of birth and phone number, and they’ll create a password. You’ll want to remind them to keep a record of the password, because they’ll need it again later.
The next screen they’ll see is a "Consent to Do Business Electronically". They may opt-out of the electronic signature process at this point. If they do, they’ll be presented with a list of files to print and sign. This is the same list you were shown after emailing their User ID. If they choose to print them, they need to send them to you for your signature.
On the other hand, if they agree, they’ll move on to review each document. First they must click the View button to open the Outline of Coverage. This open the document in a new browser tab (or window). They simply have to close it to move on, but you should be familiar with this. Sometimes people accidentally close their entire web browser instead of just one document window.
After that, they move on to the remaining documents — they must open, read, and close each. As they do this, the red text reading “Required” will change to green text saying “Reviewed”. When all files are reviewed and green, the Continue button becomes available.
They move to the Binding Agreement Disclosure, which contains a button reading “Sign Documents”. Be aware that clicking this button is equal to signing. Clicking the button signs all of the documents automatically.
Now, in most cases, your client will see a screen regarding the Phone Interview. They may choose a date and time for the Underwriter to call. Calls can be made between 9am to 5pm Eastern Time. If your client signs the app before 3:30pm EST, they can still schedule the call for the same day. to schedule the call, the client must click the “Finish” button.
At the scheduled time, the Underwriter will call your client. After the call has been completed, your client will get another email, again asking them to login to the website. They will then be able to see whether or not they were approved.
If they are approved, they’ll see all their policy documents, with the exception of the Welcome Letter and ID card. They must click the “Activate” button to place the policy in effect, after which the Welcome letter and ID card are shown.
If you need to make changes to the app
You may make changes before sending the User ID, by clicking the “Make Changes” button.
If you have already sent the User ID, you’ll need to click the “Lock App” button, then click “Make Changes” button. While the app is locked, your client cannot login to the website. When you’re done with the changes, press “Unlock App”, and then your client will be able to login.
Voice Signature
If you choose the Voice Signature option, you’ll be presented with a checkbox, similar to the electronic option above, where you attest to being the agent of record. There’s also a disclaimer about the call.
Next you’ll choose a time for the underwriting phone interview and voice signature. Available times are the same as discussed above. Once you click the button reading “I Agree”, the call is scheduled, and your part is done.
Your client gets an email with Authorization Code and a reminder of date and time they’ll be calling. You will get a copy of this email so you can see what your client sees - however your copy will not contain the Authorization Code.
Your client waits for the phone call, provides the Authorization Code, and completes the application.
Wet Signature
You may wonder why anyone would choose the Wet Signature option for an electronic application. Turns out there’s a really good reason to do so — when you fax or mail an app, someone at the underwriter’s office must grab your app and manually re-enter everything into their computer system, so they’re basically doing data entry. When you do an electronic app, you are essentially entering data directly into the underwriting system, bypassing that data entry on their end. Electronic apps always take precedence.
Now even though you’re getting a wet signature, the app is in their system, and ready to be processed. Once you fax in signatures, processing can begin — and your apps still take precedence over apps completed by hand.
To use the Wet Signature option, you must click a small “View” button next to each document name. This will open the document in a new window. From there you need to print the document, then close the window. Repeat this for all the documents.
From here you have your client sign everything as usual. Then you can mail or fax them in, or upload them to the agent portal.
Final notes
The CSI Life e-App isn’t perfect, but we know they’re working on some improvements. At this point, the Voice Signature option is your best bet unless you know that your client is really comfortable with computers. It will probably take some practice for you to get familiar with the various screens and options, but if you’ll try it a few times I think you’ll find you save significant time no only completing apps, but also on the approval process.
Lastly, here are links to the agent portal and training materials.
If you have any questions about the e-App, just ask in the comments section below.
