By Susan Rupe
Zachary Freeman has been a Medicare agent for nearly 12 years and described the current environment for agents this way.
“It truly is the wild, wild West.”
Freeman is an agent at Ann M. Wiley Insurance in Conneaut, Ohio, where he works solely with Medicare clients. He told InsuranceNewsNet the current Medicare market is “chaotic.”
“We’re seeing insurance companies cutting commissions. Making the market harder for agents to navigate and be able to help their clients. We’re seeing a lot of plans pulling out from certain areas. It’s chaos,” he said.
By Paige Minemyer
The Trump administration has officially launched its new “bridge” model that brings GLP-1 coverage for weight loss to Medicare beneficiaries.
Eligible people enrolled in Medicare Part D can secure certain GLP-1 medications for weight loss or management at $50 each month. The program will remain in place through the end of 2027, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said in an announcement.
By Paige Minemyer
The feds are set to pay out at least $13.4 billion in Medicare quality bonus payments this year, up slightly year over year and reflecting a rapid escalation in spending over the past decade, a new report shows.
Spending on quality payments was $12.7 billion in 2025, according to a new analysis from KFF. The 2026 estimate, however, is more than four times the $3 billion paid out in 2015, the researchers said.
By Nancy Ochieng, Juliette Cubanski, and Tricia Neuman
As an increasing share of older adults have adopted digital health technologies over the past several years, and with most expressing interest in using them to manage their health care, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has introduced several initiatives to expand the use of digital health technologies in Medicare. Broadly speaking, these technologies include health-related applications (“apps”), online patient portals, and connected devices such as smartphones and wearable devices that can be used to measure or track health data.
By Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek and Nolan Sroczynski
In recent years, federal payments to Medicare Advantage plans, and how they are adjusted for enrollee health status, have come under increased scrutiny. Medicare Advantage plans receive a capitated amount for each enrollee, and these payments are “risk adjusted” based on the diagnosis codes reported by the insurer to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for each enrollee. Plans receive higher payments for enrollees who are sicker and expected to have higher health care spending, and lower payments for enrollees who are healthier and expected to have lower health care spending.
By Maggie Stedt and David Ethington
The Medicare Supplement sales landscape is undergoing changes with a number of carriers here in California. With substantial rate increases, changes in guarantee issue guidelines, and withdrawals of some carriers from the marketplace, today’s agent must do their due diligence when presenting and submitting Medigap plans.
A few carriers such as Aetna and Anthem Blue Cross require underwriting for individuals who are voluntarily leaving their group plans if they are not new to Medicare Part B coverage. It is important that the application be truthful for this situation as checking the box as involuntary when voluntary can be considered misleading and a misrepresentation and could place the coverage at risk if discovered down the road.
By California Broker Magazine
If you have clients who are nearing retirement age, they probably have many questions about Medicare. Are they supposed to switch to Medicare exactly at age 65? If they keep working, should they stay on the group plan their employer offers? As a licensed health insurance professional, you are in a key position to give your clients an objective Medicare comparison to group medical insurance. Learn more about your clients’ potential questions and prepare to address their specific concerns about Medicare and employment.
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)
