Agent Update Memo — May 2025
Agent Update Memo — May 2025
Below you will find new Medicare training and information both from Senior Marketing Specialists and the insurance industry as a whole. This information will be updated throughout the month.
Senior Marketing Specialists Updates
- Are you doing any marketing to fuel your growth? Contact us to see if we can help cost-share it with you!
- Are you interested in doing seminars? Reach out to learn how LeadingResponse can make this easy for you.
- This is one of the best times of the year to be hiring and training new agents – need help? Let us know!
- 2025 Market Disruptions Webinar: May 27th, 2025 @ 2 PM CST.
- Spots are limited, so secure yours now using this link: Register Here!
- Topics include:
- Market Disruptions Unraveled: Key regulatory changes in the MAPD landscape and how to leverage them.
- AEP 2026 Forecast: Emerging trends and strategies to stay ahead.
- Medicare Supplement Spotlight: Navigating carrier rate hikes to benefit your clients.
Industry Updates
- Elevance faces another ‘ghost network’ lawsuit
- Big Proposed Changes to ACA for 2026
- Aetna Withdraws from ACA market for 2026
- AHIP will be launching the new 2026 Medicare Certification on June 23rd
- The CDC and FDA have advised against the use of Valneva’s IXCHIQ chikungunya vaccine (to prevent Mosquito-borne diseases) for travelers aged 60 and older due to an investigation into potential side effects, including heart and brain symptoms. Read more here.
- CMS may add Part B drugs to price negotiations
Carrier Updates
- ACE
- NEW PRODUCT: INA Medicare Supplement, replacing ACE: Launching July 1, 2025.
- Beginning July 1, INA will serve as our active Medicare Supplement product for all new business in approved states. While ACE will no longer accept new applications after June 30, all existing ACE policies will remain active and fully supported.
- Click here for a one-click process to add INA to your existing ACE contract!
- No additional paperwork is required.
- Deadline to complete: June 15, 2025
- After completing the attestation, you’ll be fully ready to start selling INA on July 1.
- Approved INA states so far: AR, AZ, CO, GA, KS, LA, MS, NC, NH, NV, OH, OK, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, WV, and WY.
- ACE withdrawing from the Medicare Supplement Market:
- June 30, 2025 is the final day ACE applications will be accepted. Applications received after June 30th will not be processed, even if the effective date is later.
- All ACE applications must be in-house on or before June 30th.
- ACE is launching a new charter called INA that will go live for new business in July!
- If you have written in the last 9 months your attestation emails should have been sent out!
- NEW PRODUCT: INA Medicare Supplement, replacing ACE: Launching July 1, 2025.
- AETNA
- Aetna ACA is pulling out of the US as of 2026. Roughly 1 million members will be impacted.
- ALLSTATE
- Allstate withdrawing from the Medicare Supplement Market (email excerpt below):
- Transition to paper applications only
- Effective immediately, we will only accept paper applications for all new Medicare Supplement business, for all states.
- Online application submission portals have been suspended for new business only.
- There is no change to the servicing of existing Medicare Supplement policies.
- Suspension of advance commission payments
- Also effective immediately, we will suspend all advance payments on new Medicare Supplement business.
- Commissions will continue to be paid on an as-earned basis in accordance with your existing agreement.
- There is no impact to commissions on existing in-force business.
- Withdrawing just our Medicare Supplement plans
- We will be filling formal notice with each state to withdraw from the Medicare Supplement market.
- This process will take place over the coming weeks and will follow all required state-specific timelines.
- While notice periods vary by state, we remain committed to complying with all regulatory requirements and will accept new paper applications until each notice period ends.
- We will share state-by-state submission deadlines so you can plan accordingly.
- This change does not affect existing policyholders. Their coverage and service will continue uninterrupted.
- Transition to paper applications only
- Allstate withdrawing from the Medicare Supplement Market (email excerpt below):
- ANTHEM
- Anthem Med Supp has an active bonus going on! Reach out to us for details or to get any questions answered.
- ELEVANCE
- Elevance will be moving all non-DSNP plans outside of Florida to nonmarketable/suppressed, beginning 5/1/25. Agents will still be able to submit enrollments through paper enrollments, but all online enrollments will be suppressed going forward. All Florida plans and DSNP plans outside of Florida will remain available through normal enrollment channels at this time.
- GTL
- Did you know 78% of caregivers have out-of-pocket expenses as a direct result of caregiving? GTL’s Recover Cash can help put cash back in their pockets!
- MUTUAL OF OMAHA
- Mutual of Omaha in MO is taking a large increase of 20% on F and 30% on G, starting on 6/1/25!
- UHC
- UHC Member Escalations now HAVE to be submitted through Jarvis to get the process started. The link to do so can be found in the member’s profile.
- UHC is going non-commissionable on all new PDP plans starting June 1. This does not impact renewals.
- WELLCARE
- WellCare and Mutual of Omaha have announced they will discontinue their co-branded relationship.
- Update to WellCare BOB Transfer
- Both parties (buyer and seller) must be in “active/certified” status.
- Both parties must share the same Top of Hierarchy (TOH) at the time of the BOB transfer signature.
- Only a full Book of Business can be transferred. Partial BOB transfer requests will not be approved.
- The BOB transfer will take effect in the month following the date on which the transfer form is signed and dated.
All contracted Agents receive FREE access to SMS-University, the industry’s most trusted, comprehensive online training platform, featuring numerous training modules, white-papers, and clear, concise education tools.
Sources:
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