Carrie Haubensak Carrie Haubensak

CMS Gives Medicare Advantage Rates a 2.48% Bump for 2027 Plan Year

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services initially proposed a 0.09% increase in rates as part of the MA and Part D Advance Notice. In the final rule, the increase is instead set at 2.48%, which CMS said equates to about $13 billion in additional payments to plans for the coming plan year.

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Carrie Haubensak Carrie Haubensak

Dental Insurance Regulatory Activity

During 2025, Telos tracked 25 bills in state legislatures related to dental insurance, plus two more bulletins issued by insurance departments to provide direction on the application of dental insurance regulations.

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Carrie Haubensak Carrie Haubensak

Conglomerate Financial Group Advances Agent-Centric Innovation

Fickert brings a disciplined, results-driven approach to recruiting and mentoring agents, emphasizing consistency, accountability and long-term success. Conglomerate Financial Group, which provides life insurance products to American families nationwide, actively partners with agents at every stage of their careers to drive sustainable growth.

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Carrie Haubensak Carrie Haubensak

Highmark Reports $175M Net Loss for 2025

Revenues were up across business units, with Highmark Health Plans posting a 12% increase, Allegheny Health Network reporting an 11% increase in revenue and the diversified business unit—which includes United Concordia Dental and its stop-loss business, HM Insurance Group—seeing revenue up 7%.

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Carrie Haubensak Carrie Haubensak

MedPAC Releases March 2026 Report to Congress

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission March 12 released its March 2026 report to Congress, which includes its recommended payment rates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services by the current law amount for 2027 and a recommendation to distribute an additional $1 billion to safety-net hospitals.

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Carrie Haubensak Carrie Haubensak

Medicare Supplement Refunds 101

Medicare Supplement Refund Calculation Forms, are required annual filings to compare cumulative actual incurred loss ratios to benchmark targets and determine if refunds or premium credits are necessary.  The reports are one of the state regulators’ tools to ensure that the products are meeting the minimum loss ratio requirement.

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Carrie Haubensak Carrie Haubensak

Highmark, Blue KC Affiliation Set to Close March 31

The affiliation was first announced in December. Once it closes, the two insurers expect that integration will "take place over a phased period of time." At present, nothing will change for members of either plan, according to the announcement.

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Carrie Haubensak Carrie Haubensak

A Record-breaking Year for Annuity Sales Via Banks and BDs

In 2025, favorable economic conditions, along with aging demographics and more advisors selling annuities, led to record-breaking individual annuity sales in 2025. Banks and broker-dealers did especially well, a new survey finds.

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Carrie Haubensak Carrie Haubensak

Ancillary Product Essentials Guides

These Essentials Guides are intended to give you an overview of characteristics for each of these policy types, including: common benefits, typical distribution, filing requirements, risks to monitor and projected profitability.

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Carrie Haubensak Carrie Haubensak

KFF: A look at Part D enrollment trends for 2026

As of 2026, 24.9 million people were enrolled in standalone Part D plans, while 31.4 million were in MAPD plans. By comparison, overall enrollment in 2006 was just 21.8 million, with 15.8 million of those individuals with just Part D coverage.

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Carrie Haubensak Carrie Haubensak

Medicare Supplement - Trend Components

Since the COVID-19 pandemic suppressed claim experience in 2020, Medicare supplement claims have risen at unprecedented levels. According to a trend analysis completed by Telos Actuarial, the average Medicare supplement claims trend experienced since 2022 is observed to be 11%.

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Carrie Haubensak Carrie Haubensak

Integrity Partnership Accelerates Impact for MG3 Enterprises

Integrity has partnered with MG3 Enterprises, an independent marketing organization based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and led by Max Graham III. With more than a decade of industry experience, Graham leads by example, having held and excelled in every role he now coaches agents to master.

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