Practical writing on FMO contracts, Open Release, marketing strategy, compliance, and the business of building a book. No fluff. No filler. Just the stuff agents actually need to know.
The rebate is real, automatic, and narrower than the headlines suggest. CMS scopes it to Original Medicare Part B — excluding Medicare Advantage enrollees, clients whose premium Medicaid already pays, and anyone paying IRMAA. Three different no conversations, landing seven days before AEP opens, plus the one bad move this will tempt agents into making.
Read the articleNobody issues a Medicare license, which is why so many people entering this business spend money in the wrong order. The state health license, the AHIP-or-NABIP question, and the contracting step nobody explains until you are in it — plus what CMS actually caps a new agent's commission at, and why the appointment is the one that decides your October.
Season PrepMost agents work ANOC season in the order the phone rings. Read as a batch in the first days of October, the same letters sort an entire book: plan exits, formulary drops, network changes, and the quiet cost drift nobody calls about. A working method, plus the compliance line between September 30 and October 15.
Getting StartedNo state licenses D-SNP sales and CMS issues no such credential. The real gates are a carrier's product certification, a state Medicaid agency contract, and enrollment rules that changed in 2025.
PerspectiveEvery few years, somebody well-funded announces the end of the local Medicare agent. The pitch deck changes — portals, call centers, now AI — but the prediction keeps missing, and for the same reason every time. A working argument for why proximity still wins, and what to do with it.
Market AnalysisMedicare Advantage exits are accelerating into 2027. What's confirmed, what's still preliminary until October 1, and the non-renewal SEP that runs well past AEP.
Season PrepAHIP is a carrier requirement, not a CMS one — and more than 80 carriers accept NABIP instead. What each costs, and the check to run before you save the money.
CompensationCMS set the 2027 caps at $725 initial and $363 renewal in most states. What that number is, what it is not, and why the renewal line is the one that builds a business.
Agent PlaybookThe four kinds of no, a written request template you can send today, the escalation order that actually moves things, and what you genuinely can't force.
Season PrepCertification opens June 22 and AEP follows fast. The AHIP-vs-NABIP choice, carrier certifications, your book audit, AEP marketing, and the one decision that shapes the whole season.
Industry AnalysisVenture-backed roll-ups (like Gyde) want to buy your agency; AI-forward FMOs want to contract with it. What each path offers, what each costs, and the question that should drive the choice.
Medicare MarketThe Latino population is the fastest-growing segment of the Medicare market — projected to nearly double by 2030. The demographic curve, the underserved gap, and what real bilingual FMO support looks like.
MarketingEvery FMO claims to support agent marketing — but few offer real co-op investment. The four flavors of co-op you'll encounter, what qualifies, and what doesn't.
Medicare FMOThe five specific signs that your FMO is holding you back — unresponsive upline, stuck tech, opaque commissions, and more.
Medicare FMOThe most important clause in an FMO contract — plus the 90-day carrier timeline and AEP lock-in to plan around.
Medicare FMOThe 10 questions every independent Medicare agent should ask before signing — with good-answer examples and red flags.
Topics we're working on publishing next.
A step-by-step guide to changing FMOs while keeping every policy, commission, and client relationship intact.
CRM, plan comparison, telephony, AI assistants — the tools that separate top producers from the rest.
How FMO overrides actually work, what your upline earns from your production, and how to read an override structure to spot a fair deal — or a trap.