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ICHRA Is Growing—and So Is the Risk of Broker Displacement

George Dippel, President of Deft Research - Employers Turn to Their Broker First When Mulling ICHRA But Aren’t Afraid to Turn to Others. The excitement the industry felt after the then proposed One Big Beautiful Bill was released in May of ‘25 was real, as the OBBB had everything ICHRA...
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Leveraging Conjoint Analysis Under Reduced Reimbursement Pressure

Michael Blix, Sr. Director of Research and Analytics - Leveraging Conjoint Analysis Under Reduced Reimbursement Pressure The better-than-anticipated 2027 final MA rate likely has many in the industry feeling a sense of relief, but it could also point to last-minute revisions to bids. Even if plans are content with their...
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Financial Stability Taking Precedence Over Growth

Rob Lourenco, VP of Client Services - After two back-to-back years of substantial disruption in the Medicare Advantage market, the first quarter of 2026 has already brought us signals that the next year isn’t going to be any different. Executives at UnitedHealthcare found the 2027 rate proposal “profoundly negative” and...
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Market Volatility Surpasses Previous Year

Rob Lourenco, VP of Client Services - In the summer of last year, I shared in one of our Industry Insights articles that we expected another disruptive AEP heading into 2026. Turns out market volatility didn’t only mirror what we saw the previous year, but surpassed it. 2.7 million plan...
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MA Growth Tracker: Now Updated with 2026 CMS Enrollment Data!

Which carriers were MA enrollment winners in early 2026—and which were losers? The newly released CMS data has now been added to our MA Growth Tracker. As a result, you can get the full picture of how many seniors enrolled during the 2026 AEP, how competitors fared, and which direction...
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Stars, Product Design, and Utilization: The Three Linked Imperatives for 2027

George Dippel, President of Deft Research - Stars, Product Design, and Utilization: the three linked imperatives for 2027. The confluence of these three moves to the forefront every January when MA design teams work through early drafts. There is a need to design plans that not only attract prospects, but...
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