Blog

Enrollment Caps & Lemon Dropping may bring back AEP “Pre-heat” Marketing.

George Dippel, President of Deft Research - Deft Research recently published its “AEP Signals and Readiness Study” (formerly AEP Gut Check) which is our most anticipated yearly report as it helps the industry prepare for what’s brewing for the AEP. One of the interesting findings from the nearly 90-page study...

Press Zero to Speak to a Live Representative: Why MA Plans Still Need to Prioritize Customer Service Regardless of New Star Rating Measures

Emily Dykstra, Research Manager In their recent final rule for Contract Year 2027, CMS removed 11 measures from Star Rating calculations due to almost universally high ratings among MA plans, which diminished their ability to differentiate performance.¹ The majority of these measures focused on customer service, including call center interpreter...

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...

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...

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...

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...