Florida blue cutting commissions

[Medicare bro]

there must be a lot of new agents here.

12 years ago, a lot of smaller regional and local carriers didn't pay FMV, and you had to wait 3 months before you got your commission.

Many plans also pro-rated the initial commission back in the day, so you rarely got the "full commission".

Non-commissionable plans have always been a thing.

dental, vision and OTC were gimmickee add-on benefits (even more so than they are today).

10 years ago we went through a hard market as well. dozens of local carriers went into receivership and/or were bought up by the big guys. This will probably happen again over the next 12 months.

All joking aside, If you are stressing out about this you should exit the business now. It's happened before, its happening now, and it will happen again. If you cannot handle the economic cycles go get a "safe" W2 job at your local post office.

Trump wants to shut that down too. Haha

 

[Chazm]

Luckily Florida Blue product just isn't very competitive here in my area.

Kind of like UHC, FB are banking on their name recognition and prior experiences people have with work coverage and not necessarily superior benefits.

It's usually people that insist on FB, or have had poor experiences with both Aetna and Humana that go this way.

Just got to hope Aetna and Humana will continue to pay here in central fl or we could be in trouble.

If you're in Central Florida you definitely have a competitive FL blue plan. Their HMO might not be the absolute lowest copays, but it's lower than UHC and still has a great network and $15 tier 3.

That said, like you, I probably won't lose any sales over not offering them.

 

[DonP]

If you're in Central Florida you definitely have a competitive FL blue plan. Their HMO might not be the absolute lowest copays, but it's lower than UHC and still has a great network and $15 tier 3.

That said, like you, I probably won't lose any sales over not offering them.

There seems to be a lot of " we've seen this before " about what's happening . There's a huge difference between now and 10 yrs ago . AI technolology and people being much more savy using computers . 100's of millions online now and many can self enroll vs 10 yrs ago . It's naive to dismiss the shuttle changes happening. If I were 25 yrs old coming into this industry right now I'd be very afraid longer term . I expect a 15% . I think the most immediate issue facing agents is Will carriers under huge profit and stock pressure use this as a way to cut commissions big . We'll know these answers by next sept-Oct as 2026 products and commissions released .

 

[frank04]

If you're in Central Florida you definitely have a competitive FL blue plan. Their HMO might not be the absolute lowest copays, but it's lower than UHC and still has a great network and $15 tier 3.

That said, like you, I probably won't lose any sales over not offering them.

True!, but I find that most HMO in general here is a no-go here because of the hospital situation. Even that sick uhc with what 2800 moop.

So its either that regional carrier or PPO in 99% of the cases.

I find that the HMO person typically needs more help on their meds, doesn't have much doctors to worry about, and/or is low income but not necessarily medicaid eligible.

 

[DonP]

True!, but I find that most HMO in general here is a no-go here because of the hospital situation. Even that sick uhc with what 2800 moop.

So its either that regional carrier or PPO in 99% of the cases.

I find that the HMO person typically needs more help on their meds, doesn't have much doctors to worry about, and/or is low income but not necessarily medicaid eligible.

Unfortunately ppo's could be a dieing plan starting in 2026 . I've talked to many carrier reps and they expect many less ppo's due to star ratings . Anthem initially pulled there ppo's and Cigna only pulled there ppo's .

 

[frank04]

Unfortunately ppo's could be a dieing plan starting in 2026 . I've talked to many carrier reps and they expect many less ppo's due to star ratings . Anthem initially pulled there ppo's and Cigna only pulled there ppo's .

Yep this is true. I wrote a ton of Aetna lately and went to them recently for marketing support. They flat out said they need hmo and dsnp, not the ppo's that i have been doing.

They clearly dont want the ppo business.

 

[axeman462]

Unfortunately ppo's could be a dieing plan starting in 2026 . I've talked to many carrier reps and they expect many less ppo's due to star ratings . Anthem initially pulled there ppo's and Cigna only pulled there ppo's .

weird. they literally said the same thing back in 2013-2014...

 

[straightnochaser]

There seems to be a lot of " we've seen this before " about what's happening . There's a huge difference between now and 10 yrs ago . AI technolology and people being much more savy using computers . 100's of millions online now and many can self enroll vs 10 yrs ago . It's naive to dismiss the shuttle changes happening. If I were 25 yrs old coming into this industry right now I'd be very afraid longer term . I expect a 15% . I think the most immediate issue facing agents is Will carriers under huge profit and stock pressure use this as a way to cut commissions big . We'll know these answers by next sept-Oct as 2026 products and commissions released .

No offense but people are way dumber than ten years ago

 

[StevenjKSU]

There seems to be a lot of " we've seen this before " about what's happening . There's a huge difference between now and 10 yrs ago . AI technolology and people being much more savy using computers . 100's of millions online now and many can self enroll vs 10 yrs ago . It's naive to dismiss the shuttle changes happening. If I were 25 yrs old coming into this industry right now I'd be very afraid longer term . I expect a 15% . I think the most immediate issue facing agents is Will carriers under huge profit and stock pressure use this as a way to cut commissions big . We'll know these answers by next sept-Oct as 2026 products and commissions released .

Self-enrollment is going to happen and has been happening already for the last 5 years. There is always a segment who either enjoys that process or doesn't like dealing with people. They make terrible clients anyway. There are way more people that either appreciate a free second opinion, or just want someone to tell them how it works and what their options are. That is likely never going away, even if how it is paid for changes.

The industry will change. It has many times before. Like stated by multiple savvy agents in this thread, diversification is key. Sell MAPD's, MedSup, ACA, HIPS, Ancillary, FEP and Life. Any of them could bite the dust at any point, but they won't all at the same time or we have much larger problems headed our way than how we will retire comfortably.

To your point, sticking your head in the sand won't change anything, but neither does posting on an incredibly niche message board. If the bottom falls out and I have to change careers again, I'll do it, but I won't be losing sleep over it. This business has already given me more than I could ever give it back. I know we add value that the insurance companies fail to replicate, or they would have done away with us a long time ago. We are also much cheaper than employees that they have to recruit, interview, license, train, retain and provide benefits for and then replace 40% of them every single year.