WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Alliance of Licensed Medicare Insurance Agencies (ALMIA) has submitted public comments to the HHS Healthcare Advisory Committee ahead of its November 9th meeting and continues ongoing engagement with the committee's Strengthening Medicare Advantage Working Group. The letter answers the working group's questions on how licensed agents and brokers are paid and the role they play for beneficiaries.

What ALMIA told the committee

• ALMIA agents are among the most regulated and monitored agents in the industry
• ALMIA agents are required to only recommend plans in a beneficiary's best interest. A fiduciary designation could shift costs to seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries while reducing access to help.
• Agents only earn the higher new-enrollment commission for a beneficiary's first year in Medicare Advantage. Helping a beneficiary switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan pays the lower renewal commission.
• Tying commissions to the Consumer Price Index would have produced higher rates than CMS's actual rates in every year from 2022 to 2025.
• Many ALMIA agents work by phone, serving rural residents, low-income seniors, Special Needs Plan enrollees and people without internet access.
• As carriers exit markets and reduce their service areas, particularly rural and urban areas which have been hit the hardest, ALMIA agents are needed more than ever.

"Licensed ALMIA agents help millions of seniors navigate plan changes at no cost to them or to taxpayers and are paid the same regardless of which plan is selected from among their available options," said Gavin G. Galimi, President of ALMIA. "These licensed agents are critical to providing Medicare beneficiaries with multiple carrier options and advice, especially when carriers are eliminating plans and degrading benefits. We welcome the committee's questions and look forward to continuing the conversation."

About ALMIA

ALMIA is a nonprofit alliance of licensed insurance agencies, founded by SelectQuote, eHealth, TRANZACT, HealthPlanOne and Spring Venture Group. Together, its members employ thousands of licensed agents and have helped millions of Medicare beneficiaries enroll. Learn more at almia.health.

Media contact: Susan Zook, susan@masonstreetllc.com 

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SOURCE ALMIA