UnitedHealthcare dealt another blow to its Medicare agents when it announced last week it will not pay commissions on Medicare prescription drug plans sold after June 1.
The announcement was the latest in a list of carriers who said in late 2024 that they would stop paying commissions on certain Medicare Advantage products.
Agents who are authorized to sell UnitedHealthcare plans were notified by letter May 16 that initial year and renewal year premiums on prescription drug plans would be cut to $0. In November, UnitedHealthcare said it would eliminate agent commissions on 106 of its Medicare Advantage plans.
The announcement came on the heels of UnitedHealth Group’s suspending its 2025 outlook as “care activity continued to accelerate while also broadening to more types of benefit offerings than seen in the first quarter, and the medical costs of many Medicare Advantage beneficiaries new to UnitedHealthcare remained higher than expected,” the insurer said in a news release.
UHG will incorporate the “higher cost experiences and expectations” into its 2026 Medicare Advantage bids that are due soon, as well as its pricing in other markets, Chief Financial Officer John Rex said during the company’s quarterly earnings call last week.
Carriers that announced in late 2024 they will not pay agent commissions on certain plans include:
Antonette Vanasek is president of Vanasek Insurance Solutions, with offices in Chino and Pasadena, Calif. She told InsuranceNewsNet UnitedHealthcare notified her that her contract with the carrier would be amended and that the carrier would pay her $0 for new and renewal prescription drug plan business.
“The stipulation with this amendment says, ‘If you don’t agree with it, let us know, and we’ll terminate your appointment.’ And of course, you know that also terminates your book of business,” she said.
“There’s no negotiating, there’s no talking about it. There’s no meeting of the minds. It’s just a take it or leave it proposition.”
Vanasek took to LinkedIn to bring awareness of the impact this decision has on brokers.
“We’re expected to take calls, resolve claims, explain benefits, navigate doctor networks, and assist with Rx issues without receiving compensation. The message? “Do the work, carry the liability, absorb the cost, but don’t expect to be paid.”
Let’s be clear: We are not barred from helping clients. We are just not paid to do so anymore. The carriers benefit from our continued support, while brokers take the hit.
This isn’t a one-off. Five major carriers have now taken this action mid-year. There was no notice, no negotiation, just unilateral action cutting off critical revenue streams from agents, often small business owners.
We’re not salaried employees. We run businesses. We rely on fair compensation for our education, enrollment, and year-round service. This model is now financially unsustainable.
And what about seniors? They are genuinely the ones left behind. The carriers promoting “trusted local agents” hinder our ability to assist unless we do it without charge. That’s not advocacy; that’s exploitation.
If brokers are squeezed out of Medicare, seniors lose the personalized guidance that call centers and AI bots can’t provide. Without compensation, no broker can afford to keep showing up.”
Health Agents for America has been attempting to get the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to address the issue of carriers eliminating agent commissions on Medicare Advantage plans and prescription drug plans. HAFA President and CEO Ronnell Nolan told InsuranceNewsNet her association “wants to get in front of the CMS folks and ask them why this is allowed to happen and what they’re going to do about it.”
“CMS has to take these carriers to task for what they’re doing,” she said, adding, “They shouldn’t be allowed to make changes after rates are filed, contracts are signed and things have been done, because the only thing it does is hurt seniors, and it causes a lot of steerage,” (i.e., steering people into other plans that make more money for the carrier).
Nolan questioned whether carriers are eliminating commissions on certain plans in an attempt to get agents to steer clients into plans that make more money for the carriers. “It’s causing one plan to stand out better than the other, and it’s hurting seniors,” she said.
“Why does anyone think agents should work for free? But the only thing is that carriers are trying to steer folks from one product to the other, to the products that they make more money on. Somebody should stop them. Why isn’t anybody seeing that but us? You know, we see it, so CMS either has to see it, or their eyes are closed.”
UnitedHealthcare did not respond to a request for comment.
© Entire contents copyright 2025 by InsuranceNewsNet.com Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted without the expressed written consent from InsuranceNewsNet.com.
Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents’ association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected].
Retirement confidence and ‘the great decide’
UnitedHealth asks shareholders to support CEO’s $60M stock options
– Presented By –
Increase sales up to 30% with INN Academy
Master sales strategies from industry legends. Flexible learning, immediate results. Don’t miss out—save up to 50% on enrollment today!
Find out how you can submit content for publishing on our website.
View Guidelines
Get breaking news, exclusive stories, and money- making insights straight into your inbox.
