The MedSupp Market Is Changing:
25 Shifts To Be Aware of In 2026
The swirl of market movements that impact the MedSupp market keeps growing. CMS's significant focus on Original Medicare and the many new CMMI programs that impact the market will bring significant change to the Medicare Supplement market.
New Birthday rules and other state based regulations get a lot of attention, but there are lots of other shifts the brokers and carriers in the market need to keep in mind.
Join Sam Melamed, NCD's Chief Insurance Nerd, on January 22nd, 2026, as he talks through many of the regulatory movements that will impact the future of the MedSupp market.
Topics Include:
- Waste Fraud and Abuse CMS and carrier activities
- CMMI's WISeR model
- Criminal investigations from the HHS OIG
- Consumer and MA groups lobbying for new GI, U65, and SEP rights in many states, impactiving premium levels, rate increases, and carrier books ability to remain open
- CMS's new ACCESS model
- Growing list of SEP's and potential new clarity on some of them
- Recent MedSupp market exits and historically high rate increases
- Future of commissionable PDP's
- VBC push for Fee for Service providers making providers pay closer attention to Traditional Medicare financial performance, impacting provider calculus on MA vs. FFS economics, and potentially causing providers to pay more attention to their MedSupp collections and mix
-GLOBE and GUARD Models and the future of PDP'
- Skin Substitute payment changes
- Where does Dental/Vision/Hearing play in Medicare in 2026
- Ancillary Cross Selling trends with MS (home health care, Short-Term Care, Cancer, Critical Illness). Hospital Indemnity sales exploding with MA, what's happening with Medicare Supplement ancillary
- MA network disputes/disruption and how it impacts the MedSupp market and carrier financials
- Reinsurance and capital costs/interests in long duration risk by asset managers looking for "permanent capital"
- Are service levels at MedSupp carriers too poorly regulated leading to lower member satisfaction?
- Rapid-fire question round
Meet the presenter
Sam Melamed
Chief Executive Officer, NCD
Sam Melamed is the CEO of NCD and a self-described insurance nerd with deep expertise in ACA, Medicare, and group benefits. He founded Insurance Forums, the world’s largest online insurance community, and is also an early-stage investor and advisor in the HealthTech and InsureTech space. Sam is known for his passion for team growth and building a positive, high-performance culture.
Bring Your Questions:
We’ll Build the Q&A Around What You Need
We’ll reserve time for live Q&A, and we’re also collecting questions in advance so the session is as useful as possible. We’ll address as many as we can live, and we’ll follow up with additional answers/resources when possible.