Agent Survival Guide | Empowering Insurance Agents to Survive Today and Thrive Tomorrow CMS 2027 MA & Part D Advance Notice
- Meta Announces Premium Subscriptions
- TikTok USDS Troubles & New Competitors
- FY 2026 Appropriations Bills
- 2025 Tax Season & H.R. 7006
- CMS 2027 MA and Part D Advance Notice
Get Connected:
🤝Register with Ritter Insurance Marketing – the FMO that powers the Agent Survival Guide Podcast!
📧Connect with the Ritter Insurance Marketing Sales Team Near You!
💌Send feedback, questions, and topic suggestions to ASGPodcast@Ritterim.com or call 1-717-562-7211 and leave a voicemail.
Meta Announces Premium Subscriptions:
Weatherbed, Jess. "Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp will test premium subscriptions." theverge.com, The Verge, 27 Jan. 2026, https://www.theverge.com/news/868439/meta-premium-subscription-ai-facebook-instagram-whatsapp.
"Meta Confirms Testing of Premium Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp Subscriptions." cnet.com, CNET, 27 Jan. 2026, https://www.cnet.com/news/social-media/meta-confirms-testing-of-premium-instagram-facebook-and-whatsapp-subscriptions/.
"Meta to test premium subscriptions on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp." TechCrunch.com, TechCrunch, 26 Jan. 2026, https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/26/meta-to-test-premium-subscriptions-on-instagram-facebook-and-whatsapp/.
TikTok USDS Troubles & New Competitors:
Sato, Kiichiro, "5 things to know about the TikTok deal." Politico.com, Politico, 22 Jan. 2026, https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/22/5-things-to-know-about-the-tiktok-deal-00743316.
"Announcement from the new TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC." newsroom.tiktok.com, TikTok, 22 Jan. 2026, https://newsroom.tiktok.com/announcement-from-the-new-tiktok-usds-joint-venture-llc.
Bell, Karissa. "A TikTok US power outage caused a 'cascading systems failure' leading to multiple bugs." Engadget.com, Engadget, 27 Jan. 2026, https://www.engadget.com/social-media/a-tiktok-us-power-outage-caused-a-cascading-systems-failure-leading-to-multiple-bugs-173426490.html.
"Here's what you should know about the US TikTok deal." TechCrunch.com, TechCrunch, 23, Jan 2026, https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/23/heres-whats-you-should-know-about-the-us-tiktok-deal.
Bell, Karissa. "People are uninstalling TikTok and downloading an indie competitor." Engadget.com, Engadget, 26 Jan. 2026, https://www.engadget.com/social-media/people-are-uninstalling-tiktok-and-downloading-an-indie-competitor-233345222.html.
Conner, Adam. "The TikTok Deal Leaves Many Questions Unanswered." americanprogress.org, Center for American Progress, 23 Jan 2026, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-tiktok-deal-leaves-many-questions-unanswered/.
Scanlon, Krystal. "TikTok’s confirmed U.S. deal still leaves unanswered questions." digiday.com, Digiday, 26, Jan. 2026, https://digiday.com/marketing/tiktoks-confirmed-u-s-deal-still-leaves-unanswered-questions/.
"TikTok finalizes deal to form new American entity." NPR.org, NPR, 22 Jan. 2026, https://www.npr.org/2026/01/22/nx-s1-5685456/tiktok-finalizes-deal-to-form-new-american-entity.
Jacobs, Skye. "TikTok quietly expands location tracking and ad targeting for US users." Techspot.com, TechSpot, 26 Jan. 2026, https://www.techspot.com/news/111061-tiktok-quietly-expands-ad-targeting-location-tracking-us.html.
“Top Apps.” Appfigures.com, Appfigures, https://appfigures.com/top-apps/ios-app-store/united-states/iphone/top-overall, Accessed 28, Jan. 2026.
Wheatman Hill, Laura. "We Should Just Let TikTok Die." Slate.com, Slate, 27 Jan 2026, https://slate.com/technology/2026/01/tiktok-outage-oracle-ice-shooting.html.
FY 2026 Appropriations Bills:
“Appropriations Status Table: FY2026.” Congress.Gov, United States Congress, 23 Jan. 2026, www.congress.gov/crs-appropriations-status-table.
"Assessing FY 2026 Appropriations." crfb.org, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, 15 Jan. 2026, https://www.crfb.org/blogs/assessing-fy-2026-appropriations.
"H.R.7148 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026." Congress.Gov, United States Congress, 21 Jan. 2026, https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7148.
"House Votes 341-88 for 'Minibus' Spending Package." thinkadvisor.com, Think Advisor, 22 Jan. 2026, https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2026/01/22/house-votes-341-88-for-minibus-spending-package/.
"Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026." appropriations.house.gov, U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-appropriations.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/final-fy26-lhhs-minibus-4-summary.pdf. Accessed 26 Jan. 2026.
"Partial government shutdown looms, threatening to stall health funding package, telehealth extensions." Fiercehealthcare.com, Fierce Healthcare, 26, Jan. 2026, https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers/sick-fighting-insurers-hospitals-offer-their-own-medicare-advantage-plans.
"U.S. House passes final minibus funding package." naco.org, National Association of Counties, 22 Jan. 2026, https://www.naco.org/news/us-house-passes-final-minibus-funding-package.
2025 Tax Season & H.R. 7006:
“H.R.7006 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): Financial Services and General Government and National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act.” Congress.Gov, United States Congress, 15 Jan. 2026, www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7006/all-actions.
“What Would a Government Shutdown Do to the IRS in 2026?” Kiplinger.com, Kiplinger, 23 Jan. 2026, https://www.kiplinger.com/taxes/what-will-a-government-shutdown-do-to-the-irs.
CMS 2027 MA and Part D Advance Notice:
"2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Advance Notice." CMS.gov, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 26 Jan. 2026, https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/2027-medicare-advantage-part-d-advance-notice.
"Advance Notice of Methodological Changes for Calendar Year (CY) 2027 for Medicare Advantage (MA) Capitation Rates and Part C and Part D Payment Policies." CMS.gov, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 26 Jan. 2026, https://www.cms.gov/files/document/2027-advance-notice.pdf.
"CMS 2026 Medicare Advantage and Part D Rate Announcement." CMS.gov, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 07 Apr. 2025, https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/2026-medicare-advantage-and-part-d-rate-announcement.
"CMS Proposes 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Payment Policies to Improve Payment Accuracy and Sustainability." CMS.gov, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 26 Jan. 2026, https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-proposes-2027-medicare-advantage-part-d-payment-policies-improve-payment-accuracy-sustainability.
"Fiscal Year 2025 Improper Payments Fact Sheet." CMS.gov, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 15 Jan. 2026, https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/fiscal-year-2025-improper-payments-fact-sheet.
Recent Episodes:
2016 vs. 2026: The Insurance Edition
2026 ACA Enrollment Snapshot #2
Enrollment Stats, Snapshots & Spotlights
Follow Us on Social!
Ritter on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/RitterIM Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/ritter.insurance.marketing/ LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/company/ritter-insurance-marketing TikTok, https://www.tiktok.com/@ritterim X, https://x.com/RitterIM and YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/user/RitterInsurance
Sarah on LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjrueppel/ Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/thesarahjrueppel/ and Threads, https://www.threads.net/@thesarahjrueppel
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Medicare or any government agency.