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Published by Carolyn Portanova
IntegrityCONNECT is a brand new, unique platform that encompasses more than quoting and enrollment capabilities. It's a robust platform that allows insurance agents to actually manage and grow their businesses effectively...from anywhere. Stick around, and we'll go over the endless capabilities this platform can provide if you're in the market for more than a CRM and want to actually scale your insurance business.
Let's begin. With IntegrityCONNECT you get a user-friendly experience from the moment you login to the platform with a single sign-on. You're presented with a dashboard that displays your clients, your downline (if you have one), your personal production, marketing and learning. You're also presented with a client snapshot and the ability to run a quick quote. Additionally, you have the ability to contact support, access a live chat feature and use Ask Integrity, the AI assistant. There is no shortage of support features that ensures you will get the most out of IntegrityCONNECT. As you explore the dashboard you'll also find the ability to use other quoting systems, including CSG App, iPipeline and the ability to access leads with the integrated IntegrityCONNECT leads platform.
Professional and polished.
As a registered user, which is free to our contracted agents, you will receive a personalized phone number and website. These are essential for any insurance agent who's dedicated to growing their business and presenting themselves in the most professional manner. If you're an agency, you'll also have the capability to toggle a switch that allows you to view your downline's production. This gives you the power to see your business as a whole. This platform has been designed and engineered to think of everything an insurance professional would need to manage their book of business.
The nuts and bolts of the platform.
The nuts and bolts of IntegrityCONNECT are what allows you to easily manage your clients and leads....and of course gives you the ability to quote and enroll clients into Health (Medicare Advantage, Prescription Drug Plans, Medicare Supplement (coming soon) and Life (Final Expense, Simplified Issue Term, Indexed Universal Life and Simplified Indexed Universal Life) plans. And to make managing your business even easier, the functionality of the IntegrityCONNECT platform works on any device allowing you to work on the go. The Integrity for Agents mobile app is available for download in both the App Store and the Google Play Store.
Importing and managing your clients.
No matter how big your book of business is, importing client records directly into IntegrityCONNECT is made easy with the batch import feature. And you can always create a new client on the fly with just an e-mail address or phone number. As we dig deeper, dynamic tagging allows you to filter and sort your clients and leads by plan type, recommendations or any other important attribute.
Let's talk about AI.
Ask Integrity AI is available to help you work as efficiently as possible. Get all the client information you need by utilizing the built-in, voice activated AI prompts. Ask Integrity Shoppers assists you with carrier data and alerts you to clients who have a higher likelihood of shopping and may need to change their coverage. Ask Integrity can also give you product recommendations as well as call summaries and important details about your clients.
Being compliant is made easy.
Call recording capabilities include seamlessly recording all your inbound and outbound client calls. You're able to easily link calls to both new and existing client contact records. IntegrityCONNECT stores your recordings automatically and securely for the full 10-year period required by CMS. Need to download your calls? Not a problem, you can do so at anytime from wherever you're working.
Organization is a breeze.
Policy Snapshot gives you an 'at-a-glance' status view of your applications and enrollments. While the task list shows you the next steps to take with clients and leads. The notes, reminders and scheduling features allow you to stay organized and efficient.
Client Connect makes it a breeze to send compliant marketing messages to your clients; from addressing policy changes and gathering client information to simply wishing them a happy birthday. You're able to track client status with the activity stream and even send text messages directly from a client record. And the Client Sync feature allows your clients to input their own information (from your personal website) which keeps their details about doctors, pharmacies and medications current and up to date.
Growing with compliant leads.
IntegrityCONNECT leads allows you to set up lead campaigns and enable real-time lead acquisition through data or call leads. With the flip of a switch, toggle your status to “online” to begin receiving your leads directly into your CRM in IntegrityCONNECT. Or use the lead mapping feature to find and purchase leads anywhere in the country...choose from Internet, Direct Mail and Social Media leads.
Questions? Next steps.
If you have questions or are ready to get access to this remarkable platform, we invite you to reach out us or visit our IntegrityCONNECT page where you can begin the registration process. We know you'll find IntegrityCONNECT to be everything and more. It's an exciting time to work in the insurance industry and with technology that works hard for you, it guarantees you'll be successful.
Published by Carolyn Portanova
2026 Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug commissions are taking a big leap which is great news for insurance agents who sell these products. Below are the new maximum commission schedules from CMS.
2026 Medicare Advantage Commissions
National $694/member - up from $626 in 2025. Renewal commissions: $347 - up from $313/member. CT, DC and PA $781/member - up from $705 in 2025. Renewal commissions: $391 - up from $353/member. CA, and NJ $864/member - up from $780 in 2025. Renewal commissions: $432 - up from $390/member. PR and USVI $474/member - up from $428 in 2025. Renewal commissions: $237 - up from $214/member. 2026 Prescription Drug Plan Commissions National $114/member - up from $109 in 2025. Renewal commissions: $57 - up from $55/member. 
We encourage you to visit our Annual Enrollment page to view more information about offering MAPD products and to view carrier resources.
If you're looking to get appointed with any of our carriers to offer these products and have questions, please reach out to Derick Monaco.
Published by Robiny Mitchell and Carolyn Portanova
Independent insurance agents have the benefit of picking and choosing which carriers to work with and what products they want to sell. With that freedom comes the responsibility to carefully contract with carriers who will provide the products their clients need. Each insurance carrier and state have specific rules when it comes to getting appointed. It’s important to know the details especially if you’re adding multiple products to your contract. Below we’ll go through some common mistakes that agents make and how to avoid them.
Agency License Required to Receive Commissions
Carriers have a short list of states in which they will require a contracted agency also have a state license in order to receive commissions. The list of states will vary by carrier, but a common example is Georgia. If an agent is contracted so that either their commissions or override commissions go to an agency, then most carriers will require that the agency receiving commissions have an agency license in Georgia as well. This applies for resident and non-resident situations. Furthermore, in some cases, if the agency gets the necessary license AFTER the commissions have been generated, the commissions will not be released.
Long-term Care Certification
Agents who write Long-term Care applications MUST be sure that their LTC Partnership Certification is up to date. This requires updated training every two years. Many times agents will do the training AFTER they have already signed a client application. This is NEVER allowed and that client application will trigger a “Declined due to Licensing” notice directly to the client(s) and the client application will have to be taken again. The training certificate must be dated and compliant prior to any client application.
Are you Ready-to-Sell (RTS)?
This continues to be a common mistake for agents writing in the MAPD (Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug) marketplace. Carriers will allow agents to take a client application even if they are not Ready-to-Sell. However, the agent runs the risk of not getting paid. Typically the application will be processed and the policy issued, but it is the agent's responsibility to complete their carrier-specific certification training and ensure their status is RTS in order to receive their commission. Agents can always check their RTS status by logging into the carrier's agent portal, logging into MedicareCENTER or asking their upline hierarchy for their Ready-to-Sell status.
Transferring an MAPD Contract to a New Hierarchy/Upline – Plan ahead!
Carriers all have blackout dates during which they will not allow contracts to be moved. The transfer process can take time and may often require that agents obtain a signed release from their current upline - this does not always happen quickly. Agents need to be sure to start the process early if they wish to move their contracts to a different upline/FMO.
Doing Business in More than One State
Many agents write business in more than just their resident state. When it comes to writing products such as Medicare Supplements or Life Insurance, carriers will have a short list of states where agents must be pre-appointed. Pennsylvania is a great example. The request to be “appointed” in the state of Pennsylvania must be sent to a carrier, processed by PA and confirmed by the carrier before any client application can be dated. Carriers in the MAPD marketplace will require that agents have all necessary non-resident state licenses AND the matching state appointment be turned on with each carrier BEFORE they can write a client application in any non-resident state.
Contracting doesn't have to be a headache if you make sure you've completed your licensing and/or certification requirements. And if you have questions, we're always here to guide you. Reach out to us today if we can assist you with your contracting.
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