Ancillary (Dental/Vision/Hospital Indemnity)
Supplemental insurance products — dental, vision, hearing, hospital indemnity, accident, critical illness — sold alongside or in place of major medical.
Full Definition
Ancillary insurance refers to supplemental coverage sold alongside major medical, Medicare, or as standalone products. Core ancillary lines include dental, vision, hearing (DVH), hospital indemnity, accident, critical illness, and cancer policies. Ancillary is sold heavily in the senior market as Medigap gap-fillers (dental/vision/hearing are not covered by Original Medicare or Medigap) and in the under-65 market as employer-group voluntary benefits or individual supplements. Ancillary commissions are typically 20–40% FYC with ongoing renewals. Ancillary rounds out a household's coverage and materially improves persistency on the core product — an agent who sells Medigap + DVH retains the client meaningfully longer than Medigap alone.
Example
A Medigap Plan G client also buys a $40/month dental-vision-hearing plan. Agent earns 25% FYC = $120 on DVH, and the bundled relationship increases year-5 Medigap persistency from 71% to 84%.
Related Terms
- Medicare Supplement (Medigap) — Private insurance that pays the out-of-pocket gaps (copays, coinsurance, deductibles) left by Original Medicare, standardized into lettered plan types.
- ACA (Affordable Care Act) / Marketplace — U.S. federal law (2010) that created the individual health insurance marketplace, premium subsidies, and the open enrollment framework for under-65 major medical.
- Under-65 Health Insurance — Health insurance for consumers not yet Medicare-eligible — primarily ACA marketplace plans, short-term medical, and indemnity products.