SWMA, HWMA and Update Access Keys....

I managed to get my SWMA renewed although not for RDi since I couldn't get IBM to budge (yet) on the "after license" pricing since the SWMA had expired (no notice...ongoing issue).  In ANY case, does anyone know what impact and expired "Update Access Key" will have on the overall system?  I don't normally purchase HWMA since I have never experienced an unforced hardware failure and if I have a HW failure, I can usually get support from this forum to get it resolved.

HOWEVER, the "Update Access Keys" panel does show my "UAK" has expired.  Also, the HMC has a lengthy message about the UAK expiration under a CoD banner.  It mentions that since the key has expired "Entitled system firmware released after the key expires cannot be applied to the server"   I wrongly assumed that firmware was a SWMA thing, not a HWMA thing and IBM responded that I needed a HWMA contract in order to get a new key.  I am not sure what that will cost, since I have never had HWMA contract on any of my developer systems.

What is the overall impact of the expired UAK?  I have had developer systems for decades and never needed HWMA to keep it running so I don't know if this is a new feature or something related to using an HMC vs a console.  Right now, all is well. But I don't know if there is a downstream issue I will encounter if I don't purchase HWMA to update the UAK.

Can anyone shed some light on the purpose/impact of the UAK and it's expiration?