CMS Document - Tips for Agents and Brokers

[dr954]

Hey Fellow Agents,
I'm sure you've received this document called "Helping Consumers Complete an Enrollment Starting December 1st: Tips for Agents and Brokers." If you have not, please see attached.

What I find amusing is this part:
"If for some reason the Marketplace website is not available:
Arrange a 3-way call between yourself, the consumer and the Federally-facilitated Marketplace Call Center (1-800-318-2596) to fill out the application over the phone, receive an eligibility determination and choose a plan. The consumer must be on the phone with the agent or broker and Call Center representative to complete an application and/or make a plan selection. The Call Center will record the agent’s information when the agent and consumer conduct a 3-way call
with the Call center."

No call center agents or the manager at the time I called heard of this before. I asked her if she knew who the DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES were, she said yes we work for them.

Has anyone had a call center agent record their name on an application and actually get credit by the health insurance company you sold?

 

[AllenChicago]

I'm sure many of you received this E-mail received from CMS today. They sound really proud of this accomplishment, don't they?

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This message is intended for agents and brokers who have initiated the registration process for the Federally-facilitated Marketplaces (FFM)—including State Partnership Marketplaces (SPM).

1-28-2014

We are pleased to announce a new resource that was posted on the CMS agent/broker webpage today, and is titled:
“Federally-facilitated Marketplace Enrollment: Tips for Agents and Brokers in the Individual Market”

This document is designed to help agents/brokers as they assist consumers to enroll in individual market Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) on the FFM. The document provides tips on some of the key screens for agent/broker assistance during enrollment in the FFM.

You may access this document at:
http://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Programs-and-Initiatives/Health-Insurance-Marketplaces/Downloads/agent-broker-enrollment-tips.pdf


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Does this new slide-show document indicate any improvement to the enrollment process? It reads as if starting at the carrier's website is now more complicated. This "agent/broker landing page" at the FFMarketplace is new, isn't it? Never needed it before today, so why was it invented in the first place. You'd think that the healthcare.gov programmers had more important things to work on...
-ac

 

[Nikita]

Hey Fellow Agents,
I'm sure you've received this document called "Helping Consumers Complete an Enrollment Starting December 1st: Tips for Agents and Brokers." If you have not, please see attached.

What I find amusing is this part:
"If for some reason the Marketplace website is not available:
Arrange a 3-way call between yourself, the consumer and the Federally-facilitated Marketplace Call Center (1-800-318-2596) to fill out the application over the phone, receive an eligibility determination and choose a plan. The consumer must be on the phone with the agent or broker and Call Center representative to complete an application and/or make a plan selection. The Call Center will record the agent’s information when the agent and consumer conduct a 3-way call
with the Call center."

No call center agents or the manager at the time I called heard of this before. I asked her if she knew who the DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES were, she said yes we work for them.

Has anyone had a call center agent record their name on an application and actually get credit by the health insurance company you sold?

Yes I have. The first several apps I took last year were via the phone with marketplace reps and my name was appropriately recorded on each one of the apps and I have verified this with the insurance companies....

 

[houcoogster]

Yes I have. The first several apps I took last year were via the phone with marketplace reps and my name was appropriately recorded on each one of the apps and I have verified this with the insurance companies....

This is good to know Nikita thanks for posting.

 

[yorkriver1]

I had at least 4 or 5 that way. All did show up with my agent #.

A phone rep also gave me the info that a client could make me their official rep. for 2 weeks, to give their info to HC.gov for them. This worked during those last couple weeks when the site was both busy and down a lot.

I had to make calls early in the morning or late at night for a few, just to get them in.

I have had some phone reps who don't know about some of these work arounds. Others have suggested them.

 

[healther]

Tip for CMS...

Move the Broker/Agent assistance question to the plan enrollment section.