II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2175 

To amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to enhance access 

for independent agents and brokers to information regarding marketplace 

enrollment. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 27, 2014 

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. WARNER, Ms. 

HEITKAMP, and Mr. BEGICH) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 

to enhance access for independent agents and brokers 

to information regarding marketplace enrollment. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Enhancing Access for 

5 Agents and Brokers Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENHANCING ACCESS FOR INDEPENDENT AGENTS 

2 AND BROKERS. 

3 (a) AGENT AND BROKER AND CONSUMER SUPPORT

4 LINE.—Not later than 30 days after the date of enact5 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human 

6 Services shall establish a dedicated toll-free customer serv7 ice support help line to enable certified health insurance 

8 agents and brokers to seek assistance regarding qualified 

9 health plans offered in the Federal health insurance mar10 ketplace. 

11 (b) NATIONAL PRODUCER NUMBER.—Section 

12 1312(e) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 

13 (42 U.S.C. 18032(e)) is amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

15 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively and redes16 ignating the margins accordingly; 

17 (2) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall’’ and in18 serting the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL PRODUCER NUMBER.—The Sec22 retary shall establish procedures to permit a broker 

23 name and National Producer Number to be added to 

24 an application for enrollment in a qualified health 

25 plan offered through an Exchange at any time dur26 ing the application process, and for any enrollment 


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1 period described in section 1311(c)(6). Such proce2 dures shall ensure that the National Producer Num3 ber is designed to assist consumers in obtaining 

4 needed assistance to complete enrollment, to ensure 

5 that brokers are adequately compensated for their 

6 role in that process, and to provide protections to 

7 consumers by identifying each agent or broker that 

8 has worked on an enrollment case in the event of 

9 any errors or other issues with the application. 

10 ‘‘(3) LIST OF AGENTS AND BROKERS.—Not 

11 later than 14 days after the date of the enactment 

12 of this paragraph, the Secretary shall make available 

13 on the Internet website maintained by the Federal 

14 Government for health insurance coverage 

15 (healthcare.gov or any subsequent Internet site (or 

16 sites) that is established in whole or in part by the 

17 Federal Government to facilitate enrollment in quali18 fied health plans, the receipt of tax credits or cost 

19 sharing reduction assistance, or comparisons of 

20 available qualified health plans) a list of all agents 

21 and brokers who have been trained and are currently 

22 certified by the Federal Exchange, including their 

23 name and National Producer number and if avail24 able their business address, electronic mail address, 

25 website, and phone number. The Secretary shall 


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1 enter into a contract with the National Insurance 

2 Producers Registry to regularly verify, at least on a 

3 monthly basis, the licensure status of all of agents 

4 and brokers who have been trained and are currently 

5 certified by the Federal Exchange and a mechanism 

6 shall be developed and made accessible to all cer7 tified agents and brokers to enable such agents and 

8 brokers to submit any changes to their contact and 

9 licensure information to the Secretary so that such 

10 website updates contain accurate agent and broker 

11 contact information. 

12 ‘‘(4) NEW INFORMATION DISCLOSURE.—Not 

13 later than 5 business days after the promulgation of 

14 any new regulation, or issuance of any guidance, 

15 technical letter, or other official policy statement 

16 that impacts the enrollment of individuals in quali17 fied health plans, the receipt of tax credits or cost 

18 sharing reduction assistance, or comparisons of 

19 available qualified health plans, the Secretary pro20 vide all navigators (under section 1311(i)), agents, 

21 and brokers who have been trained and are currently 

22 certified by the Federal Exchange with a clear de23 scription of such policy changes, including specific 

24 practical guidance as to how certified navigators, 

25 agents, and brokers can best assist their clients and 


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1 help clients take advantage of any such policy 

2 changes.’’. 

Æ 


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