Enhancing Access for Agents and Brokers Act

Bill: 113-s-2175
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA]
Introduced: 2014-03-27
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Comprehensive health care

Consumer affairs

Government information and archives

Health care costs and insurance

Health care coverage and access

Insurance industry and regulation
Latest action: action_date: 2014-03-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Summaries:
action_date: 2014-03-27
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>Enhancing Access for Agents and Brokers Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a toll-free customer service support help line to enable certified health insurance agents and brokers to seek assistance regarding qualified health plans offered in the federal health insurance marketplace.</p> <p>Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to require the Secretary to establish procedures to permit a broker name and National Producer Number to be added to an application for enrollment in a health plan offered through a health care exchange at any time during the application process and for any enrollment period.</p> <p> Requires such procedures to ensure that the National Producer Number is designed to assist consumers in obtaining needed assistance to complete enrollment, ensure that brokers are adequately compensated, and provide consumer protections by identifying each agent or broker that has worked on an enrollment case.</p> <p>Directs the Secretary to:</p> <ul> <li>make available on the federal government website for health insurance coverage a list of all certified agents and brokers;</li> <li>contract with the National Insurance Producers Registry to regularly verify the licensure status of all such agents and brokers and develop a mechanism to enable submission of changes to contact and licensure information; and</li> <li>provide trained navigators, agents, and brokers, no later than five business days after promulgation or issuance of any new cost- or enrollment-related policies, with a clear description of such policy changes.</li> </ul>

tv_txt: II 113th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2175 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. Short title This Act may be cited as the Enhancing Access for Agents and Brokers Act . 2. Enhancing access for independent agents and brokers (a) Agent and broker and consumer support line Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall establish a dedicated toll-free customer service support help line to enable certified health insurance agents and brokers to seek assistance regarding qualified health plans offered in the Federal health insurance marketplace. (b) National producer number Section 1312(e) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ( 42 U.S.C. 18032(e) ) is amended— (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively and redesignating the margins accordingly; (2) by striking The Secretary shall and inserting the following: (1) In general The Secretary shall ; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (2) National producer number The Secretary shall establish procedures to permit a broker name and National Producer Number to be added to an application for enrollment in a qualified health plan offered through an Exchange at any time during the application process, and for any enrollment period described in section 1311(c)(6). Such procedures shall ensure that the National Producer Number is designed to assist consumers in obtaining needed assistance to complete enrollment, to ensure that brokers are adequately compensated for their role in that process, and to provide protections to consumers by identifying each agent or broker that has worked on an enrollment case in the event of any errors or other issues with the application. (3) List of agents and brokers Not later than 14 days after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary shall make available on the Internet website maintained by the Federal Government for health insurance coverage (healthcare.gov or any subsequent Internet site (or sites) that is established in whole or in part by the Federal Government to facilitate enrollment in qualified health plans, the receipt of tax credits or cost sharing reduction assistance, or comparisons of available qualified health plans) a list of all agents and brokers who have been trained and are currently certified by the Federal Exchange, including their name and National Producer number and if available their business address, electronic mail address, website, and phone number. The Secretary shall enter into a contract with the National Insurance Producers Registry to regularly verify, at least on a monthly basis, the licensure status of all of agents and brokers who have been trained and are currently certified by the Federal Exchange and a mechanism shall be developed and made accessible to all certified agents and brokers to enable such agents and brokers to submit any changes to their contact and licensure information to the Secretary so that such website updates contain accurate agent and broker contact information. (4) New information disclosure Not later than 5 business days after the promulgation of any new regulation, or issuance of any guidance, technical letter, or other official policy statement that impacts the enrollment of individuals in qualified health plans, the receipt of tax credits or cost sharing reduction assistance, or comparisons of available qualified health plans, the Secretary provide all navigators (under section 1311(i)), agents, and brokers who have been trained and are currently certified by the Federal Exchange with a clear description of such policy changes, including specific practical guidance as to how certified navigators, agents, and brokers can best assist their clients and help clients take advantage of any such policy changes. .