An electronic source of information
for Federally-facilitated Marketplace (FFM) Agents and Brokers
In This
Issue:
- Resources for Agents and Brokers
o
The
Marketplace Learning Management System (MLMS) Closed on July 15, 2016
o
Upcoming
Webinars
o
“Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) Data Recheck of Failure to File and Reconcile 2014
Advanced Payments of the Premium Tax Credit (APTC) Population” Webinar Slides
Now Available
o
“Agent
and Broker Guide to the Immigration Section of the Online Marketplace Application”
Resource Now Available
- Small Business Health Operations Program (SHOP)
Marketplace Corner
o
Connect
with the SHOP Marketplace on LinkedIn
o
There
is No Time Like the Present – Enroll Consumers in SHOP Marketplace Coverage
Today
- Spotlight on Eligibility and Enrollment
o
Reducing
the Impact of Data Matching Issues
- Did You Know? The Plan Year 2016 Agent and Broker FFM Registration
Completion List Has a New Look!
- Follow Us on Twitter
- Contact Us
Resources
for Agents and Brokers
The Marketplace
Learning Management System (MLMS) Closed on July 15, 2016
Plan year 2016 FFM
registration and training for agents and brokers closed on the MLMS on July 15
at 11:59 AM Eastern Time (ET) as we prepare to launch the registration and
training for plan year 2017. Information on the FFM registration and
training for plan year 2017 is coming soon.
As of July 15 at
12:00 PM ET the 2016 FFM registration and training curriculum completion
certificates for agents and brokers are no longer available on
the MLMS. The completion of a plan year 2016 training curriculum; or signing
the plan year 2016 FFM Agreements, does not count towards plan year 2017 FFM
registration for agents and brokers.
Upcoming
Webinars
Plan Year
2017 FFM Registration and Training Webinars: CMS will host two webinars on a recurring basis
during the next three months to help you complete plan year 2017 registration
and training. While you are welcome to participate in either of these webinar
sessions, you may prefer to attend the webinar designed to provide the level of
information you need to know. Both webinars will highlight updates to FFM
policies and processes since plan year 2016 and will include a web-chat
question and answer session immediately following the presentation.
·
“Plan Year 2017 FFM Registration and
Refresher Training for Agents and Brokers Returning to the FFMs.” This
webinar will provide an abbreviated review of the registration steps, and
describe the new, condensed Refresher Training option available to you if you
completed registration in plan year 2016. Webinar dates are:
o July 19,
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET
o July 28,
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM ET
o August 3,
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET
o August 10,
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET
·
“Plan Year 2017 FFM Registration and
Training for Agents and Brokers New to the FFMs.” This
webinar will provide a detailed discussion of registration steps and training
requirements to assure you have the information you need to complete all the
registration steps, including some steps that returning agents and brokers need
not perform. Webinar dates are:
o July 20,
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET
o July 27,
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET
o August 4,
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM ET
Registration is now
open for all webinars at www.REGTAP.info
and agents and brokers are only allowed to register for one session. If you
have questions on the webinar registration process, visit the "Agent and
Broker Webinars” section of the Agents
and Brokers Resources webpage for more information.
“Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) Data Recheck of Failure to File and Reconcile 2014 Advanced
Payments of the Premium Tax Credit (APTC) Population” Webinar Slides Now
Available
CMS hosted the “IRS
Data Recheck of Failure to File and Reconcile 2014 APTC Population” webinar on
June 2. This webinar provided an overview of the rules for consumers who need
to reconcile the APTC they received during plan year 2014. Consumers whom the
FFMs and IRS determine have failed to complete reconciliation for 2014 could
lose their current plan year APTC as soon as October 2016, and could be
reenrolled in coverage for plan year 2017 without APTC. For more information,
you can review the slides from this webinar here.
“Agent and
Broker Guide to the Immigration Section of the Online Marketplace Application”
Now Available
This guide will help
you assist consumers with completing the citizenship and immigration questions
of the online Marketplace application. It provides step-by-step instructions
and screenshots that illustrate how to: verify identity and citizenship or
immigration status; submit supporting documentation, if requested; complete
other steps necessary for enrollment in a QHP through the Marketplace; and
determine or assess potential eligibility for Medicaid or the Children’s Health
Insurance Program. The guide also contains a list of frequently asked questions
on issues that commonly arise when helping non-citizen consumers. For more
information, you can review the document here.
Small Business Health Operations Program (SHOP) Marketplace Corner
Connect with the SHOP Marketplace on LinkedIn
Stay up to date on
the latest SHOP Marketplace news, updates, and tools by following the SHOP
Marketplace on LinkedIn.
There is No Time
Like the Present – Enroll Consumers in SHOP Marketplace Coverage Today
Small employers with
one to 50 employees can apply and enroll in health insurance through the SHOP
Marketplace at any time. There is no limited enrollment period. Small employers
can begin to offer coverage in any month of the year. Applications that are
submitted before the 15th of the month can go into effect as soon as the first
day of the following month. Applications submitted after the 15th of the month
can go into effect as soon as the first day of the second following
month.
HealthCare.gov also
offers a variety of tools to help you and consumers get started:
·
See
Plans and Prices: Help consumers browse SHOP Marketplace health and dental
plans available in their areas before they enroll.
·
Full-time
Equivalent (FTE) Calculator: Help consumers determine if they are eligible
for SHOP Marketplace coverage by counting their total number of FTE employees.
·
Tax
Credit Estimator: Help consumers determine whether they may be eligible for
the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit, available exclusively through the
SHOP Marketplace, and estimate how much the tax credit may be worth to
employers.
·
Minimum
Participation Rate (MPR) Calculator: Help consumers predict whether they
meet the MPR in their state to participate in the SHOP Marketplace
Need assistance? The
SHOP Call Center is available to assist agents, brokers, employers, and
employees with an offer of SHOP Marketplace coverage, Monday – Friday 9:00 AM –
7:00 PM ET at 1-800-706-7893 (TTY: 711).
Spotlight on Eligibility and Enrollment
Reducing the
Impact of Data Matching Issues
To ensure consumers
are eligible for Marketplace coverage and financial assistance, CMS verifies
eligibility for most consumers through electronic trusted data sources.
However, if consumers’ data cannot be matched electronically, CMS generates a
data matching issue to request additional information from them. Consumers who
do not provide the necessary information will have their coverage or financial
assistance ended or modified. Unfortunately, eligible consumers sometimes lose
coverage or financial assistance through the Marketplace because they are
unable to locate documents or navigate the data matching process.
You can learn more
about some of the improvements CMS has made to make sure consumers who are
eligible for and need coverage throughout the year are able to stay covered
from the Keeping
Consumers Covered post by Kevin Counihan, the Chief Executive Officer of
the Center for Consumer Information & Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) and Health
Insurance Marketplace Director.
Did You Know?
The Agent Broker FFM Registration Completion List has a new look, but can still be accessed via the Agent and Broker FFM Registration Status Page. The Registration Completion List contains National Producer Numbers (NPNs) for agents, brokers, and web-brokers who have completed FFM registration. In this new format, a separate entry will appear for each plan year in which an agent, broker, or web-broker has completed registration. CMS anticipates refreshing the FFM Registration Completion List every Friday by 4:00 PM ET.
You can check your registration status by entering your NPN in the search functionality on the top right of the dataset (see the magnifying glass icon). To get a better idea of the new look and feel of the Registration Completion List, click here. You can also check out the FFM Registration Completion List Data Dictionary on the Agent Broker FFM Registration Status Page. The Data Dictionary is a list of the data fields and descriptions provided in the Registration Completion List spreadsheet.
Follow Us on Twitter
You can find important information and updates by following the CMS and HealthCare.gov Twitter handles (@CMSGov and @HealthCareGov) or by searching for the hashtags #ABFFM or #ABFFSHOP on Twitter.
Contact Us
For questions pertaining to the FFM agents and brokers program, including FFM registration requirements, or to subscribe to this newsletter, please contact the FFM Producer and Assister Help Desk via email at FFMProducer-AssisterHelpDesk@cms.hhs.gov.
You may also contact the Agent and Broker Call Center by calling 1-855-CMS-1515 (855-267-1515) and selecting option “1.” Call Center Representatives are available Monday through Saturday from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM ET.
This call center does not have access to consumer information and is not able to handle specific questions or issues with a consumer’s application. Please continue to call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596 for assistance related to enrolling consumers in coverage through the Individual Marketplaces. For assistance related to coverage through the SHOP Marketplace, contact the SHOP Call Center at 1-800-706-7893.
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