Exchange help won't end March 31

CMS does not send the in-person assister newsletters to agents and brokers. 

Health Agents for America, an agent group, obtained a copy of the newsletter from an unnamed recipient and forwarded it in an e-mail of its own to the agents on its e-mail list.

PPACA requires the state-based exchanges and the federal exchanges run by CMS to offer consumers access to “navigators,” or ombudsman services that would be free from health insurance company financial influence.

CMS later created certified application counselors and other types of “assisters,” to provide exchange helpers who could operate with somewhat different regulatory requirements and funding sources. Certified application counselors, for example, can be clinics or hospitals that get money from health insurance companies.

The open enrollment system applies only to consumers buying individual qualified health plan coverage through an exchange. Consumers can get a QHP “special enrollment period” after March 31 by showing that they have undergone a major life change, such as the loss of a job, or that they qualify for a hardship exemption from the usual open enrollment period rules.

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