'Navigators' of State Health Insurance Exchanges Prepare to Help Applicants

[STIBROKER]

'Navigators' of State Health Insurance Exchanges Prepare to Help Applicants : Roll Call Policy

When enrollment in the health care law’s new insurance exchanges opens in October, the prospects for success will turn on a crucial element: people who actually understand health insurance coverage and can explain it in plain language to consumers.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

"thousands of paid health insurance experts"

 

[somarco]

"thousands of paid health insurance experts"

vs. thousands of unpaid health insurance agents

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

Like the saying goes...Ya just can't make this stuff up.

 

[Yagents]

Here is what I got out of the article:

30 hrs of training does not make a navigator an "expert"
We are currently used by most people who shop on their own
They realize many agents have left the business
We cannot assist with tax credits
Glad we made the last paragraph


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People who don’t have insurance through their jobs often sign up now through insurance agents. Will that change? Will they be required to use a navigator instead?
Insurance agents and brokers who are continuing to actively sell health insurance cannot be navigators or assisters. However, once consumers have been told they are eligible for a tax credit and are ready to pick a plan, the agent can help them select insurance coverage as long as they abide by certain federal and state rules. But agents can’t provide any financial incentives to steer people into particular plans. No one will be required to use a navigator.

 

[RayNY]

"once consumers have been told"-doesn't say we can't tell them, or walk them through the marketplace website.

"the agent can help them select insurance coverage"-Which, AFAIK, navigators cannot do.

I don't see anything in this article, or anything released prior, that forbids brokers from helping with subsidy calculation/eligibility determination.