CMS Introduces New Direct Enrollment for 3rd Party Sites

Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new direct enrollment process for individuals that will allow them to complete their enrollment directly through a third-party website. Previously, consumers who attempted to enroll in a plan through a broker, agent or insurer’s website were redirected to healthcare.gov in order to complete the enrollment. Under the new process which will start for the 2018 plan year, consumers will be able to complete the entire enrollment process on the third-party website. Initially, this will only be available to those who are enrolling in states that use the federally facilitated marketplaces or in state-based marketplaces which utilize healthcare.gov. For more information, check out the CMS press release as well as the official guidance from CMS on the new procedure.