The Sept. 30 HHS agent registration expiration date has received little media attention, but 2014 exchange agents contacted through United Benefit Advisors, a group for independent agencies, said exchange program managers did a good job of telling them about the expiration date.

HHS has put its Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) division in charge of the program.

Carol Taylor, a benefits advisor in Roanoke, Va., said a total of three benefits advisors registered as exchange agents for 2014. CMS sent e-mails about the re-registration deadline to all of the agents, she said.

Michael Deru -- an agent in Utah, a state with an HHS-run individual exchange and a state-run small-group exchange -- said CMS and exchange plan issuers sent him several notices about the need to re-register.

Taylor said just one of the three exchange agents in her office will re-register. The office will consider using the exchange program for clients who qualify for individual premium subsidies or for small-group tax credits, but advisors at the office believe system limitations may complicate compliance with state laws, especially for small groups.

Deru said he has already re-registered, in part because he thinks some employers may take a serious look at dropping health benefits and sending employees to the exchange system this year.

Deru would like to see exchange program managers do a better job of telling the general public that enrollees have to pay for exchange QHP coverage, and that people who fail to have a minimum level of coverage may have to pay fines. But, in Utah, he said, "I have felt that the communications with the broker community have been great."

See also:

Instant Insights /

HealthCare.gov agent deadline nears

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