Welcome to the Agent and Broker Video Learning Center.
In this video, we will:
Walk through how to update your professional information in your agent/broker profile;
Go over the real-time National Producer Number, or NPN, validation process and how to resolve
verification issues; and Review how to add any languages you speak
to your Marketplace Learning Management System account.
Feel free to jump to just the parts in this video you want to see by clicking the links
in the video description below.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, Enterprise Portal is a platform that
agents and brokers, and other users, use to access certain applications to work with the
Marketplace.
This includes the Marketplace Learning Management System, or MLMS, where your agent/broker profile
can be found.
To access the CMS Enterprise Portal and your agent/broker profile, visit portal.cms.gov
and enter your User ID and password.
After logging in, you’ll automatically be taken to the “Agent Broker Registration
Status” page.
From there, click the “Complete Agent Broker Training” link.
Then click the “Access Training” or “Return to Training” link next to the MLMS training
option.
Afterward, you’ll be taken to your agent/broker profile.
At the top of the page, you must select one of the three agent/broker roles to indicate
if you are participating with the Individual Marketplace, the Small Business Health Options
Program, or both.
Under the “Find Local Help and Help On Demand options” section, you can indicate how much
of your professional contact information you wish to display on Find Local Help and
Help On Demand.
You can opt to display:
All of your contact information for all states where you have a valid health license;
Your contact information, minus your street address, for all states where you have a valid
health license; or All of your contact information but just for
your home state.
You can also opt to not participate in Find Local Help or Help On Demand at all.
Under the “Individual Profile” section, this is where you will provide your professional
contact information, including your address, phone number, email, website URL, NPN, and
preferred contact method.
Please make sure that your name matches the information you provided to the National Insurance
Producer Registry, or NIPR.
This information will be used to verify your NPN, and if your information does not match
it will cause a delay in your NPN validation process.
Some of the information you provide here , like the URL to your website, will be displayed
on Find Local Help, if you chose to participate.
This information is also used by CMS to keep you informed on Marketplace policies and initiatives
that are relevant to you, and to maintain the Registration Completion List.
Further down the page under the “Hours of Operation” section, you can provide specific
availability hours that will be displayed on Find Local Help so consumers know when
you’re available to provide assistance.
Next, we’ll review the real-time NPN validation process and how to resolve verification issues
you may encounter.
If you’re just now joining the video, we previously reviewed how to manage your agent/broker
profile, including where to find and update your NPN, if necessary.
Let’s get started!
Each year during the annual Marketplace registration process for new and returning agents or brokers,
CMS determines whether an NPN, and the associated agent or broker, has completed all the state
and federal requirements to participate in the Marketplace.
This is referred to as the NPN validation process.
Starting plan year 2020, CMS conducts a real-time NPN validation process within the CMS Enterprise
Portal to allow you to correct any errors identified during the validation process.
To be validated, you must:
Have a valid state license; Have a healthcare-related line of authority,
or LOA; and Have an active status for your healthcare-related
LOA.
CMS validates the NPN provided in your agent/broker profile in real-time against data stored in
the National Insurance Producer Registry, or NIPR, Producer Database.
The NIPR Producer Database contains information on NPNs, LOAs, and state licensure for agents
and brokers provided by state Departments of Insurance.
Results of this NIPR NPN validation appear on the public Registration Completion List.
If you attempt to access the MLMS to complete your registration and training but are met
with a validation error, this could be because you:
Did not provide your Social Security Number, or SSN, when you created your CMS Enterprise
Portal user account; Your NPN does not match what is listed in
the NIPR Producer Database; Your name does not match what is listed in
the NIPR Producer Database; or Any combination of all three.
If you receive an error that says “NPN validation failed,” this means your name and/or NPN
does not match what is listed in the NIPR Producer Database.
To confirm your information, visit nipr.com/PacNpnSearch.htm and use one of the three search options to
find your record.
If just your NPN does not match what is listed, be sure to update and confirm your information
in your agent/broker profile.
Remember, your NPN is not the same as your state licensure number or Federal Tax ID number!
Once your information is correct, you’ll be able to click the “Save” button and
proceed to the MLMS.
However, if your name in your agent/broker profile does not match what is listed in the
NIPR Producer Database, or if you receive an error that says “Saving Data Failed,”
you’ll need to contact the Marketplace Service Desk at 1-855-267-1515.
The “Saving Data Failed” message means that you did not provide your SSN when you
created your CMS Enterprise Portal user account, which is now required to validate your NPN.
When you contact the Marketplace Service Desk, a representative will confirm your identity
using the NIPR Producer Database, and then update your information, as necessary.
Your NPN validation errors should be resolved within 5 to 7 business days, at which time
you need to log back into the CMS Enterprise Portal and update your Marketplace role to
one of the three Agent Broker options.
You will be unable to proceed to the MLMS as an “Agent or Broker” if you receive
a validation error message.
You may continue to the MLMS to complete your registration and training by selecting “Not
an Agent Broker” in the dropdown menu at the top of your agent/broker profile.
However, after the NPN validation error has been resolved, you will need to return to
your agent/broker profile to update your Marketplace role to an Agent Broker option or you will
be able to participate in the Marketplace.
If you’re just now joining the video, we previously reviewed how to manage your agent/broker
profile in Part 1, as well as the real-time NPN validation process and how to resolve
verification issues you may encounter in Part 2.
During this next part of the video, we’ll review how you can meet consumers’ language
preferences by adding languages you speak to your MLMS account.
If you have opted into Find Local Help and Help On Demand, these languages will also
be added to your profiles on those applications.
This will allow consumers to easily find agents and brokers who speak a preferred language.
Let’s get started!
After ensuring your agent/broker profile is up-to-date and that your NPN is valid, you’ll
be able to proceed to the MLMS, wherein you can add the languages you speak into your account.
To access your account, click your MLMS profile picture, and then scroll to the bottom of
the page.
Here, expand the “Languages” section and click the “Add Language” link.
A pop-up will appear where you’ll be able to select the language you want to add to
your account and indicate your speaking, reading, and writing level.
Once you’ve made these selections, you’ll click the “Save” button to add this language
to your account.
You’ll repeat this process for each language you wish to add.
We hope this video has been helpful.
If you need additional support managing your information in the CMS Enterprise Portal and
MLMS, contact the Marketplace Service Desk at 1-855-267-1515.
Thank you for watching!