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Agency Resource Guide

Learn more about the tools, training and support available to agencies with a HealthSherpa for Agents account.

Marianna Di Regolo avatar
Written by Marianna Di Regolo
Updated over a week ago

Welcome to the Agency Resource Guide! If you're hoping to get the most out of your HealthSherpa for Agents account then you’re in the right place. Reading through this guide is one of the best ways to learn more about the tools, training and support available to you. We recommend bookmarking this page for future reference.

Here’s everything that’s included in this guide — you can also click on a topic below to jump to that section:


HealthSherpa for Agents Overview

At HealthSherpa our goal is to provide you with the right tools and resources so you can easily manage and grow your agency.

With a free HealthSherpa for Agents account you can:

  • Track and optimize your agency's ACA business

  • View agent activity across all downlines

  • Keep all of your clients and leads in one organized place

  • Utilize your own branded website where clients can self-enroll

  • Get fast, accurate quoting with subsidy estimation

  • Easily pull existing applications from HealthCare.gov

  • Plus more!

We also have been the largest ACA enrollment platform since 2013:

  • 45,000+ agents

  • 4,800+ agencies

  • 10+ million enrollments

  • $71 billion in premiums

To learn more, we put together a short video that walks you through our platform and how HealthSherpa for Agents can help you scale your agency

We also recommend checking out these additional resources to get the most out of your HealthSherpa for Agents account:


Creating a New Account

Creating a HealthSherpa for Agents account is fast and easy. Most agents are able to go through this process in 3-4 minutes. Here’s how:

  • Step 2: Click on the blue “Start Enrolling Faster” button

  • Step 3: Enter your email address and password — and then click “sign up” (this email address will be your HealthSherpa login)

  • Step 4: Enter your name, agency name, preferred phone number, and select how you heard about us

  • Step 5: Select the option to “Create a new agency account”

  • Step 6: Choose each state and carrier you are licensed and appointed with as an agent (not at the agency level)

  • Step 7: Turn on the referral program — this is a great opportunity to get paid for ACA enrollments when you don’t have a contract with a specific carrier

  • Step 8: Enter your FFM Username (also known as your CMS portal login) and provide your individual NPN, not the agency’s

  • Step 9: Go through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) check (this must be authorized to finalize and open your account)

  • Step 10: Congratulations!! You’ve created a new HealthSherpa account!


Linking Your Agents to Your Agency Account

After you create a new HealthSherpa account it’s time to invite your agents to join. To get started, head over to the “Agency” tab inside your dashboard and click on the “Invite Agents” button on the top, right-hand side.

From there, you can email your agents an invite that includes a unique link directing them to create a new account. Once they click on the link and follow the steps, their account will automatically be connected to yours.

Another way to link your agents to your agency account is by sharing your agency “join code” which you can also find under the “Settings” tab. Your agents can enter the code during the account creation process or afterwards directly from their “Settings'' tab.


Enhanced Direct Enrollment

Enhanced Direct Enrollment (EDE) is a new and exciting technology that allows HealthSherpa to fully integrate with HealthCare.gov.

That means you and your agents can process applications, submit follow-ups, and track status without ever leaving HealthSherpa — so managing your ACA business is easier and more streamlined.

Here’s how to turn on EDE (an important step for both you and your agents to complete):

  • Enter your contact information on the “verify your identity” page and click "continue"

  • This will pull up the ID proofing questions based on personal credit history through Experian, a partner of CMS

  • Please note: These questions are pulled from your personal information, so please answer with your own info (not relating to your business)

  • Upon successful ID proofing, you will be taken back to your dashboard and the "Enable EDE" button will be gone!

Once you’re EDE approved, you can do all of the following directly on HealthSherpa:

  • Shop for plans and submit applications

  • Upload documents and easily see required follow ups

  • Make binder payments

  • Renew plans with a pre-filled application

  • Report life changes

  • Download eligibility letters and 1095-A tax forms

  • Plus more!


FFM Account Integration

CMS now requires additional authentication for agents and brokers. This change increases your security and once authenticated, you can use your HealthSherpa for Agents account as usual and there will be no impact to your enrollments.

If you do not complete this authentication, you will not be able to use Enhanced Direct Enrollment (EDE) through your HealthSherpa account. This includes major features such as the following:

  • Submission of EDE applications and enrollments

  • EDE application updates and cancellations

  • Follow-up document submissions for an existing EDE application

  • Eligibility notice review and download

  • Search and claim

Luckily, this is a quick and easy process to complete. Here’s how:

  • This will launch the “CMS Okta Identity Management” portal in a new window

  • Log in using your FFM username and password to authenticate and link your HealthSherpa account

  • Once your account is integrated, you will see a green check indicating your successful account integration the next time you log into HealthSherpa

You and your agents will need to complete this authentication process every 30 days. You can see your re-authentication date under the “FFM Account Integration” settings in your Agent Dashboard. To extend your authentication, click "extend my integration now".


Referral Program

Our referral program is a simple way to help your clients get ACA health coverage while you get paid for every enrollment.

Here’s how it works:

  • Log into your HealthSherpa for Agents account

  • Select the "Bonuses" tab and turn the referrals setting to "On."

  • Under your “Carrier” settings, choose which carriers you would like to refer

  • Submit enrollments and track your referrals

  • Earn up to $200 for every OEP referral and $50 for SEP referrals.

After you submit your first referral, you will be prompted to set up payments and a W-9 on your "Referrals" page. You can submit a W-9 by selecting “Submit W-9” within the “Bonuses” tab.

It’s also important to know that HealthSherpa’s only focus is ACA/Marketplace enrollments so you can continue working with your clients for any other products outside of ACA. Plus, you can always renew these clients under your AOR (Agent of Record) the following year.

Our referral program is a great opportunity whenever you don’t have a contract with a specific carrier.

Also, if you’re licensed but not FFM certified you can create a referral account here.


Navigating Your Dashboard

Your HealthSherpa for Agents dashboard will make managing your agency easier and more efficient!

Inside your dashboard you can:

  • Enroll clients in ACA coverage, submit follow-ups, and track status

  • Access our redesigned application, optimized for speed

  • Utilize your own branded website where clients can self-enroll

  • Create a referrals account and get paid for every conversion

  • Quickly pull existing applications from HealthCare.gov

  • Report life changes and update client information

  • Manage your leads in one organized place

If you are the primary agency admin, you control a handful of settings that you can find under the “Agency” tab inside your dashboard. You also have the option to grant admin access to other agents so they can control these settings, too. Here’s a quick overview:

  • Agent Search: Search for a specific agent by name or NPN

  • Shared Book: Grant agents access to each other's clients and leads

  • Full Book: Grant agents access to your entire agency-wide book of business

  • NPN Override: Give agents the ability to apply a principal NPN to their applications

  • Agency Export Reports: Export your full book of business, agency roster, and outstanding DMIs


Importing Your Book of Business

Once you create a new HealthSherpa for Agents account, you can easily import your existing book of business. That way, you can manage your clients and leads, report changes, process renewals, plus more — directly from your dashboard.

Here’s how to import clients:

Step 1: Head over to the “Clients” tab and select “Import” on the right-hand side of the screen.

Step 2: Click on the "Download CSV Template" button.

Step 3: Open and fill out the template with the required fields for each client. (The required fields include first name, last name, date of birth, street address, city, state, zip code, plan name, effective date, and gross premium.)

Step 4: Once you’re finished filling out the template, click on the “Import CSV” button to upload.

Here’s how to import leads:

Step 1: Head over to the “Leads” tab and select “Import” on the right-hand side of the screen.

Step 2: Click on the "Download CSV Template" button.

Step 3: Open and fill out the template with the required fields for each lead. (Note: the template for clients and leads are different.)

Step 4: Once you’re finished filling out the template, click on the “Import CSV” button to upload.

Then refresh the page and you will be able to access your newly uploaded clients and leads!

You can confirm your import was successful when:

You can look up and add clients to your HealthSherpa account by using the "Search Marketplace" link on the top right-hand side of your dashboard. This is also a great alternative to importing your book of business if you want to add clients one at a time or when you or your agents work through renewals.


Shopping & Enrollment Tools

With your HealthSherpa for Agents account you get access to powerful shopping and enrollment tools so you can:

  • Easily filter, compare, and share plans with your clients

  • Access fast, accurate quoting with subsidy estimation

  • Quickly search for providers and prescriptions

  • Find plans from all carriers in your area

  • Access pre-filled renewal applications

  • Plus more

To start the shopping and enrollment process all you have to do is click on the “Quote” button on the top of your dashboard!


Fast & Optimized Application

HealthSherpa is fully integrated with HealthCare.gov through Enhanced Direct Enrollment (EDE). That means, once you get EDE approved you can process applications, submit follow-ups, and track status without ever leaving HealthSherpa.

Here’s why agents love our optimized application, designed for speed:

  • Every application is synced with HealthCare.gov

  • Completing our app is faster than ever (9 minutes on average)

  • All renewal applications are pre-filled

  • Clients never have to log into HealthCare.gov


Easy Renewal Process

On HealthSherpa the renewal process is quick and easy, saving you time to focus on other parts of your business.

Here’s how it works:

  • Search for your client and click on the "Renew" button to the right of their name

  • From there, the application will automatically get pre-filled

  • Go through the app and make any updates that are needed

  • Choose a plan and submit the renewal


Client & Lead Management

Being able to easily manage, track, and follow up with your clients or leads is important. It will help you stay organized, work more efficiently, and most importantly grow your agency.

That’s why we have spent so much time creating client and lead management tools inside your HealthSherpa for Agents account.

Here are a few helpful features you can start using today:

  • Resume an application in just one click

  • Filter your clients or leads to see where they are in the enrollment process

  • Import new clients or leads to your HealthSherpa for Agents account

  • Add notes to each client or lead to keep track of important information

  • Easily pull existing applications from the Marketplace

  • View follow-up items & plan details

  • View and submit Marketplace documents

  • Plus more!


Branded Enrollment Website

With a HealthSherpa for Agents account, you get access to your own branded enrollment website where your clients can easily search for and self-enroll in ACA health coverage.

Here’s how it work:

Here’s why we love this feature:

  • It gives your clients the opportunity to self-enroll

  • It gives you more time to focus on other parts of your business

  • It’s a great tool for marketing and promotion

  • You can easily track and follow up with leads

If you're the agency admin it's important to know that all applications submitted through your enrollment website will have your NPN attached or follow the referral settings you’ve selected. You can either share your unique link with your agents so that all consumer driven applications are connected to your NPN and referral settings or they can use their own enrollment website which will be connected to their NPN and referral settings.

Click here to learn more about the branded enrollment website and how to use your direct marketing link.


Exporting Reports

Agents and agencies are able to export their full book of business, including 100+ columns of enrollment data. The export is a CSV file which contains applicant information, plan details, follow-up statuses, plus more. For a description of each column, please refer to this Excel file legend. Larger exports may take longer to arrive.

Here are common reasons to export your book of business:

  • Track effectuation

  • Book of business segmentation

  • Carrier commission reconciliation

  • Enrollment auditing

  • Custom reporting

How to export clients or leads as an agent:

  1. Head over to the “Clients” or “Leads” tab and click on the “Export” button.

  2. Select a date range (this is based on the last time an app was submitted)

  3. Click on the “Export Clients” or “Export Leads” button

  4. The report will be sent to your email address

  5. Click on the link inside the email to download the file

How to export clients or leads as an agency:

This report includes clients and leads from every agent and subagency in your downline and can be accessed by agency admins. Here's how to download this report:

  1. Head over to the “Agency” tab

  2. Click on the “Export” button

  3. The report will be sent to your email address

  4. Click on the link inside the email to download the file

How to export your agency roster:

Agency admins can export a roster of their downline agents which makes it easy to:

  • Email agents who have HealthSherpa accounts linked to your agency

  • Check whether the settings are accurate for your agents

  • Confirm your agents have enabled Enhanced Direct Enrollment (EDE)

  • Assess enrollment volume at the downline agent-level

Here’s how to access this report:

  1. Head over to the “Agency” tab inside your dashboard

  2. Click on the “Export” button on the top, right-hand side

  3. Click on the blue “Export Agents” button

  4. The report will be sent to your email address

  5. Click on the link inside the email to download the file

How to export Data Matching Issues (DMIs)

This report includes all data matching issues from the past two months and can help your agency quickly identify and resolve DMIs. Agency admins can export this data which includes:

  • Agent Name

  • Client FFM Application ID

  • DMI Type

  • DMI Status

  • DMI Due Date

  • URL Link to “Client Details Page”

Here’s how to access this report:

  1. Head over to the “Clients” tab inside your dashboard

  2. Click on the “Export” button on the right-hand side

  3. Click on the blue “Export DMIs” button

  4. The report will be sent to your email address

  5. Click on the link inside the email to download the file

Agency admins can also receive this report in a weekly email by enabling this feature under the “Settings” tab.

How to secure your exports

We strongly recommend that all agents and agencies set up Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). This will give your HealthSherpa for Agents account an added layer of security. Click here for instructions on how to enable 2FA.


Post Enrollment Tools

Now with Enhanced Direct Enrollment (EDE), you’re able to easily maintain applications directly from HealthSherpa. After you have completed an enrollment, here’s what you can do inside your dashboard:

  • Make binder payments

  • Upload follow-up documents

  • Track the status of documents

  • Report life changes

  • See application history

  • Update applications

  • Change plans


Agent Support Team

With a HealthSherpa for Agents account you get access to our Agent Support Team year-round. If you have any questions, issues or want to share feedback, you can reach out to us by phone, chat or email:

  • Phone: (888) 684-1373

  • Chat: you can chat with us directly from your dashboard by clicking on the chat icon in the bottom right corner


Thank You!

Thank you for visiting the Agency Resource Guide. If you have any additional questions please reach out to our Agent Support Team at (888) 684-1373 or email us at agent_support@healthsherpa.com.

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