California exchange OKs agents

By Allison Bell

October 15, 2013 at 02:42 PM

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The Covered California exchange seems to be clearing its agent certification pipes.

Some agents who'd complained earlier say they're now certified.

At press time, the exchange agent directory wasn't working, but agents have heard that, as of Friday, the exchange had increased the number of fully certified agents to about 1,100, from fewer than 400 earlier in the week.

California is running its own exchange. Reps haven't been available to comment.

Neil Crosby, a vice president at the California Association of Health Underwriters, said he believes Covered California is trying to make progress at getting more agents certified.

"I sure hope this is the case, as we still keep hearing from agents that they're still trying to get through the system," Crosby said.

Last Wednesday, one agent who asked for anonymity, wrote that she had no evidence the exchange had certified any agents in her area.

The agent wrote later to say that, after stories about the certification delays started appearing, she became fully certified. When the agent directory tool was working, she found she was one of five certified exchange agents listed in her area.

Some state-based exchanges and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have had trouble getting their exchange enrollment websites to work.

In California, however, the exchange site has been successful at enrolling consumers in plans, and brokers there have said they fear certification delays could hamper their efforts to get into the exchange plan market.

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