The public health insurance exchanges operated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) probably ended the second open enrollment period with 77,600 registered agents.
The HHS exchanges ended the 2015 enrollment period with 46 percent more registered agents than they had a year earlier, according to officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
CMS officials gave those agent participation figures in a paperwork review statement explaining an update to the HHS exchange agent and broker registration program.
CMS uses the form for the agents and brokers who work with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) exchanges that use the HealthCare.gov enrollment system. State-run PPACA exchanges have their own agent registration programs.
CMS officials estimate getting through the HealthCare.gov agent training and registration process will take an average of just 25 minutes per agent, and that those agents get an average of $35.30 in cash and fringe benefits per hour.