Insurance agents around the country are getting frustrated with Obamacare as they struggle to help customers navigate the Affordable Care Act's marketplace.
The frustration arises from the agents' difficulty getting credit for the assistance they provide clients. They couldn't get commissions or be listed as follow-up contacts in case their clients need additional help. A number of insurers and insurance agents are calling on President Barack Obama to give them permission to bypass healthcare.gov. The agents say they can enroll consumers directly because there are enrollment problems that come with the website.
On November 22, federal health officials announced that they were able to fix some portions of the website. According to the announcement, insurers and insurance agents can now enroll consumers directly. The officials have asked 16 insurers and agents in Texas, Florida, and Ohio to test the website and to give feedback in return. The health officials are also expecting to get feedback from other states.
However, the health officials have been vague about its steps on how to fix the problem. Some of the problems have persisted, which prompted the head of the National Association of Health Underwriters to write the president last Tuesday, December 3. The head urged the president to prioritize the additional fixes to the system because insurance agents are now suffering from backlogs with regard to their clients' applications.
There are nearly 70,000 insurance agents and brokers who were certified to sell health insurance. Majority of them believe that they be the solution to the low enrollment turnout during the first month of the Obamacare website.
"You look at this dismal number they have of how many people have enrolled on healthcare.gov," Kelly Fristoe, an insurance agent told MSN News. "If they would just relax and loosen up, because me and all of my associates across this nation want to help these consumers get enrolled into the market."
Last month, insurance industry executives met with the president and encouraged him to let the insurance industry take a more participative role in enrolling consumers who are relying on the federal website.
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