It’s funny how cyclical our business is! ACA for a long time was out, and then all of a sudden the interest level appears to be an all time high. So, I wanted to add this detailed guide support our readers.
If you’re a licensed insurance agent looking to diversify your portfolio, ACA health insurance sales might currently be the most overlooked opportunity I’ve seen in quite some time. Whether you’re a Medicare agent, life insurance agent, or just starting out as an independent agent, ACA can be a game-changer, if you know how to position it correctly in your customer acquisition strategy.
Below you’ll learn how to become an ACA health insurance agent, how to find ACA leads, and why adding Obamacare plans to your product portfolio can increase your revenue and impact.
Why Become an ACA Health Insurance Agent?
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) created the health insurance marketplace, offering millions of Americans access to health coverage with the help of federal subsidies. But it also opened the door for insurance agents to play a key role in that quoting and enrollment process.
Here’s why you should pay attention:
- Great market: Over 16 million people enrolled through Healthcare.gov in 2024 alone, it’s a great way to build a foundation of strong relationships that you can serve for many years.
- Year-round sales opportunities: With Special Enrollment Periods (SEP) and Medicaid transitions, there’s always someone to help, an when you’re there when someone needs, you, it’s a priceless way to start a business relationship.
- Easy cross-sell: ACA clients often need dental, vision, life insurance, or even annuities. If you’re using health insurance as the top of funnel to build your book of business, you’ll begin to understand exactly how many customers will purchase multiple policies from you during their lifetime.
- Recurring revenue: ACA enrollments pay monthly commissions from insurance carriers which compensates you to continue servicing your customers at a high level.
Can You Make Money Selling ACA?
Yes.
The commission may seem lower per case compared to Medicare or life insurance, but ACA is all about volume and a path to build relationships with customers for the long term. Combine that with subsidies and high eligibility rates, and you can quickly scale your book of business.
Pro Tip: If you’re already helping clients with Medicare, then you should also be helping their younger family members. That one question can lead to new ACA sales and long-term referrals without having to add any new tactics to your marketing strategy.
What Are the Steps to Sell ACA Health Insurance Plans?
If you’re asking, “What’s the process to start selling ACA?”, follow the step-by-step process below.
Get Your Insurance License
First, you’ll need a health insurance license in each state you plan on selling in. Most new agents start with pre-licensing coursework and pass a state exam in about 2 weeks. My suggestion is always to book your insurance exam as soon as you purchase your exam prep so you have a deadline to
Complete FFM Certification
To sell ACA on the Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) (including Healthcare.gov), you are required to pass an annual FFM certification through CMS.. It’s free and available online and you can read more about that process here.
Choose an ACA FMO
Using a field marketing organization will assure you have the proper back office and compliance support. FMOs will also help you with marketing strategies to best educate your prospects and position yourself as an expert in your local market. This is important so you can stay focused on delivering the best experience to your customers.
Recommended ACA FMOs
Here are two FMOs that I know and trust, that have proven experience in supporting agents and agencies in growing their ACA footprint.
Contact either of these and let them know you’re looking for support on selling ACA and they will surely deliver.
Learn Your ACA Enrollment Platform
Many agents use HealthSherpa or insurance carrier portals to simplify the enrollment process. Your FMO should also provide you extensive training on these technologies to help you navigate your enrollments.
All of these tools will help you quote, enroll, and track clients easily in a single system.
Contract with Insurance Companies
You’ll need to be appointed with multiple insurance companies offering ACA plans in your state to give clients real coverage options. Below is a list of some of the more common plans you’ll see that are competitive in the market.
- Anthem
- Ambetter
- Allstate
- BlueCross BlueShield
- BlueCross BlueShield of New Mexico
- BlueCross BlueShield Arizona
- BlueCross BlueShield of Texas
- BlueCross BlueShield of Oklahoma
- Cigna HealthSpring
- Oscar
- Select Health
- United
- Wellpoint
How to Get ACA Leads
Once you’re certified, licensed, and contracted with an FMO, it’s time to build your pipeline. Here’s how:
- Social media: Educate your followers and network on health insurance eligibility questions, subsidies, and how to navigate the Open Enrollment Period (OEP). Health insurance is confusing and people want someone they can trust to help them. Become their support person.
- Community outreach: Partner with small business groups, clinics, and local events. This is a fantastic way to meet people and introduce yourself and the services you offer. I would suggest working towards a goal of some time of community engagement twice a week and you’ll see it’s a very productive lead generation tactic.
- Referrals: Lean into your Medicare or life insurance base as they have family members under 65. People love to refer those they know and trust, so make it known that you offer health insurance support for those potentially needing ACA plans.
- Webinars and landing pages with FAQs: Create your own local content answering “What is ACA?” and “Can I change my health insurance agent?” to build trust and traffic. With as much scrutiny as there is in the market about acquiring customers, take advantage of your ability to build your own personalized online experience that communicates the value of working with you so they can either place an inbound call directly or fill out a form requesting a call back.
When Can You Sell ACA Insurance?
There are two main enrollment windows you need to know.
- Open Enrollment Period (OEP): Typically Nov. 1 – Jan. 15.
- Special Enrollment Periods (SEPs): Triggered by events like job loss, moving, or income changes.
By understanding SEP triggers, you can help potential clients year-round, not just during OEP. This is very similar to the Medicare enrollment periods.
What Tools and Resources Do ACA Agents Use?
Your success in ACA sales is about two things, staying efficient and compliant.
Here’s my advice to accomplish both:
- HealthSherpa or Enhanced Direct Enrollment (EDE) platforms
- CRM tools for lead tracking
- Leverage an FMO for your FFM and CMS updates to stay compliant
- Attend ongoing continuing education on policy changes and use them for CE credits when you can. If you aren’t using them for CE credits, you should maintain clean documentation of your participation in these programs.
Opportunities for Medicare Agents
I’ve always been of the mindset that once you’ve been in the insurance business long enough and survived, you should really begin embracing a holistic mindset of serving your customers.
If you’re already working in Medicare, don’t overlook ACA.
Many of your clients have children or spouses who need health insurance plans, especially with healthcare.gov subsidies. The crossover is natural, and you already have their trust.
And, if you’re offering both Medicare and ACA, it’s a lot easier for your prospects to connect and understand how you support people with managing their financial risks associated with healthcare costs.
Conclusion
I strongly believe that selling ACA plans is about process, preparation, and persistence. But, you can’t deploy that if you aren’t focused on strengths and allowing your FMO to support your administrative needs.
The more health insurance agents understand the ACA marketplace, the more lives they can positively impact and ultimately build a book of business with a predictable transaction history over time of multiple products.
If you’re ready to grow your income while helping more families get affordable health coverage, now’s the time to act.
