There is exciting news in the health insurance world, but first, let’s define some terms.
Glossary:
Health insurance marketplace: This is an online portal that offers marketplace coverage, which is health insurance that you get if you are self employed or your employer does not provide health coverage.
Certified application counselors (CACs): People trained to help the public navigate the health insurance marketplace and select a health insurance plan that works best for them.
Certified designated organizations (CDOs): An organization of CACs.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): The organization that manages health insurance services.
Personally identifiable information (PII): Information like name, date of birth, Social Security number, health status, etc.
Now that we’ve defined key terms, what’s the big news?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has expanded opportunities for health insurance navigators in Wyoming. This means there will be more trained individuals to help the public find insurance plans, especially during the Open Enrollment period that runs from November-January. More helpers means more Wyomingites can have health insurance!
Why register to be a CDO?
This is a wonderful opportunity to help your community and build professional relationships with CMS. When you’re a CDO, CMS helps you with:
1. Annual certification training
2. Updates on CAC information
3. Posting your services on their website
4. General support via an email help-line or call center
And as a bonus, you would be helping Enroll Wyoming. Our overall goal is to increase the numbers CACs in Wyoming so that when we get to open enrollment season, there are more people available to help with re-enrollment/enrollment, and we can focus on more complicated cases.
Can I register as a CDO?
To become a CDO you must…
1. Have certified CACs (CACs MUST work within a CDO. They cannot be individuals.)
2. Have a privacy protection plan in place to protect personal information collected from the consumers the CACs work with
3. Make sure the CACs don’t have any conflicts of interest
4. Make sure your organization or business does not receive consideration from health insurance or stop loss insurance issuers
To read more about how to become a CDO, check out the CMS website.