Marketplace registration and training
Domain 1 tests the administrative path that makes an agent or broker legally able to assist consumers in the Federally-facilitated Marketplace (FFM). The exam expects you to know the sequence, the annual nature of the requirements, and the difference between state licensure and federal Marketplace registration.
Core rules
- You must hold an active state insurance license in the state where the consumer is located, be in good standing, and have an active National Producer Number (NPN). A license in your home state does not authorize you to help a consumer in another state unless you hold a non-resident license there.
- Create a CMS Enterprise Portal account, complete identity proofing, and obtain an FFM User ID. Training is delivered in the Marketplace Learning Management System (MLMS).
- Complete the FFM agent/broker training curriculum for the applicable plan year and pass the exam with a score of at least 85%. Training is annual; prior-year completion does not carry forward.
- Complete the Marketplace agent/broker registration, sign the applicable agreement, and attest to compliance. Check exclusion status, such as SAM, and disclose required information.
- Get consumer consent before accessing application or enrollment data. Registration is separate from state-based Marketplace (SBM) registration; SBM states set their own training and registration rules.
- Keep records of Marketplace transactions, generally for 10 years under the agent/broker agreement, and cooperate with CMS audits.
Worked example
An agent licensed in Texas wants to help a sibling who moved to Florida. Texas licensure is not enough: the agent must hold a Florida license, resident or non-resident, or be licensed in the state where the consumer lives, and must be registered with the FFM for that plan year. If the consumer lived in a state-based Marketplace state, the agent would also need to meet that state's registration and training rules. The correct answer is not that the license follows the consumer; it does not.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating Marketplace registration as a one-time event. It is annual, and training must be finished before assisting consumers.
- Confusing MLMS, which delivers training, with the Enterprise Portal account and identity process, and with state licensing.
- Assuming the 85% threshold is a state licensure passing score; it is the FFM training threshold.
- Ignoring consent-to-disclosure and record-retention duties; these are compliance items, not paperwork.