If you work with a licensed agent on your Marketplace health insurance this year, you will notice a new step: before your agent can do anything on your application, you will be asked to approve them electronically, usually by a one-time code or link sent to your phone or email. If nobody warned you, an unexpected text in the middle of a phone call can feel like a scam. It is not. This guide explains what Marketplace agent authorization is, why CMS added it, how it works, and what to have ready so your enrollment goes smoothly.
What consumer authorization for Marketplace agents is
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which runs the federal Marketplace at HealthCare.gov, now requires your electronic authorization before an agent or broker can take any action on your application or enrollment. CMS announced this on September 22, 2026 as part of a set of anti-fraud actions, and described it in more detail in an FAQ for enrollment platforms released August 3, 2026.
Most agents enroll clients through approved online enrollment platforms that connect directly to the federal Marketplace, rather than on HealthCare.gov itself. According to CMS's FAQ, those platforms must now collect your authorization for the specific agent helping you on every application, and agents are blocked from moving forward until you give it. CMS told the platforms to have this in place no later than October 12, 2026, ahead of Open Enrollment for 2027.
This applies to the federal Marketplace platform. If your state runs its own Marketplace website, its process may be different, so ask your agent or your state Marketplace.
Why CMS added an approval step
The short answer is unauthorized enrollments. CMS's FAQ says that differences in how platforms checked identity and agent permission created openings for bad actors to enroll people who did not know about it, or to switch their plans without permission. In September 2026, CMS announced it had cancelled about 315,000 enrollments covering more than 760,000 people after confirming they were unauthorized. Our guide to the CMS Marketplace cancellations explains what that announcement means and how to check your own coverage.
The new step puts you in control. An agent can no longer act on your application just because they have your name and date of birth. They need you, in real time, to say yes.
How the approval works
Each enrollment platform builds its own version, so the exact screen or message varies. CMS's FAQ sets the ground rules every platform has to follow:
- The platform contacts you directly, by text message, email or an automated phone call, using the contact information on your application.
- You approve with a lightweight method such as a one-time passcode or a one-time confirmation link.
- Codes and links are single-use and expire within 15 minutes, so the request should arrive while you are actively working with your agent.
- Some applications are treated as higher risk, for example a brand-new application, switching to a new agent, or an enrollment with a very low monthly premium after subsidies. In those cases you will first be asked to verify your identity, then approve the agent.
- Your approval lasts for the plan year, and only one agent can be authorized on an application at a time. If you later approve a different agent, that replaces the earlier one.
Because approvals run by plan year, CMS expects most people who already work with an agent will need to re-approve that agent during Open Enrollment for 2027. If your agent asks you to do this, it is routine.
The approval does not replace the consent your agent already has to document before helping you. It is an extra layer on top of it.
Is it a scam? How to tell the difference
A legitimate approval request has a simple pattern: you are talking with an agent you chose, they tell you a code or link is coming, and it arrives within minutes. Approve it then, and only then.
Be cautious if any of these happen:
- You receive an approval code or link when you are not working with anyone. Do not approve it or share it. It may mean someone is trying to act on your application. Call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596 (TTY: 1-855-889-4325).
- Someone you do not know calls, texts or messages you on social media and asks you to read them a code.
- Anyone offers cash, gift cards or a "free" plan in exchange for your approval or your personal information.
- An agent asks to put their own phone number or email on your application. CMS forbids this. The phone and email on your application must be yours.
What to have ready before you call your agent
A few minutes of preparation saves a stalled application:
- Your phone and email. Keep the phone that receives your texts nearby, and make sure the contact information on your Marketplace application is current. If it is outdated, CMS says you can call the Marketplace Call Center to update it yourself, without the agent on the line.
- Social Security numbers or immigration document numbers for everyone applying. CMS now requires a number it can verify for every applicant other than newborns on any application an agent helps with.
- Your income estimate for next year, plus any job-based coverage offers in your household.
- Your current plan name and member ID, if you have coverage now.
Timing matters too. HealthCare.gov lists Open Enrollment for 2027 as November 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027, with December 15 the deadline for coverage that starts January 1. Those dates are tied to a court ruling the federal government has appealed, so check our Open Enrollment 2027 guide for the latest. If you plan to keep your current plan, our explainer on whether Marketplace insurance automatically renews covers when you need to act yourself.
Working with an agent under the new rules
The new step does not change what a good agent does: explain your options, show you the plan and the application before anything is submitted, and answer questions after you enroll. What it changes is that nothing happens on your application unless you approve it.
If you would like a licensed agent to walk through your 2027 options with you, step by step and with your approval at every stage, you can request a quote. Expect us to ask you to approve us electronically. That is the system working as designed.
The bottom line
For 2027, your Marketplace agent needs your electronic authorization before acting on your application. Expect a one-time code or link by text, email or automated call while you are working together. Approve it when you expect it, never when you do not, and keep your Social Security or immigration document numbers handy. Platform details vary and rules can change, so confirm anything unclear with the Marketplace or a licensed agent.