A new Marketplace rule: you have to authorize your agent. Here is how.
The short version
- Beginning October 12, 2026, the Health Insurance Marketplace requires you to authorize your agent before we can work on your application. It is needed once per plan year.
- We send you that request through HealthSherpa, the system we use to enroll you in the Marketplace, by text or by email. It arrives from HealthSherpa, on behalf of your agent at Doctor Insurance One. It is not spam.
- Open it on your own phone and tap Authorize. For most people that is the whole job. There is nothing to pay.
- It has to be done for each plan year. We are collecting 2027 now, ahead of Open Enrollment, and some of you will be asked for 2026 as well.
- Without it, we cannot renew your coverage for 2027 or make any change to your plan.
What this is
Until now, when you asked us to renew your plan, report a new income or add a family member, we simply did it. The Marketplace has added a step. From October 12, 2026, every agent must hold your authorization before touching your Marketplace application: your confirmation that this particular agent is allowed to access it.
Think of it as your signature on the door. Nothing about how we work changes. The same agent still answers the phone. The Marketplace just wants to hear from you, once a year, that we are the ones you chose.
It is separate from the consent form you already signed with us. That one still stands. The authorization is an extra confirmation the Marketplace asks for on its own.
What our request looks like
We send the request through HealthSherpa, so it arrives from HealthSherpa, not from our office number.
- By text: from a number with a 628 area code, with a link to tap.
- By email: from [email protected], showing your agent’s name and contact information, with an Authorize button.
It goes to the phone number or email address on your Marketplace application. If either has changed since you applied, see the note near the end of this article.
Not sure it is really from us? Do not tap anything. Call (800) 305-7709 and we will confirm it in a moment.
What to do, step by step
- Open the message on your own phone or computer. HealthSherpa asks that you open it from your own device, rather than forward it to a relative to do for you.
- Tap Authorize. The link is good for fifteen minutes. If it has expired, tap Get new link on the page. You do not need us for that.
- If you are asked to verify your identity, follow the steps on the screen. The Marketplace only asks this for some applications: for example if you are new to the Marketplace or to Florida, if your plan costs you $30 a month or less after your subsidy, or if you are working with a new agent. You may be asked for your email address, and the check is run by Experian. If it cannot confirm who you are, the page offers another way, such as ID.me. Once you have verified on HealthSherpa you will not be asked again unless your contact information changes.
- If the page offers 2027 as well as 2026, tap Authorize for 2027 too. Each plan year needs its own authorization, and one request can cover both.
- Look for the confirmation message, then close the page. That is it. You may later receive an email inviting you to set a password for a HealthSherpa account. That part is optional. You can ignore it and we will still have everything we need.
Tapped it by mistake? The same page has an Authorize by mistake option that lets you decline, and you can authorize again afterwards.
What happens if you do not
We can see your application, but we cannot work on it. During Open Enrollment, which starts November 1, that means we cannot renew your coverage for 2027, check it against the new prices, or move you to a better plan. The rest of the year it means we cannot report a change in your income, your address or your family, or switch your plan when life changes. We would have to wait until you authorize us, and in Open Enrollment the deadline does not wait.
If you authorize somebody else
Only one agent can be authorized at a time, and a new authorization replaces the one before it. If another agent asks you to authorize them and you do, ours ends at that moment, even if you did not mean it to. If that happens by accident, call us. We send a fresh request, you tap Authorize, and the Marketplace is back with the agent you actually chose.
Two things worth knowing
- An old phone number or email on your application. The request can only go to what the Marketplace has on file. If that is out of date, you can update it yourself at HealthCare.gov under Communication preferences, or by calling the Marketplace at 1-800-318-2596. Call us first and we will walk you through it. Please do not start a new application to get around it; the Marketplace may cancel duplicates.
- Did not get it, or lost it? Tell us. We can send the request again, by text or by email, whichever is easier for you.
The bottom line
Our request will reach you through HealthSherpa, with your agent’s name on it. Open it, tap Authorize, and you are done for the year. It costs nothing, and it is what lets us keep doing for you what we have always done.
If you would rather do it with one of us on the line, call (800) 305-7709, in English or in Spanish, or come by the office at 7650 W Flagler St, Miami, FL 33144, Monday to Friday from 10 am to 5 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm.
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