The 2022 certification requirements will be available on the AHIP/CMP Training platform. All individual producers and sub-producers are required to take both the AHIP CMS mandated courses/exams and the Blue Cross Medicare Options CMS mandated courses/exams.
All individual producers and sub-producers who want to sell or market MAPD/PDP plans in 2022 will now access ALL certification training through the AHIP/CMP platform.
Part 1: The AHIP platform will be used for the following courses/exams/forms.
Part 2: The CMP page on the AHIP platform will be used for the following courses/exams/forms.
Please access the AHIP certification training via the designated discounted link. This link provides our producers with a discounted course rate of $125. That’s $50 off the standard rate of $175. Users may go here to access certification tasks.
User ID: National Producer Number (NPN) excluding leading zeros
Password: Producer creates during registration
New users must register their NPN using the “Create a New Account,” field on the homepage. Current users will log into the CMP site using the link above. Users will be directed to validate their NPN and profile page including their demographic information. Once the profile has been validated, users will be directed to their to do list. The user’s to do list will be displayed in the following order.
Please choose the first task listed as the 2022 AHIP Course. You will be directed to the AHIP course on the AHIP platform. Upon completing the AHIP course, you will be directed back to the CMP page in the upper right hand corner. On the CMP page, the first training course will be unlocked. As you complete each course, the next one will automatically unlock. Please note, if you complete your AHIP training prior to the July 7 launch date, the Plan/Product training will not be available. If this is the case, please return to the site after you receive notification that the product training is open.
Current Users:
Answer: Your NPN is a national number utilized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the National Insurance Producer Registry to keep track of individual producers throughout the United States. Some states include the producer’s NPN on the agent ID card.
Yes. The $125 AHIP fee is charged to producers who utilize our specific discounted link. Remember, this is a $50 savings off the standard $175 rate charged by AHIP.
No. The AHIP certification content ONLY covers Part 1 of the Blue Medicare Options Curriculum. Please see Part 1 tasks listed above for reference.:
Individual producers and sub-producers including agency principals must also complete Part 2 (Blue Cross Medicare Options Plan/Product Training) on the CMP platform.
Both platforms allow three attempts to pass the exams for certification. Should an agent fail the AHIP exam, they may repurchase another AHIP course at the $125 fee and be allowed to retake all AHIP courses/exams. Agents may repurchase the AHIP course as many times as they would like.
Although rare, a producer that uses up their three attempts during the Blue Cross Medicare Options curriculum will be locked out from the certification process and will not be able to certify to sell, market, or service 2022 MAPD or PDP products.
The system will allow producers to take a subsequent exam almost immediately. Please keep in mind, upon the third exam failure, a producer will be locked out of the system for the 2022 MAPD/PDP plan year.
Yes. If for some reason your training is interrupted, you will be locked out after an hour of non-use. When you log back in, you will be able to pick up where you left off. You will receive credit for all prior course work completed but not for any exams in progress. If you were in the process of completing an exam, you will be required to start the exam over from the beginning.
The Blue Cross Medicare Options passing score is 85%, and the AHIP passing score is 90%.
A completion attempt occurs only after selecting the exam’s “Submit” button.
Please follow the instructions below.
Agency Principals, Producers, Sub-Producers and Agencies are required to complete certification tasks. Below is a high level overview to help guide producers.
Part 1: The AHIP platform will be used for the following courses/exams/forms.
Part 2: The CMP page on the AHIP platform will be used for the following courses/exams/forms.
All agency tasks are only available on the CMP site. Agency Principals must complete the following tasks:
Note: To certify an agency, all principals (non-selling and selling) must complete their sub-producer training and must complete the assigned agency curriculum tasks.
Because each individual has their own reading comprehension and testing abilities, we cannot provide an exact time for completion.
Upon successful completion, producers will receive a completion certificate via the CMP site and a congratulatory email. This message which will be sent to the email address provided to Producer Administration upon on-boarding.
Confirmation emails should be received within two to three business days of completion and will be sent to the email address provided to Producer Administration upon on-boarding. If producers need to contact us, they can send an email requesting MAPD/PDP certification verification to bcmrxcertification@bcbsil.com.
Notification of incompletion will be sent by email approximately seven days after the producer begins the certification process and has failed to complete the training.
The certification you have completed in one state will satisfy the requirements for Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
Medicare Part C (MAPD) and Medicare Part D (PDP) are federally sponsored government programs that require all producers to annually certify in order to market/sell MAPD/PDP products. Medicare Supplement plans are considered an insurance product and governed by state laws and regulations. At this time, there are no certification requirements in place for Medicare Supplement plans.
AHIP Site and Curriculum Technical Support:
866-234-6909 or support@AHIPInsuranceEducation.org
CMP Site and Curriculum Technical Support:
888-706-0583 or bcmrxcertification@bcbsil.com
General questions about the certification requirements:
Producer Service Center: 855-782-4272 or contact your sales representative.
June 21, 2021 (2022 AHIP Curriculum launches)
July 7, 2021 (2022 Blue Cross Medicare Options Plan/Product Curriculum will launch)
Here are the important dates for the 2022 Annual MAPD/PDP Certification Process:
Important Deadline Notice: To retain all renewals, producers/agencies must certify by December 31, 2021.
Producers, sub-producers and agencies who fail to complete their annual certification by the respective deadlines listed above, will no longer be able to receive renewal commissions for in-force Blue Cross MedicareRxSM or Blue Cross Medicare AdvantageSM business written for 2009 and subsequent plan years.
Renewal commissions for in-force business written in 2008 or prior years will not be affected because the annual certification requirement did not occur until 2009..
Agencies will receive an email that their principal has completed their sub-producer curriculum.
Important: The Blue Cross Medicare Options team requires agencies to complete the required Medicare Amendment and forms by October 1, 2021. Failure to certify the agency prior to a sub-producer submitting business will result in the loss of that business. This is because the sub-producer is not deemed certified until their agency certification tasks have been completed.
Agency principals, selling and non- selling, must complete the entire curriculum under their sub-producer NPN number. They must also execute the Agency Amendment and Certification documents.
Please contact the Producer Service Center for more information specific to your agency. The number is toll-free: 855-782-4272.
Your agency principal will have the commission schedule for the 2022 plan year. The Blue Cross Medicare Options team does not release commission related information to sub-producers without express permission from the principal.
Yes. You may purchase CE credits upon completing the AHIP course. All fees and CE credit hours will be available on the AHIP site.
Will AHIP submit the hours to the state for CE credits?
Yes.
No. Federal law requires that a producer complete the annual certification prior to selling, soliciting or negotiating a MAPD/PDP policy. In this instance, commissions would not be paid for that policy.
The commission schedules will be listed within your producer/agency amendment, which is completed as part of the certification process. Please refer to this amendment.
For any other MAPD/PDP commission related questions, please contact the Producer Service Center toll-free at 855-782-4272 or by email at producer_service_center@bcbsok.com.