Navigators Need Not Be Licensed as Insurance Brokers or Agents

This brief explains the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that state health insurance exchanges establish navigator programs to help consumers make informed choices. In some states, there’s debate about whether insurance brokers and agents perform the same functions as navigators and whether navigators should be required to be licensed as brokers and agents.

This brief explores this debate, explains how navigators are different from brokers and agents, and argues that today’s licensure requirements for brokers or agents are not the appropriate way to ensure navigators’ competency. Advocates may use this brief freely and brand as their own.