MA-PD and PDP certification

 

To sell Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MA-PD) and Prescription Drug (PDP) plans, agents need to complete their America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) certification. Insurers require AHIP certification to ensure that broker and agents are compliant with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) guidelines and regulations.

Per CMS guidelines, all independent agents who contact Medicare beneficiaries about MA-PD or PDP products must be trained and tested on Medicare compliance, specific health plan benefits and procedures, and CMS marketing requirements. 

If you were certified last year, you must renew your certification again this year prior to January 1 of the new year in order to receive renewal commission on your active book of business. To sell Blue Shield MA-PD or PDP products, you must be AHIP-certified and Blue Shield product-certified. If you are not certified to sell Blue Shield's MA-PD or PDP plans, we cannot, by law, pay you commissions on that business.

Experiencing problems with Blue Shield's product certification site? Email: MedicareBroker@blueshieldca.com

2024 Medicare Broker Certification Product Training and Exam is now available!

Broker certification job aid

Steps to complete your annual AHIP and Blue Shield Product Certification

Step 1: Complete AHIP certification

1. Log in to the AHIP site through the Blue Shield of California link

2. Complete all certification modules and quizzes. This will include a section on Fraud, Waste, and Abuse.

3. After completing the quiz, transmit your results directly to Blue Shield by clicking the button at the bottom of the page. Before getting started, you must have already completed and transmitted the AHIP Medicare Compliance certification to BSC. Please allow 2 hours for your AHIP results to appear.  If you're ready, please continue through the steps below.

To receive a discounted rate of $125, you must use our AHIP certification link as provided above. You must complete your AHIP certification and transmit your results to Blue Shield before moving on to Step 2.

Step 2: Complete Blue Shield Broker product certification 

1. Access the Medicare Product Online Certification site using one of two options:

Blue Shield Broker 

Log into the Blue Shield Broker portal using your Blue Shield Broker account. (If you don’t have a Blue Shield Broker account, you can create one).

Shield Learns 

If you are unable to obtain a Blue Shield Broker account, you can log in to the Shield Learns portal. Check your email for a message from Shield Learns for your account information.  Your username is your National Producer Number (NPN).  If you do not have a password, use the "Forgot your password?" option to create a new one.

2. Complete the MA-PD/PDP product certification. You’ll have 4 attempts to pass. To pass, you’ll need a score of 85% or higher.

Questions about Blue Shield’s plans

Contact your Broker Sales Manager with questions about our plans.

Fee reimbursement

For reimbursement of up to $100, you will need to have completed and passed the necessary training and enrolled five Blue Shield MA-PD members. To receive your reimbursement, download the AHIP Certification Training Reimbursement Form (PDF, 432 KB) and email the completed form to AHIPReimbursement@blueshieldca.com.