Frequently Asked Questions
Enrollment
Sentara Health Plans (SHP) and Sentara Health Insurance Company (SHIC) require that all Agents/Brokers and Agencies be appointed before the release of any marketing materials, proposal quotes, or information regarding new and existing business. Appointments with SHP and SHIC are not guaranteed. Interested brokers can start the appointment process by completing the Broker Appointment Process. All requests are subject to review and approval of designated SHP and SHIC management. Contact Us for more information.
Sentara Health Plans offers a full suite of commercial products, including consumer-driven, employee-owned and employer-sponsored plans, individual & family plans both On- and Off- Marketplace, Medicare plans, employee assistance plans, and plans serving Medicaid enrollees. To learn more, please visit Plan Selections.
Contact
Please visit our Contact Us page for information on enrollment, sales, office locations, and more.
Sentara Health Plans (SHP) and Sentara Health Insurance Company (SHIC) require that all agents/brokers and agencies be appointed before the release of any marketing materials, proposal quotes, or information regarding new and existing business. Appointments with SHP and SHIC are not guaranteed. Interested brokers can start the appointment process by completing the Broker Appointment Process. All requests are subject to review and approval of designated SHP and SHIC management.
Sentara Health Plans (SHP) and Sentara Health Insurance Company (SHIC) require that all agents/brokers and agencies be appointed before the release of any marketing materials, proposal quotes, or information regarding new and existing business. Appointments with SHP and SHIC are not guaranteed. Interested brokers can start the appointment process by completing the Broker Appointment Process. All requests are subject to review and approval of designated SHP and SHIC management.
Advantages
Sentara Health Plans will pay commission to any broker who is appointed with Sentara Health Plans, in good standing with the Bureau of Insurance and is designated as the agent or broker of record by an employer group. For more information refer to the Broker Guide or contact your general agent.
Yes.
Employees who reside and work outside of the service area, or spend more than 90 consecutive days for business purposes outside of the service area, (foreign travel excluded) can be included in the quote and will be offered a variety of options based on group size. See your Broker Guide or contact your general agent for more information.
Many of our broker marketing resources are available online. Appointed small group, mid-market, and BusinessEDGE® brokers can find materials throughout sentarahealthplans.com/broker or contact their general agent to secure marketing materials. Due to the unique nature of large group sales, large group brokers may obtain marketing materials from their Sentara Health Plans account representative.
Broker Rewards
The Broker Rewards Program is a points-based program that brokers receive when they meet certain goals, such as selling new commercial group and individual product contracts. The incentives may change depending on the time of the year and other factors.
Yes. Throughout the year, Sentara Health Plans may award points to brokers for participating in educational and training seminars, attending special events, annual renewals, and more. Sentara Health Plans will notify brokers when there is an opportunity to earn points.
All Sentara Health Plans appointed brokers are eligible to participate. To enroll, please sign in to eBroker, agree to the Terms and Conditions, and provide SF-W9 information.
Brokers can use the points toward name-brand merchandise, local events, charitable donations, travel, gift cards and more. To view the types of rewards available, sign in to Broker Rewards.
Your points never expire and there is no limit to the number of points you can earn, for as long as the Program remains active.
No. Points have no cash value and cannot be redeemed for cash.
Brokers active in the Program may supplement their points with a credit card for up to 10% of the Program reward point value.
No. Points are not transferrable to any other broker or account for any reason, including retirement, death, agent-of-record change, as an inheritance, or in connection with a divorce.
No. Points are awarded to the individual broker, not the agency. As long as you continue to be an appointed Sentara Health Plans broker, your points remain yours.
The points are taxable upon redemption. Sentara Health Plans is required to report compensation where required by federal and state law.
No. When you meet the requirement and earn points, they are automatically loaded to your account, usually six–eight weeks after they are earned.
No. The Broker Rewards Program is in addition to our already competitive commission plan.
You may return an item by calling 1-877-AWARDHQ (1-877-292-7347) and a Customer Service Specialist will gladly help you.
Sign in to eBroker, call Broker Services at 757-552-7217 (toll-free: 1-866-927-4785), or email brokerrelations@sentara.com for more information about the Program.
eBroker Quoting and Web Enrollment
In eBroker, navigate to the Group's Broker Account page and click on the Contract tab. Click on the Contract Number and then click the Related tab to see the Membership Information.
Member Eligibility is found on the Sentara Health Plans Broker Portal Web Page. It allows the Broker to do membership searches. You must have the Group Number to do a search.
At this time, the Primary Producer/Broker is the only one who can view the Group’s information.
At this time, the Primary Producer/Broker is the only one who can view the Group’s information.
Edit Quote is used when changing plans (adding or eliminating) on the quote. Clone Quote is used when making changes that affect the rates, ex. Census, zip code, effective date. Please note that the Clone Quote is not available for Renewal Quotes. Please refer to the User Guide for process details: Clone A Quote
The Sentara Health Plans enrollment feed occurs once, around the middle of each month.
The contact person listed in eBroker as the Group’s Benefit Administrator.
The Proposal Document in eBroker has replaced the GIS document. If a Proposal has been generated, you can find it in the Files section of the Quote page under the Related tab.
It is mandated that POSA plans are offered as an option when you ever have to offer out of network benefit options. The regular plans include network benefits only, with only emergencies allowed outside of the network.
Navigate to your eBroker landing page. Click on Manage Your Quotes in the top menu bar. Click on the dropdown arrow beside the Manage Your Quotes title on the left and click on All Renewal Quotes. Click on the desired Group name under the Group Name column. This will take you to the Group's Renewal information on the Quote page. Please refer to the User Guide for process details: Small Group and Mid-Market Renewals.
The Sales Executive generates the proposal and notifies the Broker that the renewal is ready and has been released to them. The Broker reviews the proposal and sends it to the Group for review and approval. If there are any changes to be made, the Broker contacts the Sales Executive. When the Group is ready to accept the quote, the Broker contacts the Sales Executive notifying them to move forward with the renewal process.Please refer to the User Guide for process details: User Guide for Renewals.
In eBroker, navigate to the Group’s Quote page, click on the Related tab, and scroll down to the Files section of the Quote.Please refer to one of the User Guides (Small Group, Mid-Market, BusinessEDGE) for process details: Broker Training | Quote & Enroll | Sentara Health Plans | Sentara Health Plans.
In eBroker, navigate to the Broker landing page and click on the Request a Quote button. Please refer to one of the User Guides (Small Group, Mid-Market, BusinessEDGE) for process details: Broker Training | Quote & Enroll | Sentara Health Plans | Sentara Health Plans.
Option 1: The Broker reaches out to their Sentara Health Plans Sales Executive to notify them of the change, and they will work with the Sentara Health Plans Enrollment Team to complete the action.
Option 2: Brokers/BAs can send the info to add or delete a Member directly to the Enrollment Team via the Enrollment Spreadsheet of Application. This document for Small Group and Mid-Market is located on the website at: Enrollment Spreadsheet for Application. For Large Group: Large Group Enrollment Spreadsheet for Application.The group must contain 5 or more enrolled members.
No. The Broker can complete the Request a Quote process in eBroker for a level-funded quote, but no rates will be available until after the request goes to Underwriting. The Sentara Sales Representative will be notified of the Broker's quote and complete the process to obtain a proposal. Once the rates are ready, the Sentara Sales Representative will either notify the broker that the proposal is available in eBroker for review or email the proposal directly to the Broker.
Release of Information
Federal and state privacy laws require us to obtain a Release of Information/Authorization of Designated Agent form whenever anyone other than the member needs to obtain and/or change the member’s health information. This form must be signed, witnessed and returned for it to be in effect.
Website
eBroker is the interactive, secure portal that enables our small group brokers to manage their book of business, access proposals, and stay informed about the latest issues affecting Sentara Health Plans and the health insurance industry.
Sell Sentara Health Plans
Access sales resources to help you sell plans for employer groups, Individual & Family Health Plans, or Medicare plans.