The National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals alleges that the HHS violated the law by not giving the public a chance to comment on the controversial policy.

Last month, the HHS and CMS announced that agents and brokers who didn’t help people sign up for ACA plans for 2026 would be forbidden from registering to do so for 2027, barring new marketers from selling policies on HealthCare.gov for the coming year.

The moratorium was effective immediately and is expected to last until Feb. 1, meaning new agents and brokers are locked out of the entire upcoming enrollment period, which runs from Nov. 1 until Jan. 15 in most states.

Nearly 19,000 agents and brokers will be prevented from registering because of the pause, according to the CMS. Regulators said the moratorium would prevent fraud and improper enrollments. But insurance agent groups cried foul, arguing the freeze would harm legitimate professionals and the consumers who rely on them to understand and shop between coverage.

Now, the HHS is being dragged to court over the policy by the NABIP, which represents more than 100,000 licensed agents, brokers and benefits professionals in the U.S.

The CMS’ evidence that new brokers generate improper enrollments more frequently is shaky, and not a fair reason to penalize all new marketers, according to the group’s complaint, which was filed in Maryland district court. The CMS also ignored that the overwhelming majority of all agents and brokers — new and returning — have no track record of improper sign-ups.

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