> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getprescience.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Broker quickstart > Send a census, get Prescience Diamond quotes, and compare them with the plans you present. Brokers send a client's census to `POST /quotes` and get a quote back. Prescience has two plans, Prescience Diamond and Prescience Value, each priced from the plans you sent or from the group's market. Brokers use the same API keys as every partner. Prescience sets up your brokerage and invites your admins; sign in to the partner portal to create keys. Sandbox keys work first, then production. ## Send a census and the plans you quoted You already quote every plan for the client. Send them with the census and Prescience prices Diamond from them, with no marketplace query, so the answer usually comes back in the same request: ```bash theme={null} curl -X POST https://www.getprescience.com/api/partner/v1/quotes \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $PRESCIENCE_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "company": { "name": "Northwind Dental", "domain": "northwinddental.com", "externalId": "crd_4821", "zip": "94110", "state": "CA" }, "census": [ { "externalId": "emp_0001", "firstName": "Ada", "lastName": "Reyes", "email": "ada@northwinddental.com", "dob": "1991-04-02", "zip": "94110" } ], "marketPlans": [ { "carrier": "Blue Shield of California", "planName": "Platinum 90 PPO", "planType": "PPO", "metalTier": "Platinum", "hsaEligible": false, "deductibleIndividualCents": 0, "deductibleFamilyCents": 0, "oopMaxIndividualCents": 300000, "oopMaxFamilyCents": 600000, "monthlyRatesCents": { "employeeOnly": 96200, "employeeSpouse": 202000, "employeeChildren": 185000, "family": 278000 } }, { "carrier": "Cigna", "planName": "Bronze HSA PPO", "planType": "PPO", "metalTier": "Bronze", "hsaEligible": true, "deductibleIndividualCents": 640000, "deductibleFamilyCents": 1280000, "oopMaxIndividualCents": 750000, "oopMaxFamilyCents": 1500000, "monthlyRatesCents": { "employeeOnly": 39800, "employeeSpouse": 83600, "employeeChildren": 76500, "family": 119000 } } ] }' ``` `marketPlans` takes up to 500 plans of any metal, funding type or carrier. Each plan needs its carrier, name, `planType`, `metalTier`, `hsaEligible`, deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums and a rate (see [Send your own plans](#send-your-own-plans)). From the list: * The plan Diamond sits on is the best HSA-eligible PPO, EPO or POS plan, unless you send a `basePlan`. * Prices are set against a platinum PPO in the list. * A plan Prescience can't build on (an HMO, a plan missing a required field) is ignored, never rejected, and the response lists it in `ignoredPlans` with the reason, plus `usedPlans` (`sent`, `used`, `baseCandidates`, `benchmarkCandidates`). A `400` is only for broken JSON, a missing or invalid census, more than 500 plans, or a list with no usable plan. * With no HSA-eligible PPO, EPO or POS plan in the list, or no platinum PPO, the response is `422 market_unavailable`, and its message gives the reasons ("No HSA-eligible PPO, EPO or POS plan in the plans sent.", "No platinum PPO was quoted to compare with."), one per plan as "Diamond: ... Value: ...". When the list has a platinum PPO but no HSA base plan, the `202` has `baseFromMarket: true`: Prescience fetches a base plan from the market sweep (minutes) while the benchmark stays your platinum PPO. The group is found by `company.externalId`, else `company.domain`, else created. Its census and plans are replaced by the ones you send, so sending the same company again re-quotes it. `domain` is required. `company.ratingZip` is the ZIP of the market to price when it differs from the headquarters ZIP. Households are priced from the dependents you send. When no employee in the census has a dependent listed, Prescience models a typical mix instead of assuming none (10% of employees with one dependent, 25% with a family), so the quote's `census.coveredLives` is higher than the number of employees. Send `dependents` for every employee who has them; `census.tiers` shows what was priced. Without `marketPlans`, Prescience sweeps the group's market through SimplyInsured instead, which takes minutes (see below). ## When pricing takes longer With `marketPlans` the request waits for pricing, which takes seconds. Without them, rates for a new census are fetched from the market first, which takes minutes. Until rates are ready the response is `202`: ```json Response (202) theme={null} { "groupId": "grp_8c2f41d09a3e", "status": "pricing", "retryAfterSeconds": 20, "estimatedReadyAt": "2026-10-02T17:21:40.000Z", "sweep": { "step": "collecting_plans", "planCount": 42 } } ``` Send the same request again after `retryAfterSeconds`: the same group is matched and, once rates are ready, you get `201` with the quote. You can also call `POST /groups/{groupId}/quotes`, or wait for the `group.market_rates_ready` [webhook](/guides/webhooks). A `202` is never stored under an `Idempotency-Key`, so repeating the request keeps working. `422 market_unavailable` means Prescience can't price the group from its market. Retrying does not help; a census or plan change starts a new comparison. ## Reading a quote `plans` has exactly two rows: Prescience Diamond (`id: "diamond"`) and Prescience Value (`id: "value"`). Each has a one-line `description`. | Plan | What it is for a client | | - | - | | Prescience Diamond | The richest coverage, with the lowest member out-of-pocket costs. | | Prescience Value | A lower price, with a higher member out-of-pocket maximum. | When a plan can't be priced for a group, its row has `status: "unavailable"` and a `reason`, with no prices; the other plan still returns. A plan marked `in_review` is subject to Prescience underwriting review before it is final. Every version carries these fields, so an agent never has to recompute them. All money is integer cents. | Field | What it is | | - | - | | `id`, `name`, `description` | `diamond` or `value`, "Prescience Diamond" or "Prescience Value", and a plain line on what it is. | | `status` | `ready`, `in_review` (subject to underwriting review) or `unavailable`. | | `monthly` | `pmpmCents` (base plan plus Prescience, all in, per covered person per month) and `totalCents` (the group's monthly total). `pepmCents` is also returned. | | `annual` | `totalCents`, exactly 12 times `monthly.totalCents`. | | `price_components` | The all-in price split: `underlying_premium_monthly_cents` + `prescience_monthly_cents` = `total_monthly_cents`, and the same per covered person as `underlying_pmpm_cents`, `prescience_pmpm_cents` and `total_pmpm_cents`. | | `monthly_rates_by_household` | The joint plan's monthly rate for each kind of household in this census: `label` (for example "Employee + 1"), `people`, `households` (how many households in the census are this size) and `monthly_cents` (the price per covered person times the people in it). Rate times households, added up, is the group's monthly total. | | `new_member_rates_by_household` | What a household added after enrollment pays, by `label`, `people` and `monthly_cents`. It is not part of this census's total. | | `benchmark_rank` | Informational: which platinum PPO the plan was compared with, such as "platinum PPO 2 of 7". | | `rate_basis` | Where the rates came from, for `base_plan` and `benchmark`: `member_rates`, `pmpm`, `household_shape` or `swept` (our market sweep). | | `base_plan` | The HSA-qualified base plan the plan sits on (`carrier`, `plan_name`) and its own deductible (`deductible_individual_cents`, `deductible_family_cents`). There is no Prescience deductible to quote: members' cost is capped by `member_oop_max`. | | `member_oop_max` | The most a member pays in a year: `individual_cents` and `family_cents`. | | `benefits` | Out-of-pocket maximums (individual, employee plus one, family), `memberCoinsurancePct` (0), `hsaEligible`, `network` and the `features` list. | | `all_max_year` | The employer's year when every member reaches their out-of-pocket maximum: `base_premium_cents` + `prescience_cents` + `modeled_extra_cents` = `employer_total_cents`, and `members_pay_cents`, what members pay that year (their caps added up). | | `median_year` | A median modeled year: `employer_total_cents` (the price, no extra), `pool_pays_cents` and `members_pay_cents`. | | `worst_year` | The same all-max year as the employer's modeled worst case: `modeled_extra_cents`, `modeled_total_cents` (equal to `all_max_year.employer_total_cents`), `benchmark_premium_cents`, `headroom_cents`, `basis`, `contractual: null` and a `note`. It is a modeled scenario from the Time Machine claims simulation for this census, not a contractual cap or guarantee; contract terms: confirm with Prescience. `recompute` gives the inputs to check it: the base plan's annual premium, its out-of-pocket caps summed across the households, and the member out-of-pocket allowance assumed. | | `hsa` | `eligible` and the `basis`: members enroll in an HSA-qualified high-deductible plan (the base plan, named), and Prescience coverage on top keeps them HSA-eligible. | | `time_machine` | Where the numbers come from: `simulated_plan_years`, `census_members` and `generated_at`. | | `renewal` | `method: null` and a note: contact Prescience for renewal terms. | | `member_experience` | What members get: GLP-1s, blood and genetic testing, the wearable, the 24/7 care companion, preventive programs and managed setup. | | `pricedAgainst`, `benchmarkPlan` | The platinum PPO the plan is compared with, and whether it is yours (`source: "broker"`) or one from the market. | | `underlyingPlan` | The base plan. When it is yours, `source: "broker"`, your plan is echoed as `brokerPlan`, and a `note` says enrollment needs member IDs and eligibility from its carrier. | | `comparison` | Against the benchmark: `annualSavingsCents`, `savingsPct`, `worstYearUnderBenchmarkCents`, and how the deductible, out-of-pocket maximums and HSA eligibility differ. Values the benchmark doesn't report are `null`. | | `fit_flags` | See [Fit guidelines](/guides/fit-guidelines#fit-flags-on-a-quote). | | `broker_row` | One markdown table row to paste into a proposal. | | `summary` | One sentence of numbers only. | | `pricing_method` | Informational: `engine` or `cost_plus`. | The quote also has `pricedOn` (`census_only`, `base_plan` or `market_plans`), the census counts and `ignoredPlans` / `usedPlans` when you sent plans. See the [Quote schema](/api-reference/introduction) for every field. ## Send your own plans Prices depend on what you send. `basePlan` and each `marketPlans` item use the same shape: | You send | Priced | | - | - | | `marketPlans` | From every plan you quoted for the census (up to 500: all metals, any funding, any carrier), in place of our market sweep. The base is the best HSA-eligible PPO, EPO or POS in the list unless you send a `basePlan`. No marketplace is queried, so it is faster. With no HSA-eligible PPO, EPO or POS plan, or no platinum PPO, the plans can't be priced. | | Census only | On the best HSA-eligible PPO, EPO or POS swept for the group (minutes) | | `basePlan` | On the carrier plan Diamond sits on, such as a BCBS bronze HDHP or a level-funded catastrophic plan you placed. This usually lowers the price. | Money is integer cents. Give each plan one rate basis: * `memberRatesCents`: the exact monthly rate for each employee's household, as `{ "externalId", "monthlyCents" }` by the census `externalId`. Preferred, because small-group rates are age-rated. It wins over the others; employees missing from it fall back to them. * `pmpmCents`: the price per covered person. A household costs this times its people. * `monthlyRatesCents`: the monthly premium for one household of each shape. For example, by household shape: ```json theme={null} { "carrier": "Example Carrier", "planName": "Level-funded catastrophic", "planType": "PPO", "fundingType": "level_funded", "hsaEligible": true, "deductibleIndividualCents": 750000, "deductibleFamilyCents": 1500000, "oopMaxIndividualCents": 750000, "oopMaxFamilyCents": 1500000, "monthlyRatesCents": { "employeeOnly": 33000, "employeeSpouse": 70000, "employeeChildren": 64000, "family": 100000 } } ``` Optional plan fields (`carrierPlanId`, `network`, `fundingType`, `effectiveDate`, `ratingZip`, `embeddedDeductible`, `coinsurancePct`, `copaysCents`, `rxDeductibleCents`, `referralRequired`, `hsaDeductibleRequired`, `sbcUrl`, `doctorSearchUrl`, `carrierLogoUrl`) are kept when valid and left out, with a note, when not; they never fail a plan. See the [API reference](/api-reference/introduction) for each. `pricedOn` on the quote says which mode was used. When the base plan is yours, `plans[].underlyingPlan` has `source: "broker"`, repeats your plan, and notes that enrollment needs member IDs and eligibility from that plan's carrier. Send `null` to clear a plan from the group. ## Price Prescience on one plan If you already know the plan the client will be on, send the census and that one plan to [`POST /price-on-plan`](/guides/price-on-plan) instead. ## Change a plan later Send the same company again (same `externalId`, else the same domain) with changed `basePlan` or `marketPlans`. They are saved on the group and the group is priced again; send `null` to clear one. A `basePlan` that is an HMO or not HSA-eligible is ignored and reported in `ignoredPlans`, and the price comes from `marketPlans` or the sweep; plans in `marketPlans` can be any plan. ## Which clients fit Quote Prescience when the client is quoting gold or platinum, or wants rich benefits, in California (strong) or New Jersey (workable), with 5 to 50 employees, on a group plan. See the [Fit guidelines](/guides/fit-guidelines) for every criterion and what `fit_check` returns. Final pricing, eligibility and network are confirmed during underwriting and onboarding. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.