Voxen's Blog shows how much of health insurance makes sense to people when they start looking around. The insurance companies start to forget that not everybody is using terms like traditional health insurance, coinsurance, copayment, and deductible on an everyday basis, and tend to not explain the coverage very well. Not only is it hard to decipher all of the terms used and break down all of the plans a company may offer, but there are numerous other companies with just as many plans.
A health insurance broker does nothing else but deal with all of these different options all day. At Insurance Shoppers, for example, we're able to look at all of the options available to somebody and narrow those options down to 3 or 4 that we think will work best. We put them in a side-by-side format, like this, so it's easy to see the difference between each plan. Then, we help you apply and get through underwriting.
After you have the health insurance in place, a broker will always be there to help you with any problems you have with billing or claims. (If you think deciphering the sales material was tough, wait until you get an explanation of benefits saying why they aren't paying a claim). In addition, each year we will compare the best options available to you so you can always be sure you have the best policy you can get.
Why Don't People Use Brokers?
That is what I'm always trying to figure out. When I'm talking to clients about it, quite a few of them tell me they thought there would be an extra charge for having a broker. And I could see why they would think that, because for a lot of services like real estate or stocks, having a broker does cost more. But for any type of insurance you buy, the price for any given policy is always the same whether you buy it directly from the insurance company or from a broker. So, it's like you're paying for a broker whether you have one or not.
I'm guessing that's Voxen's reason for trying decipher all of the Blue Cross stuff himself instead of having a broker figure it out for him. If anybody has any other reasons, I'd like to read your comments.
By the way, a good option for people like Voxen is Tonik, from Blue Cross Blue Shield. We only do health insurance in Colorado and Texas, but Tonik is available in California too.
Good luck!
2 comments:
I guess I would have figured it would cost extra too. After the experiences I've had with insurance, I'd still pay if it were extra.
Luckily, you won't ever have to. It's actually illegal for a broker to charge anything because he's paid a commission by the insurance company.
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