Purchasing Health Insurance?
What you should know before you click submit.
Between jobs and just got your COBRA package? You’re married now with a family and find your insurance needs have changed? You’re out of school and no longer eligible to stay on your parent’s plan? These are all valid reasons to consider changing plans or purchasing health insurance for the first time. Whatever your situation, there are some things you should know before you begin the process of trying to find the BEST PLAN to fit your needs and your budget.
Here in Southern California, you have about 6 main insurance carriers all competing for your business, each offering between 12 to 30 plans. I have never stopped to actually count them all however, there are a lot; Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Health Net, Aetna, PacifiCare, Kaiser. Also, consider that they are all coming out with new plans each year, adding to the ones they just came out with last year and removing others. What’s important here is, how are you going to know which one to buy and from whom? Am I spending too much, do I need Brand Name Rx and what do they mean by In-Network and Out-Of-Network? What is an OUT-OF-POCKET MAXIMUM? Ok, that has to be important, right?
Say this is my WISH list…
1. I need unlimited doctor visits at a $30 copay (why unlimited….? Do you go every month?) Well, just say I need unlimited doctor visits – JUST IN CASE…
2. I want 90% coinsurance
3. For Rx… – Brand and Non-Formulary at a $20 copay is fine with me
4. I’ll take a $500 deductible (just to keep the monthly premium cost low) …And
5. No more than a $3,000 Out-of-Pocket Maximum
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I want all my preventative care at no charge including MRI’s and Full Body Scans….JUST IN CASE! You never know, and they can cost $3000 or more I’ve heard….
OK, that should do it! I have seen the adds on TV and they said I could get a plan for around $85, starting as low as $53, so I should be able to get this done in about 15 minutes which is good – I have a busy day – major task list!
SO I GO ONLINE (because I am my own boss and know what I am doing… don’t need help, besides I only have 10 minutes or so) and I type in to the GOOGLE search; HEALTH INSURANCE.
Results 1 – 10 of about 99,100,000 for health insurance. (0.28 seconds). This is definitely going to take me longer than 0.28 seconds. OK, I see I am going to have to minimize my search, let me Google Blue Cross this time; Results 1 – 10 of about 66,000,000 for Blue cross. (0.33 seconds). Let’s just say you get by all of this and you finally get to a site and get your quote, but something must be wrong, the plan that I want, it says it is $1,982 per month. How could this be? Believe it or not, depending on your age, where you live and the over-all coverage you want, it could quite possibly be nearly $2,000 per month.
I work with individuals on a daily basis that need help with health insurance. Whether buying, changing plans or just have questions on their current plan. I love helping, it is MY JOB. I get just a few basic pieces of information from them to start (age, s-m-fam, current health, special meds & future outlook), then I will send them a link that shows them maybe 7 plans (side-by-side) which list their primary & necessary benefits along with the price. I will then review them over the phone in front of our computers, explaining the critical things they need to understand and consider, and then different ways they can get the things they need (not necessarily what they originally wanted) at the very BEST PRICE. Its saves time, it considers all the insurance companies and plans, and you get what you (and your family) need at the best possible price. The best news of all is the rates are the same on every plan no matter whose portal you buy through. Whether you go direct to a single insurance company or get help from a professional, remember, it’s the same price. So make the most of the services available to you.
Call or e-mail a health insurance broker today, because you pay the same and we get paid the same no matter what insurance company you choose to buy from. It’s a WIN-WIN! You save time, you get what you need in the most efficient way possible and we get to do our job. And so what if we are a bit off and seem to have a rather weird passion for something the world considers to be one of the most boring and daunting tasks of all; BUYING HEALTH INSURANCE.
