Global Courant
In its simplest definition, a health insurance broker (also commonly known as an agent) is someone who is licensed to sell health insurance. However, there are many other services that they provide to you that fall under the umbrella of selling health insurance. Here are some of the most important:
- Perhaps the most important thing to know about working with an agent is that it is free. Insurance agents are paid by insurance companies, not consumers. So you don’t have to worry about having to pay some service fees when you sign up for a subscription with an agent, because it won’t cost you anything more than if you did it yourself.
- Health insurance is confusing and an agent will explain it to you until it makes sense. Ask all the questions you want, that’s what they’re there for. Want to know what your coinsurance will be on a particular plan? Do you want to know what co-insurance actually means? Just ask!
- An agent can help you compare plans you’re interested in. When you let an agent know what you’re looking for, they’ll narrow down your options and explain the benefits of each. They can check if your preferred doctors and medical facilities are in-network, and they can only see if any prescriptions you use are covered (and how much).
- Your agent is your agent as long as you have your policy. This means you have someone you can contact if you have any questions or even if you want to shop around for a new plan. You have someone in your corner, instead of just flying with it and figuring out a plan yourself.
Since I’m sure you don’t want to sit here reading all day, these are just some of the biggest benefits of using a licensed agent to purchase health insurance. That’s not even including how much time and frustration an agent can save you (we’ll save that for another article!).
To make things even easier for you, many brokers have the option of accessing plans that are both on-exchange and off-exchange (government-operated marketplaces for health insurance). This gives you even more options. In addition, agents who have access to on-exchange plans can also determine subsidy eligibility, which can lower your premium and out-of-pocket expenses. Again, saves you another headache.
The next time you need to enroll or change a health plan, consider a licensed agent – it won’t cost you anything, but it will definitely save you a lot.
Taking out health insurance through an intermediary
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