Many people don’t realize all the ways that health insurance consultations can help them cut down the cost of their health care. I’m going to break down the ways we help people in different situations so you can see how this consultation could help you.
Costs a Health Insurance Consultant Can Help You Reduce
When most people hear, “cutting down costs,” they just think about premiums. Of course, that would be very valid. A health insurance consultant can help you get the best plan at the best price. As an agent or consultant, I help my clients lower this cost.
But I also can help figure out how to cut down your other costs, such as your deductible, prescription costs or maybe just your utilization of your health insurance in general. There are different strategies for achieving those goals, such as tweaking your plan or looking at a Health Saving Account for an individual.
Getting a Health Insurance Consultant’s Help When Life Changes
There are other times when a consultant’s advice can be very important. And that is when your life changes. For example:
- When there’s a new baby
- When you get married or divorced
- If you move from state to state
- If your job ends all of a sudden
In each of these scenarios, a chat with a health insurance consultant can help you make the right choices to give you the best advantage and savings.
Example #1: How a Consultant Can Help When a New Baby Arrives
I have a lot of individual clients who call me and let me know that they’re pregnant and they’re going to have a child this year. Many people don’t stop to consider what that’s going to do to their health insurance. Or what effect it might have in today’s world, especially with the Marketplace, also known as the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare.
When you have another dependent that you’re going to claim on your taxes, it’s going to raise the subsidy you might receive on your health insurance premium, which lowers the cost of your premium.
Alternatively, when you add the child from its date of birth, what if that accidentally forces him to Medicaid? As your insurance consultant, I need to talk to you about those factors so we can work through the changes needed to your health insurance.
Example #2: How a Consultant Can Help You Cope with Loss of a Job
There’s another situation that prompts people to call me but this time, they are not excited—they are worried or concerned. What should they do when they lose a job or their company closes down? These people have often had group health insurance for years and now they have to figure out what to do about their own health insurance.
In these worried calls, my clients are asking me:
- What am I going to do about my health insurance?
- I can’t afford a COBRA extension of my health insurance where I pay the full premium cost. How am I going to cut that cost down?
- How am I going to afford my medications?
- I had an HSA plan—am I going to lose my HSA benefits in my account?
I will talk a person through the decisions they have to make to come up with the right solution. They are not going to be uninsured. What is their solution going to look like? We have to figure that out through looking at what their income will be now, after they’ve lost their job.
When You Can Make a Mid-Year Adjustment to Your Income
If you call me in the middle of the year and your income is going to be half of what it was last year because you lost your job, that’s going to help me reduce your premium with a subsidy provided through the Affordable Care Act. I can make that adjustment any time throughout the year. It might turn out that you don’t have to pay $2,000 a month for a COBRA extension to your health insurance. I may be able to get you assistance so you’re paying just a thousand.
I’m here as a consultant for you, not the insurance companies. I’m ready to help you figure out how to get the most out of your health insurance or how to adjust it when needed. When you experience changes like these, give us a call at MBhealth at (314) 544-5400.
