At MBhealth, we often discuss a client’s whole financial situation with them so they can understand how it will affect their health insurance enrollment. We find this is vital to get them the best price and coverage.
When you start to try to find insurance, it’s very important that whoever you work with is asking the right questions. If they just try to sell you their enticing new product or their best-priced product, it’s not what you’re going to need. That’s especially true when it comes to health insurance.
Finances play a really big role in making the right choice. The right consultation to get you the best insurance requires asking the right questions and getting involved with your total situation.
Understanding All the Factors Involved with Health Insurance
Whenever you deal with insurance, there are legalities and tax implications. That’s true if you are an individual under 65 or you are looking for Medicare coverage. For example, the ACA plans (otherwise known as Obamacare) really hinges on a number of factors:
- What is your annual income?
- Are you single?
- Married
- Can you claim dependents?
You’ll need to predict what your annual income will be for the coming year. In other words, at the beginning of ’23, predict what your ’23 income will look like. Every year is very different so knowing what it was in ’22 is not relevant. You may have lost your job coming into this year. You may be retiring in March or April or May. Your spouse may still be working.
The right consultation takes all those factors into consideration, because the financial picture trues up at tax time. Are you going to get an additional credit, or are you going to owe some money? That outcome hinges on all these numbers being considered.
Taking Investments and Retirement into Consideration
Also important for us to know are your investments, your retirement, when you will retire, or if you choose not to. When you’re talking about individual health insurance, those are really important.
Consider Medicare. How much your overall income will be may determine what your part B premium will come to. Also, are you going to travel a lot? The right insurance agent will take all these factors into consideration. Many people don’t think about all these points. It’s very important if you’re going to choose health insurance that will meet your needs not just this year but next year and the year after that.
Building the Right Relationship When Looking for Health Insurance
When you’re beginning to look for health insurance, what kind of relationship is going to give you the best support? Do you want to talk to someone who’s sitting across the table from you, someone who can consult all the members of your financial team? Or are you just going to be entering numbers in a computer? Will the computer try to ask you questions and drill down into your financial situation? That’s not a situation that will give you the personal support you’re looking for.
When you are working with us at the MBhealth Insurance Agency, yes, we are helping you choose health insurance. But we’re also going to take all the other financial components of your life into account. We’re not going to focus so much on your home, auto or business insurance because our job at that moment is to help you with healthcare insurance. But we’re going to find out how they all funnel down to your healthcare.
If you’re an individual becoming Medicare eligible in the next several months, now’s the time to find the right person to talk to about your coverage. If you need help with that, please reach out to us at (314) 544-5400.
