Yesterday, I contacted an insurance broker in the hopes that she could help me find an affordable health insurance plan. She sent me quotes for three different policies. Now, I need to compare them, and figure out which one would be best for me.
An insurance broker is someone who makes a connection between a person who wants to buy health insurance and several insurance companies who sell health insurance. It is the broker’s job to be up to date on what all the different insurers offer as well as the laws that make changes to all health insurance policies.
Previously, I thought of an insurance broker as a “middleman”, and didn’t see the need to find one. After several of my own attempts to find affordable health insurance have ended in failure, I have changed my mind about that. I now have vivid examples of why I cannot sift through the information from insurance companies on my own.
The insurance broker gave me quotes from three different health plans. Two of them come from Anthem Blue Cross of California. One comes from Blue Shield of California.
I was able to ask the insurance broker a few things about these plans. She said that all of them cover birth control. All of them will be required to cover maternity starting in July of 2012. This is impressive. My efforts to find health insurance only turned up plans that specifically excluded coverage for these things. All of the plans will cover medical bills from if I end up in a hospital, and will also cover bills if I need to see a doctor for a sinus infection. So far, so good.
She said that they cover acupuncture treatments, but, not really. These plans will pay $25 for acupuncture treatments. Those treatments actually cost around $55. I have been getting acupuncture treatments to help with my severe allergies for quite some time now.
The insurance broker gave me quotes that show what the cost of premiums will be for each plan. The Blue Shield plan costs $190.00. It comes with a deductible of $2,500. This isn’t bad, but it will be a bit of a struggle for me to pay the premiums at this time.
One plan from Anthem costs $148.00 for premiums, and comes with a $6,000 deductible. The other one costs $156.00 for premiums, and has a $3,500 deductible.
Last September, my husband and I were approved for health insurance through Anthem that covered both of us. Unfortunately, Anthem chose to approve us for a plan that was more expensive than the one we signed up for. Further investigation showed that the plan didn’t cover much of anything at all.
This time, I have an insurance broker that can help me get around the games that Anthem decided to play last time. It seems that the best way to go, once again, is with the plan that costs a slightly higher premium, and a much lower deductible. The next step is to contact my insurance broker, and make an appointment to speak in person.
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