How Much Does a Health Insurance Agent Cost?

Costs are a serious concern for people who need to shop for individual or Medicare insurance plans. Some are worried that even just calling an insurance agent will come at a cost, so they attempt to manage the process on their own. What those individuals quickly learn is that insurance plans are extremely difficult to understand without a helpful agent to interpret them.

Here’s the good news: it costs you nothing to work with a health insurance agent in Pennsylvania. In fact, you may be able to save money, time, and many headaches by working with an agent. There are several reasons why working with a health insurance agent can make insurance and healthcare more affordable.

Independent insurance agents get paid commissions by the health insurance companies. These agent commissions are built right into the premium you pay for your plan. This means that even if you are not working with an insurance agent, you are paying for one. But you are missing the guidance and service an agent provides.

Because agents are paid commissions through premiums, do they simply steer all clients towards the highest paying plans? The short answer to this is no. Your health insurance agent has a responsibility to work in your best interest, not their own. You can go over the commission they will receive in each plan you are reviewing, and you will quickly notice that the agent’s recommendations are in alignment with your needs rather than their potential earnings.

While the health insurance premiums may be your focus when pricing plans, a knowledgeable agent is looking at a bigger picture of costs. They’ll explain what you will pay to actually use your plan in a medical setting. Your premium, though it’s the known upfront cost, is just one element of your overall healthcare expenses.

Experienced health insurance agents will ask you about how you have used healthcare in the past and how you expect to continue using it. They will explain your deductibles, co-pays, out-of-network costs, and limits to coverage. Once you see the entire scope of coverage for your premium, you will have a better sense of what healthcare will really cost under each plan.

Health insurance policies used to be so straightforward that you could call any medical provider and find out if they accepted your plan. Today’s plans are far more complex. Providers may participate with only certain policies under a given insurer. The insurers offer some plans with a large network of providers, but others – of very similar sounding names – with only a narrow network of providers. Whether you call the provider directly or search online, it’s easy to get confused about whether or not a given provider accepts your specific plan. This is especially common with Medicare Advantage Plans, Individual and Family Insurance Plans that are sold either on or off the Marketplace, and small group plans. Once enrolled, you are typically locked into a plan for one year. It’s very frustrating to discover that the providers you thought were in the plan’s network are actually not covered.

An experienced local health insurance agent helps you identify the right plan for your needs and also helps you navigate the plan you choose. Our job is to interpret the coverage, costs, and network providers so that you can make the most informed decision about enrollment. At Real Health Quotes, we continue providing helpful guidance even after you enroll in the plan. Whenever you have a question about providers, coverage, premiums, or a claim, you can give us a call. Our job is to make sure you know what to expect in your healthcare so that you can avoid the cost (in time or money) of mistakes and correcting them.