My husband and I recently visited with our insurance agent. We quickly sorted out the changes we needed to make to our existing car insurance policy, which was ready to be renewed. Our insurance agent helped us understand important information about our homeowners policy, including how to document our property. The next thing we needed to do was sort out our options for health insurance.
When we set up the appointment with our insurance agent, my husband I were not sure if our insurance company offered any kind of health insurance at all. We used to have health insurance through my previous employer, but, when I lost my job last year, I lost our health insurance along with it. After being completely without health insurance for almost a year, we decided it would be a good idea to at least ask our insurance agent about it.
We learned that our insurance company did, in fact, offer health insurance policies. It was provided in connection with a partner company that is nationwide. Our insurance agent quickly printed out what turned into piles of stapled papers, and placed them on the table in front of us. Their policies placed customers into one of two categories: standard, and preferred. I was put into preferred, because I had no pre-existing health conditions, was not using any prescription drugs, and was not a smoker. My husband was placed into the standard category, even though he doesn’t smoke, because he uses a prescription drug to help with his high blood pressure. She created one set of data for me, and a separate set for my husband, for each of these policies, so we could see what our options were.
This basically gave us a “ballpark figure” for what our monthly premiums, and deductibles, would cost for each of their health insurance policies. We would still need to fill out an application, and see if the partner company accepted us, which means there was a chance that either I, or my husband, or both of us could be refused. We walked out of the office with two folders full of paper, and needed time to crunch the numbers. After all was said and done, it turns out we cannot afford either of the health insurance policies we were offered. Our next step is to make an appointment with another health insurance broker in town, whom our insurance agent referred us to. Our quest for health insurance continues!
Image by Michelle Wilfong