Licensed Insurance Brokers Can Offer Free Help Navigating healthcare.gov

Submitted by Ed Stebbins

I relate the opening of healthcare.gov to that of the grand opening of a new supermarket: Stay away!  The  food will still be there next week.  The December 24 deadline for January 1 coverage was  important to those with pre-existing conditions and the need for prescriptions.  Open enrollment doesn't end  until March, when there may be another rush. One can sign up in the next few weeks for February 1 coverage.  

How many of us  have  extra money in December to pay for  coverage  during the holiday season?  What is not widely reported in the media is that there are state licensed insurance brokers in place to help with the variety of options available, who have taken tests and are certified through Anthem Blue Cross to sell and discuss options with consumers.

I am one of those  agents.    

I know how to ask the right questions to match the wants and needs of the insurance consumer with the right plans.  On December 23 the Boston Globe had an article that explained many who just bought the cheapest plan will be in for sticker shock when they find out  prescriptions, doctors visits,  etc., may not be covered until a large deductible is first met.

As a licensed broker it is in our best interest to help with your selection. Our service to you is free. Anthem pays us a  small flat fee for helping you.
 
I've also had clients who, because their income is just below the level to qualify for a large tax credit – and if they are healthy (today) –  it may be to their advantage to take a plan that provides major medical short term coverage,with a deductible as low as  $1,000.  

I recently had a family I worked with whose Affordable Care policy was going to be more than $500 a month; a  major medical short-term policy for the same family was  $150 less,  saving them  $1,800 a year. Yes, they will have to pay a $600 tax penalty in  2015, but they are still saving $1,200. And if, God forbid, cancer, heart attack or another major medical event happens – even a broken arm  from  skiing this  winter,  or an automobile accident – they have $2,000,000 in  coverage.  

We all know how the the story goes, of the person who acts as his own lawyer. I'm here to help.

Ed Stebbins of Nashua serves insurance clients in New Hampshire. He can be reached at  603-891-6483 or  edstebbins@hotmail.com.