The Role Of The Health Insurance Broker In The US
Looking for health insurance is a daunting prospect for many people with a number of companies to choose from each offering a range of plans which can be both complex and difficult to decipher. As a result it is often a good idea to employ the services of a health insurance broker in the US to match your needs to the right health insurance company and plan.
Once you have chosen a broker it is a simple matter of giving him your medical details, including such things as details of any pre-existing conditions and medications you are taking, and a list of the things that would want to see covered by your plan. The broker will then look at a number of companies and different plans and get back to you with his recommendations. Having had an opportunity to study these, and to ask any questions that arise, the broker then works with you to get your health insurance plan contract signed and your plan issued.
One important thing to understand is that private medical health insurance brokers US work independently and are not employed by a health insurance company. Their role is to study the health insurance market and to familiarize themselves with the range of cover available, as well as with how each insurance company works including such things as its reputation, how often it increases premiums and how it handles claims.
However, although the broker is independent, it is also important to understand that health insurance brokers make their money by way of a commission every time a contract is completed and that the commission they receive will vary from one insurance company to the next. You might therefore feel that it is in their interest to recommend a plan which will earn them the highest commission. If this is something that you are concerned about then you should discuss this with your broker. If he is a reputable broker he will have no problem with discussing this openly with you.
In spite of the fact that the broker will earn a commission from the sale of your plan, which in effect comes from your premiums, this does not necessarily mean that a plan purchased through a broker will be more expensive and you will normally find that the same policy purchased directly from the company will cost you the same amount of money as you will end up paying by purchasing through a broker.
More importantly, a broker will frequently be able to find a deal for you which you are unlikely to uncover on your own simply because of his knowledge of the marketplace.
If you are confident about your own ability to seek out a health insurance policy and are happy that you can understand the language of a health insurance contract and the details of the small print then all well and good. But, if you are in any doubt, then a health insurance broker could well be your best friend.
Business integration: The unification of one or more separate business (nonclinical) functions into a single function.
Electronic medical record (EMR): An automated, on-line medical record containing clinical and demographic information about a patient that is available to providers, ancillary service departments, pharmacies, and others involved in patient treatment or care.
Peer review organizations (PROs): According to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, organizations or groups of practicing physicians and other health care professionals paid by the federal government to review and evaluate the services provided by other practitioners and to monitor the quality of care given to Medicare patients.
Standard community rating: A type of community rating in which an MCO considers only community-wide data and establishes the same financial performance goals for all risk classes. Also known as pure community rating.
How Reform Could Affect Four Key Populations - California Healthline
28 Jul 2010 at 10:33am
Washington Post
How Reform Could Affect Four Key Populations
California Healthline
They wrote that agents and brokers have a role "both inside and outside health insurance exchanges" and could serve as a consumer resource when the ...
Agents want piec...
Health Insurance Brokers and Agents Raise Money for Local Charities - PR News...
26 Jul 2010 at 10:49am
Health Insurance Brokers and Agents Raise Money for Local Charities
PR Newswire (press release)
... 2500 professional health insurance agents and brokers who provide consumer advocacy and health care insurance for hundreds of thousands of California...
New Guide to Health Reform Now Available to Employers Throughout California -...
29 Jul 2010 at 10:00am
New Guide to Health Reform Now Available to Employers Throughout California
Insurance News Net (press release)
One of the most significant aspects of health reform, as discussed in the new booklet, is the mandating that every state establish a healt...
Anthem, Memorial Health System work on new agreement - Marietta Times
29 Jul 2010 at 8:38am
Anthem, Memorial Health System work on new agreement
Marietta Times
"For example, listening to the brokers, they said you need to bring another insurance product onto the table; so we have," she said. ...
|
