Deciding on a senior health care insurance provider can feel overwhelming. Understanding the ins and outs of health coverage options, exclusions, co-payments, premiums, and out-of-pocket costs is often confusing and stressful.
Finding an insurance agent you trust to clear the confusion and help you with your health care needs is worth its weight in gold.
Here are some things to consider when deciding on a senior health care provider for your insurance needs.
1. Ask For Referrals
Your friends, family, neighbors, and peers are a great place to start looking for an insurance company you can trust. Getting a referral from someone with a company’s personal experience is more impactful than watching ten Superbowl ads about a company. Start by asking other friends who are seniors and other family and friends if they have any recommendations or referrals and listen to their experiences with their insurance company.
2. Look For a Company With a Good Reputation
It is a good idea to research the insurance company in which you want to do business. You can visit their websites to learn a lot about their company. Their websites will often share how long the company has been in business, customer reviews, mission statements, what insurance services they provide, and their values and vision.
Since most companies won’t go out of their way to post negative testimonials on their direct site, it’s a good idea to do a general search on the company for reviews to see their star rating and read other people’s experiences company. Googling the company name with “reviews” at the end is a great place to start researching more about the company.
3. Find a Company That Value’s Their Customer
Customer service is another crucial factor in your decision-making when narrowing down senior health care providers. See if anything the company is doing to reach their customer’s needs makes them stand apart from the rest of the competition. Do they offer free one-on-one consultations to help you decide on a medical plan during open enrollment? Do they have an easy automatic online bill pay option? Is the friendly and patient with questions, or brisk and grumpy? All of these can factor in how your overall experience with them will be.
4. Consider Price
Getting the best “bang for your buck” is essential for many people. There’s a reason people warn, “You get what you pay for.” We will add this warning tag when comparing prices between different insurance providers. There are a variety of factors why there are differences in Price between two or more insurance carriers. Perhaps one provider offers a lowered premium cost you will pay each month, but it could also mean the plan you choose has higher out-of-pocket costs or less coverage. Be sure to talk to the insurance agent to detail the differences in the plan so you can get an accurate price estimation.
5. Find Out What Doctors Are “In-Network”
Do you have a specific doctor that is your preferred physician? Or a favorite medical center you would love? The health insurance company you are looking into can provide a list of all the in-network providers in your areas. Knowing what doctors are in-network can be an essential part of your decision-making.
Finding the right senior health care provider can take a little effort and research, but in the end, it can help you choose the best option for your needs.
If you have any questions we can answer for you on our company, please let us know. We’d love to help.