Seeking Recommendations for Health Insurance Brokers/Agents (broker, college)

[KP11]

Please feel free to PM me. I'm looking for an understanding, co-operative and honest insurance agent/broker to help me sort out my health insurance. I'd appreciate any and all help and leads. Even if you don't have a recommendation for a specific person but have tips on how to go about finding good health insurance, I'd appreciate that too.

[saturnfan]

Try Blue Cross Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina - Your plan for better health

Any health insurance worth a hoot will be expensive.

At least BC/BS is honest with what you will get for your premiums.

[dolphinsonchest]

It is so good to actually see someone comment on that fact that it actually makes a difference with who the advisor/broker is. I am a Registered Health Underwriter (RHU) and have been doing health insurance for 16 years. My recommendation, while not a guarantee of what you end up with, is that you first look if they have any professional designations. Be careful, because the new trend is these fly by night operations offering weekend courses for agents/brokers for these cheesy certifications. The most recognized in the insurance industry is probably The American College in Bryn Mawr, PA. They provide almost a dozen college level designations and they DO NOT hand them out like candy. The exams are tough and professionals that obtain those designations have to work their tail off and know what they are doing. The two key designations in the industry that you are looking for specifically is the RHU and the REBC. The American College website will list RHU and REBC professionals in your area. This is step #1

Step #2. While step #1 would more likely ensure that you are dealing with someone that is good at what they do, it does not guarantee that they will do the right thing. The next step is to confirm that they belong to a professional trade association. This is where I would recommend that they are a dues paying member of the National Associatin of Health Underwriters (nahu.org) or a member of the National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors (naifa.org). You can also do a member search on each of those websites as well for those in your backyard. I would then crosscheck the RHU's and the REBC's in your backyard off the American College Website first. Then I would take those names, maybe oh....... 15 of them. You will not have many of those in your backyard unless you live in a big town, then take those names and see which ones actually belong to the (2) largest professional trade groups in the U.S. for insurance professionals.

By doing this you should be able to come up with a "short list" of I bet a good 5 names. There is a good chance that some of those on the list might be 30 minutes to an hour away from where you live, but I can also tell you that there is a high propensity that after you have contacted each of the 5 and asked them some general questions, it will be apparent that you are dealing with true affeciendo's of the insurance craft and their knowledge will become quickly apparent.

I will tell you that my personal opinion is that blue cross/blue shield generally provides the best value for healthcare out of all the carriers that I have dealt with. Typically, I would personally choose the blues over most carriers, even if I had to increase my deductible to obtain the same pricing against a competitor of the blues.

Lance Kolbet
Registered Health Underwriter (RHU)