Health Insurance Money Back Guarantee?

Everything from the kitchen appliances offered on TV to the the items you purchase at your local retail stores offer a "money back guarantee"... does health insurance?

Actually, yes! Health insurance carriers in Texas are required to give new policyholders a ten day money back guarantee, or what we call in the industry, the ten day free look period.

As soon as you receive your health insurance policy, you should look through the policy and make sure everything makes sense. If you have questions about your policy, this is the time when you should contact your agent. Check for exclusion riders, rate-up, or other things within the policy that don't make sense, and notify the agent that sold you the policy.

If there is something about the policy that will not work for you, you are entitled to a full refund of all premiums paid.

High Deductible Health Insurance Plans (HDHP)

High deductible health insurance plans are becoming more and more popular in Texas. Due to the rising costs of healthcare and health insurance, these types of plans make a lot of sense for a number of reasons.

Let's face it, the economy is not as good as it could be right now, and I've talked with many people that are just going without health insurance. A high deductible health insurance plan makes a lot of sense in this type of situation. When I suggest this to people that are tight financially, I often get concern that they would not be able to meet the deductible if there was a catastrophic situation.

While it may be true that paying a $5,000 or $10,000 deductible in full might be a stretch for many people, most hospitals will work out payment arrangements on deductibles for patients. Think of it this way. A $75,000 medical bill will essentially bankrupt most people, but $5,000 or $10,000 is much more manageable. A high deductible health insurance plan protects you from bankruptcy due to medical bills. Would you rather be looking $75,000 in the face or $10,000 that the hospital is willing to let you payout? I've even helped clients negotiate the amount owed to the hospital down to pennies on the dollar if they were able to make a lump-sum medical payment.

If your options are no health insurance or a high deductible health insurance plan, you should opt for the latter. You'll be surprised at just how affordable these types of plans are. Plus, if your high deductible health insurance plan happens to be a PPO plan, and you visit an "in-network" provider, you'll receive the pre-negotiated rate on all services that don't exceed your deductible. Basically, you're paying what the insurance company pays without having to do any negotiation.

If you'd like a high deductible health insurance plan quote in texas, visit our quoting site. Don't put your assets and family at risk and go without health insurance. There are other options!

Texas Life Insurance Plans

Ok, I know this goes against the whole genre of my blog, but I think this is a very important topic. I've recently had a death in my family, which has really made me start to think about life insurance protection. I recently increased my life insurance to $1,000,000 of 20-year level term, and the price was extremely low.

Most people don't realize just how inexpensive term life protection really is. $250,000 for a relatively healthy person can be as little as $10/mo. I can't understand how someone could NOT have term life insurance with rates as low as they are in Texas. If you have a family or dependents of any kind, it's an absolute no-brainer. Even if you're not perfectly healthy, you'll probably be surprised at just how inexpensive term life insurance is in Texas.

If you died today, could your spouse and/or kids use an extra $250,000? Let me put it this way... Life insurance can replace the income that you no longer earn, help with childcare, payoff outstanding debt, pay for final expenses, send the kids to college, etc.

It's too cheap not to have it! It's also fairly easy to get life insurance. As an independent agent, I work with several health and life insurance carriers. I shop life rates the same way I do health insurance rates to confirm you're getting the best rate from only the most reputable carriers. If you'd like to receive a Texas life insurance quote, visit our life insurance quoting site.

Texas Health Plans to Avoid

One of the great things about being an independent agent is being able to choose which carriers I offer to my clients. Every plan I offer is a comprehensive, major medical plan. Whether it's a copay plan or a high deductible, HSA-compatible plan, I do not promote plans with internal annual limits for inpatient care, outpatient care, or cancer treatment.

There are many plans out there to avoid, especially in Texas. There are tons of companies offering health insurance in TX, and some put on quite a presentation, but won't live up to your expectations when claim time rolls around.

I'm not going to name any names... actually, I am... If you are shopping for health insurance in Texas, avoid at all costs:

Mega Life (NASE - National Association of the Self Employed, UGA, etc.)

Just "Google" Mega, and the first and second pages are littered with horror stories. Granted, you can find dirt on any insurance company, but what I really don't like about this company is the way they sell policies.

Mega agents are what we refer to in the insurance business as "captive agents". Basically, they only sell one carrier, Mega. Don't you think they have a vested interest in SELLING a Mega plan to you? On the flip side, an independent agent wants to keep you happy so you're a long-term client and doesn't have a vested interest in any one carrier.

The sales process is also a bit fishy and a little high-pressure for my taste with Mega. Mega agents do not want you to shop around. They know if you do side-by-side comparisons with other plans, you will discover the holes in the plans they peddle, so they come out to your home or office and attempt to get a decision on the first visit. Health insurance should NEVER be purchased this way. You should never buy from a traveling salesperson coming to your home, and you never buy on the first visit.

Mega agents will take a check from you with the application (many mainstream carriers don't require money with an application), and they really don't care if you qualify for the plan because they are paid on submitted business. Here's the skinny... As an independent agent, I'm not compensated until your application is approved and issued... In other words, I have a huge incentive to find a plan that you qualify for because I don't get paid on applications that I submit that are declined. Well, Mega agents do... If they submit an application, they are paid an advance commission as soon as the application is processed and sent to underwriting. If you get declined, they will charge the agent that money back, but it could be weeks down the road. This is bad for consumers, but is also bad for new agents to the business that don't know any better.

I have heard horror stories about clients being strung along for weeks waiting for a decision on a plan they probably should have never applied for, and I've also heard horror stories from agents that have gone into debt on charged-back advances with Mega.

Lastly, the Mega plans are like a piece of swiss cheese. Many features that are included with mainstream health plans are optional riders with Mega. One day, I will do a thorough dissection of a Mega plan on here and show all of the holes, but trust me... you can put Mega up against most plans on the market in Texas, and it will not hold up. By the way, getting ahold of a Mega brochure was no small feat. Mega agents are instructed to NOT give them out... Hmmm, I wonder why? If a client asks me for a brochure, I'm more than happy to oblige with ANY company I represent. I also go over the "pros" AND "cons" of any health plans I'm showing to a potential client.

If you're thinking about a Mega plan, call the Texas Department of Insurance and ask them for complaint information relating to Mega. I'd also encourage you to do some internet searches and see what you'll come up with. If you'd like to shop for real health insurance plans in Texas, feel free to visit our quoting site and run comparison quotes of reputable health insurance carriers in Texas.

Texas Supplemental Insurance

Many of you have probably seen the commercials with the duck talking about supplemental insurance offered at work. While I'm not a huge fan of all supplemental insurance policies, there are definitely a few that make sense.

Here are some tips when looking at supplemental insurance plans in Texas:

1. Never look at supplemental plans until you have your most important insurance policies in place (health, life, etc.)
2. Cancer plans, critical-illness, and hospital indemnity plans often don't make a lot of sense (there are a few critical-illness plans that I don't have huge problems with)
3. Always buy from a Texas independent insurance agent and only purchase coverage from reputable insurance companies
4. Keep in mind that agents are paid the highest commissions on supplemental insurance policies which is all the more reason to shop around and use an independent agent that you trust
5. Accident expense plans are my favorite type of supplemental coverage; they can be used in conjunction with high-deductible plans to make a very comprehensive health insurance package
6. If you're in the market for supplemental, consider looking at long-term disability plans before shopping the other types of plans mentioned above

As I mentioned, I like pairing a high-deductible health insurance plan with an accident expense plan. Often this plan has a very low out-of-pocket exposure in the case of an accident and is much less expensive than a lower-deductible health insurance plan only. Of course, this concept makes the most sense with younger people. The likelihood of someone young being hospitalized due to an accident is fairly high, whereas someone older has an increasing chance of being hospitalized due to illness. This plan works the best with children, and especially children that are playing sports.

For more information about supplemental insurance in Texas or accident insurance plans in Texas, feel free to drop me a line at info@quotestx.com

Student Health Insurance in Texas

Do you have a student that no longer qualifies for coverage under your family or group health insurance plan in Texas? This can happen due to the age of your student or the amount of hours they're taking. Sometimes, it's actually far more affordable to have them on their own health insurance policy anyway.

Whatever the case may be, there are two main options for students looking for health insurance in Texas.

1. Purchasing a policy through the student's university or college (i.e. The University of Texas has a student health insurance plan)
2. An individual health insurance policy

I typically recommend students go with an individual student health insurance plan because it can be kept by the students after they leave school and until they find the job that's going to provide them with group health insurance coverage.

Rates for students are relatively low. Depending upon policy options, student health insurance plans in Texas can be $100 or less. To receive a free quote on a student health insurance plan in Texas, visit QuotesTX.com.

Don't Buy Direct!!

This is going to be a fairly quick post, but I have had talks with several clients lately that have bought health insurance direct to the carrier. For example, I had a client that decided to apply online directly with Aetna. The big problem with this is you have no agent. The insurance carriers factor the agent's commission into the premium, whether you use an agent or not. It costs you NOTHING as a client to use an agent... the rate is exactly the same.

Here are some of the benefits of having an independent agent:

1. Claims assistance
2. Not waiting on hold for simple questions
3. Not having to "shop around" if you have a rate increase - the agent should do this for you automatically
4. Unbiased comparisons of all competitive health insurance policies in Texas
   

Why would you pay the same price for LESS benefit?

If you're thinking of buying direct, give me a call at 1.800.560.7419 to compare all of your options. Or, visit www.QuotesTX.com for more information and the ability to run your own Texas health insurance quotes from our secure quoting site.