Choosing between health insurance companies and health insurance plans can be a daunting task if you do it on your own. I’ve heard many people compare it to finding your way through a dense, foreboding jungle. It is easy to get lost and entangled, and everything looks the same at first glance. There are so many health insurance companies and health insurance plans, premiums and co-pays to sift through that finding the right health insurance coverage can easily make your head spin.

Responsible adventurers hire a guide to take them through the health insurance coverage jungle. A trained health insurance agent, who knows the terrain, can foresee problems and present alternatives that can lead you safely through. So why wouldn’t you do the same when it comes to purchasing health insurance coverage? A health insurance agent is a crucial tool that we can all use to help us find the best health insurance coverage at the best rates for ourselves and our families.

Your health insurance agent is not only your guide, but also your teammate. Tackling this task alone with a computer and a phone can be a painstaking process. Dealing directly with the health insurance companies will put you in touch with phone operators that are less likely than an agent to know how to find the most appropriate health insurance coverage for you and/or your family. Furthermore, a qualified health insurance agent that you come to know personally will become your advocate through this process and help you overcome any challenges you are faced with at the time of application or once you have secured a health insurance plan.

Has this ever happened to you? You have a pre-existing condition and are having tremendous difficulty finding health insurance companies who will cover you. You become discouraged and are left with no place to turn. Trying to work the arduous process of overturning a health insurance company’s decision can be virtually impossible and can take months before you receive that all-but-certain decline notice once again. The right health insurance agent can help you open doors that wouldn’t otherwise be available to you. He/she can expedite the underwriting process, anticipate all paperwork the carrier will need, know of alternative plans with lower underwriting guidelines, and keep in daily contact with the health insurance company to force a decision in days rather than months.

Here are a few practices that a good health insurance agent will use to find the best way to get you and your family approved:

· Requesting a "Probable Outcome" report from the underwriters based on your pre-existing conditions. This will allow the health insurance agent to construct an appropriate game plan far in advance of any potential delays from the health insurance company

· Finding out upfront if medical records will be requested, and if so, sending an authorization form to you to fill out and return immediately (without a proactive health insurance agent, this process alone can take weeks)

· Staying in close contact with the doctor’s office to rush the return of medical records or even request a recommendation letter for insurance, from the doctor

· Finding a health insurance plan that you will more likely be approved for in the first place (for example, if you take medications but are not ill, you may be eligible for a plan that does not include prescription drug coverage or only includes coverage for generic drugs)

Selecting and securing health insurance coverage does not have to be an insurmountable adventure. With pre-existing conditions, lapses in health insurance coverage or any other irregularities, you can still obtain coverage. It just requires assistance from a professional that knows the proper pathways to take. And even better, you don’t have to pay any extra charges for the services of your health insurance agent. They are compensated elsewhere.

Don’t put yourself through the time-consuming, frustrating hassle of navigating the health insurance jungle on your own. Your health insurance agent is your guide and his/her experience and expertise is the blade – clearing the way for you towards a future of safety and security.

By Erin Fish

Agent/President

EMF Insurance Agency, Inc.

erin@emfinsurance.com

www.EMFinsurance.com

EMF Insurance Blog

818-303-1786