If I heard this phrase from my Dad once, I heard it a million times.
Some of you may never have heard this particular phrase. What it essentially means is: Sometimes by paying too little, you can actually pay too much.
The reason: The product that you bought doesn’t do what it is supposed to do in the first place, so you have increased costs or frustration from the experience.
This is never more true than in the online Affordable Care Act shopping experience.
I’ve often heard the statement that “people don’t know what they don’t know.” I think this is true as well.
In the ACA online shopping experience, many brave souls venture alone to the government website, feel like they are pounding their heads against a concrete wall, and try to navigate the site all alone. They do this because they believe that if they purchase without any assistance they will get the best price. WRONG! The insurance price you pay is the same no matter where you buy.
Still others consult with an unlicensed unregulated navigator with literally no background in insurance (who may or may not have even undergone a basic, much less extensive background check) to help guide them in their choice for insurance for their family. Can you say – “Blind leading the blind?”
Some go to their auto or home owners insurance agent for simplicity and convenience. But they fail to realize that going to an auto/home insurance provider for health insurance is like going to a dermatologist for heart surgery. Sure, he’s a doctor, but do you really want him operating on your heart?
Only those who choose a professional health insurance broker can be confident they are getting the most appropriate advice for their family in the new ACA health care reform environment.
Want the cold hard truth?
2.2 million of the 8 million enrollees who qualified for what’s called “Cost Share Reductions” which dramatically reduce things like deductibles, copays, prescription costs, etc. did NOT get these reductions because they either “didn’t know what they didn’t know” or they got bad advice from an unlicensed unregulated navigator with no background or experience in insurance or they relied on their car insurance guy to help them with health insurance too. How different can the industries be, anyway? Well, night and day, pretty much.
For example: John Smith, a hardworking employee here in South Carolina, makes about $15,000 per year.
He could be eligible to buy the “Free or $0.00 premium” $5000 deductible plan with no coverage until the deductible has been met. Think about that, he would have to spend 33% of his annual income just to use his plan. Or, he could spend $25.00 a month to get a $300 deductible plan, with $0.00 doctor visits, $0.00 generic prescriptions, and a total $600 Out of Pocket cost.
If you were John Smith, which plan would you choose? Do you think those who bought the “free” plan are feeling a little “penny wise and pound foolish?” I bet so. No professional insurance broker would ever recommend a client take this kind of plan. It’s basically malpractice.
Do you have the best deal on your health insurance? Don’t think so, know so.
Don’t know a professional insurance broker? Check out the folks at www.insure-u.com You’ll be glad you did.