Julie’s Got You Covered

When Life Changes, Your Insurance Should Too: A Guide to Plan Management

• Julie Sears • Episode 15

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How Do I Update My Information And Or Bundle My Plan?

From address changes that could save you money to income updates that prevent tax surprises, keeping your health insurance information current is crucial but often overlooked. Julie Sears, founder of Integrity Health Insurance Advisors, breaks down exactly what changes warrant immediate attention and which ones can wait until renewal time.

Have you ever wondered if bundling your health, dental, and vision insurance actually saves you money? Julie offers a refreshingly honest take: for individual plans, bundling rarely provides cost savings. The primary advantage is convenience – having one payment instead of several. Some clients prefer this simplicity even if it means paying slightly more, while others prioritize finding the absolute lowest rates across multiple carriers. Julie walks through how to determine which approach makes more sense for your specific situation.

What truly sets this episode apart is Julie's candid advice about finding a quality insurance agent. Beyond the obvious need for responsiveness (which she notes is surprisingly rare in the industry), she emphasizes the importance of working with someone who presents all options without steering you toward specific plans that primarily benefit them. Her litmus test? "Everything has pros and cons. If someone can't give you any cons of a plan, they're trying to guide you in a way that probably benefits them most." 

To learn more about Integrity Health Insurance Advisors visit:
https://www.IntegrityHealthInsuranceAdvisors.com/
Integrity Health Insurance Advisors
469-348-4066

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Julie's Got you Covered, the podcast where Julie Sears, founder of Integrity Health Insurance Advisors, takes the fear out of finding the right health insurance. With seven plus years of experience, she's here to make finding the perfect coverage a breeze. Stay tuned for details on how you can snag a free 30-minute consultation. Tuned for details on how you can snag a free 30-minute consultation.

Speaker 2:

Need to make changes to your plan or explore bundling options? In this episode, julie walks you through how to keep your insurance up to date and get the most value by bundling smartly. Welcome back everyone. I'm Sofia Yvette, co-host, slash producer, back in the studio with Julie Sears. Julie, how's it going? Great? How are you? I'm also doing great. We're happy to have you back in the studio, julie. So tell us, how do I update my information and or bundle my plan?

Speaker 3:

So whenever an update is needed, of course you can call the insurance company directly, and if you have an agent that you have been working with, you can send that information to them and they can usually get in the system or forward it to support for you.

Speaker 3:

It's something that I offer for my clients, so that it's just one less phone call, one less email, anything they have to do, sitting on an 800 line waiting for support to pick up, and I can at least follow through the process and make sure that everything has been updated appropriately and that they get all their new documents that they need, if anything needs updated. And then, as far as bundling, it just depends on what you're needing, and so, working with an agent, we have the ability to shop all those different options and let you know whether bundling with one particular company makes sense or if getting it separate is you know, makes more financial sense, because no sense to pay more just to have one bill, even though I've had people do that. They don't want to have multiple drafts coming out. It's worth a little bit of a increase in rate to have everything come through. So it really just depends on what they're needing, what the end objective is, and I'm here to walk through that process and make sure it gets done as cost effective and efficiently as possible.

Speaker 2:

So, julie, what kinds of updates should I report to my insurance advisor?

Speaker 3:

Anytime there's a name change, obviously we want to make sure that that's up to date.

Speaker 3:

So if there's any kind of divorce or marriage, making sure that that's up to date so that when you go to use your card it matches and there's no claims kicking back due to one information. You know doctor's information has been updated but your insurance hasn't Obviously any type of address, because insurance coverage can change slightly when you switch. So if you are on an ACA plan, your plan may not technically be offered in your new zip code or county and that would give you an opportunity to make a change and we want to make sure that you're properly covered and you don't have any gaps anywhere due to that address change Rates also change based on your zip code and that's something we can walk through to make sure that everything's accurate so that at the end of the year, if you were receiving any types of subsidies or tax credits, that you don't get dinged at the end of the year because you should have been paying a little bit more. I mean, who knows, maybe you'll even pay a little bit less, depending on what county you move to.

Speaker 2:

So, julie, how quickly do changes like address or income affect my plan?

Speaker 3:

They can be made right away. Typically those go into effect the first of the following month or on your next billing cycle. So private plans can build during the month just depending on when you wanted to start the plan, and the ACA plans are all going to be billed on the first of the month. So whatever that billing cycle is is typically when those changes would take effect.

Speaker 2:

What's the advantage of bundling dental and vision with my health plan?

Speaker 3:

Most of the time it's just ease of billing, since once you're on an individual plan there's really no discounts for bundling, anything like that. So it's just a matter of being just easier for the consumer to just have to keep up with that one charge instead of remembering every one of those plans. But that's where I come in, so that if that's what we have to do, I keep that straight for you, so that you can just have one point of contact to come back to and I can tell you where we got it and you can make those changes accordingly.

Speaker 2:

So, julie, are there cost savings when bundling different types of insurance?

Speaker 3:

Not for health and dental and vision anymore. Once you're on that individual plan, then it's just up to me to help you find the best rate and make sure we've got you in the best spot for what you need it for, and stay on top of any changes that are coming up to see if there's a better plan to move you to.

Speaker 2:

How often should I review or adjust my insurance bundle?

Speaker 3:

I tell everybody shop every year because things change, plans change, your needs change. It's really easy for me to drop everything into the quoting system, see what comes out, see if there's something better in the market that would be able to move you over to. Sometimes they enhance plans so we can change some things around to make sure you're getting the newest enhancements and make sure that you've got the best coverage available and getting the most bang for your buck.

Speaker 2:

Wouldn't you have to wait till open enrollment to do that?

Speaker 3:

On private options, we can change during the year. If you are on an ACA plan, then typically open enrollment is going to be the best time. But even if on a private plan, I typically try to reach out during open enrollment and at least email my clients and see if they want to do a review so that you know we've got an option during that time to have the most options available. Private options are available outside of open enrollment, so those do have some qualifications usually. But we would just take a look to see if you're qualified for one of those, if they offer you any savings, if it's a better fit for what your needs have become and we can get you switched over to hopefully get you saving.

Speaker 2:

So, julie, any final words on how do I update my information and or bundle my plan?

Speaker 3:

I just say stay in touch with your agent and make sure you have a good agent in place that's available to you so that, should a change arise, you'll know whether it's something that needs to be updated right away, if it's something that could wait till the end of the year. Income change is a huge one for anybody that's on an ACA plan, getting a subsidy, those you want to make sure that you keep up to date so that you don't get any tax liabilities at the end of the year.

Speaker 2:

So, julie, what are signs of a good insurance agent?

Speaker 3:

Sadly, it's someone who will actually take your call, which shouldn't be that difficult. But it's a problem I run into frequently where a lot of people reach out to me and they can't get ahold of their agents. So they reach out to me to start helping them out with any of their questions, someone who's willing to show you all the options and they're not trying to steer you into one specific plan or company, and they're willing to explain all the pros and cons. Everything has a pro and a con. There's nothing out there that's all pros. So if someone can't give you any cons of a plan, then they're trying to guide you in one way that probably benefits them most.

Speaker 2:

Fantastic Julie. Thank you so much for these helpful insights and have a fantastic rest of your day. We'll catch you in the next episode, you as well.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for tuning in to. Julie's Got you Covered. Ready to say goodbye to insurance stress? Head to IntegrityHealthInsuranceAdvisorscom or call 469-348-4066. 469-348-4066. That's 469-348-4066 to book your free 30-minute consultation With Julie. Health insurance doesn't have to be scary. She's got you covered.