
Julie’s Got You Covered
Welcome to Julie's Got You Covered, the podcast where Julie Sears from Integrity Health Insurance Advisors discusses the often-complex world of health insurance. Whether you're navigating open enrollment or seeking clarity on your insurance options, this podcast serves as your essential resource. In each episode, Julie dives deep into various topics, exploring the types of insurance offered by Integrity, from health, dental, and vision coverage to critical illness and supplemental plans. She provides practical advice on all your insurance needs.
Julie’s passion for empowering her listeners shines through as she tackles questions about claims, policy management, and the intricacies of switching insurance plans. With a commitment to guiding you through everything from understanding network options to navigating emergency medical care while traveling, Julie's Got You Covered equips you with the knowledge and confidence to make informed decisions about your health insurance needs. Tune in for expert advice, real-life stories, and actionable insights that will help you navigate your insurance journey with ease.
To learn more about Integrity Health Insurance Advisors visit:
https://www.IntegrityHealthInsuranceAdvisors.com/
Integrity Health Insurance Advisors
469-348-4066
Julie’s Got You Covered
Wallet Rescue: What's Really Hiding in Your Healthcare Bill?
What Factors Affect The Monthly Premium?
Feeling bewildered by your health insurance premium? You're not alone. The seemingly mysterious numbers that determine your monthly costs actually follow specific patterns—and understanding them could save you thousands.
Julie Sears, with her seven years of insurance advisory experience, breaks down the science behind premium calculations. Age emerges as a primary factor, with younger individuals enjoying lower rates while premiums climb steadily as we age. Geographic location creates surprising variations, with East Coast states commanding significantly higher premiums than Midwest regions (though Nebraska bucks this trend with unexpectedly high rates). Perhaps most eye-opening is how family coverage works on individual plans—unlike employer plans that offer family bundles, individual coverage charges per person, adding $150-250 for each dependent.
For families seeking relief from sky-high premiums, Julie shares a game-changing strategy that saved one household $12,000 annually. By keeping the employee on their employer-subsidized plan while moving dependents to a separate individual policy, many families can dramatically reduce their healthcare expenses. Julie walks through when employer coverage makes sense (particularly for larger families) and when splitting coverage yields better results.
The traditional trade-off between premium costs and deductibles has grown more complex under the Affordable Care Act, but Julie demystifies this relationship with practical advice tailored to different lifestyles and budgets. She cautions against placing someone with modest income into a plan with an unmanageable out-of-pocket maximum, explaining how financial stress creates its own health consequences.
Ready to find insurance coverage that truly fits your needs without breaking the bank? Visit IntegrityHealthInsuranceAdvisors.com or call 469-348-4066 for a free 30-minute consultation with Julie. Stop overpaying for coverage and discover options you might never have considered.
To learn more about Integrity Health Insurance Advisors visit:
https://www.IntegrityHealthInsuranceAdvisors.com/
Integrity Health Insurance Advisors
469-348-4066
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:Your monthly premium isn't just a random number. It's calculated based on several key factors. Understanding what influences your costs can help you make smarter insurance decisions. Welcome back everyone. I'm Sofia Yvette, co-host, slash producer, back in the studio with Julie Sears, founder of Integrity Health Insurance Advisors. Julie, how are you today?
Speaker 3:I'm good. How are you?
Speaker 2:I'm also doing good. So, julie, health insurance costs can feel like a mystery, but there's a method behind the numbers. Let's break down what actually affects those monthly premiums. So, Julie, what factors affect the monthly premiums?
Speaker 3:One of the biggest ones is our age. So when we are shopping on the individual market either, whether it's private or Affordable Care Act options our age is our biggest factor. Being younger means a little bit cheaper and being older just means we're going to be paying a little bit more. The next factor really is the region in which you live in. So it's based on are you more rural or is it more city style? Again, it's all risk assessment right, and of course the cost of living is a big factor. So I noticed a huge spike on the East Coast versus the Midwest. For some strange reason, nebraska seems to have really high rates. Texas we're a little bit high here, but nothing like Maryland and North Carolina and Virginia. Those are exceptionally high.
Speaker 3:And then, of course, some of them will take into account whether you use tobacco or not, and that can increase your rate. And then there is the number of people on the policy. So once you're on an individual plan, you're paying per person. So it's not like. So once you're on an individual plan, you're paying per person. So it's not like a group plan where you're used to that family bundle whether you have one kid or five kids, the same rate If you have a family of seven and you have an employer option, 100%, take the employer option.
Speaker 3:It's going to be cheaper because when you go on an individual plan you will be paying per person and when you're adding dependents it can be anywhere from 150 to $250 per dependent. So that will add up very quickly if you've got a lot of dependents on there. And then of course the parents, depending on their age, just adds to it, so it can quickly increase those rates and people don't realize that. I've had a lot of people this year shopping against their employer plan and it's really hard to beat an employer plan unless we're just moving the family and not the employee. An employer is paying half of an employee but the family can get expensive. So that's where we really need to shop. But it's been an exceptionally high number of people just trying to compare against their group plan. But most of the time an employer plan is going to work and be most cost effective.
Speaker 2:Now, why do health insurance premiums vary by location? Now, why do health insurance?
Speaker 3:premiums vary by location. It's just that risk factor based on the lifestyle and the number of people, access to doctors, um, All of those things that pile in. Those are all actuary numbers that I don't get into, but they do take that in because it's just a matter of a risk assessment. Our rates tend to be a little higher here in the DFW area. There's a lot of people, there's a lot of congestion. Yes, we have a lot of access. There's a hospital in every corner. There's also how many car accidents a day that obviously increase our risk just due to the volume of people that are here out in the country a little bit further, where less people, less use, just based on all of those different risk factors that they're looking at to roll it into their best guess of what that's going to look like Average income, those types of numbers all get fed into their, I'm sure, super fancy machine. But the biggest factors are going to be our area that we live in, our age and the number of people on a policy.
Speaker 2:Now, what strategies can consumers use to find more affordable health coverage besides the employer plan?
Speaker 3:That's where I come in and just shop the options and just keep it real for you. Oftentimes we can split a family up and the employee takes the employer plan and we move the family and it can save a significant amount of money. I'm actually working with a family right now in Illinois. It's $2,000 to add his family to his plan and we're able to find him a private plan to save him half. So pretty sure every family out there would be happy about saving $12,000 a year. So that's pretty significant. Especially they've got three kids in college. Especially they've got three kids in college. So I'm sure they'll appreciate any savings.
Speaker 3:But options also vary by state. So some carriers are available in each state. So it's just a matter of going through and just looking at what options are available, what carriers are offered, and then looking. Illinois tends to be a more expensive state. But he's with a medium-sized company and often employers are trying to encourage your family to go elsewhere for their coverage to keep their rates reasonable. If they're only insuring their employees, that keeps their pool smaller and it keeps the use down. But when you start adding on families, then the usage jumps and then the rates jump. Sometimes it just makes sense to move the family.
Speaker 2:Wow. Now final question for you today, julie what's the trade-off between choosing a higher deductible versus a lower monthly premium?
Speaker 3:It used to really correlate a lot more where you'd pay a low premium, get a higher deductible, or you could pay higher premium and get a lower deductible. The Affordable Care Act has really muddied those waters and it's hard to see that big gap in a difference in that it in theory, really they're getting their money either way. You're either going to pay for it on the front end or on the back end, so you can save on your premiums now and have a higher deductible. So when something does happen, that's your out of pocket. That's going to be expected. Or, if you're more of a worrier, you're just going to probably pay a little bit higher premium on the front end and if and when something does happen, you'll have a little bit lower out of pocket on the backside. That span is a little bit smaller than it used to be. So that's where I just ask some nosy questions to find out what do you really use it for? What does that normal year look like for you? Now we're trying to get back into normal right after COVID, so like now we're getting a little bit more normal. What's that normal year look like?
Speaker 3:If you normally go a couple of visits, I don't necessarily recommend paying a high premium to lower your out of pocket.
Speaker 3:You don't go very often, but if you've got a bunch of kids in sports and the probability of somebody getting hurt is a little higher, maybe you go middle of the road, pay a little bit more to bring down that potential out of pocket.
Speaker 3:So it really is just about your lifestyle, your typical use and, of course, what could your budget handle. I don't want to put someone with a $10,000 out of pocket that makes $40,000 a year and they're expected to have a quarter of that as their potential out of pocket in that worst case scenario, even making payments, that's just going to add stress to your life that is now going to make you sick in other ways. Even if you do have a lot of money in the bank and you do well, there's still no reason to pay high premiums to lower that potential out of pocket just because you can. There's a good in between that we can comfortably find and I don't want people paying more than they have to, but ultimately you're going to pay for it up front or on the backside. We just got to figure out what's going to fit your budget best and what makes you feel comfortable so that you're not stressing over the what if?
Speaker 2:Most definitely. Wow, Julie, this was such a great conversation. Understanding what drives premium costs can really help people make informed decisions. Thank you so much for sharing your insights and we'll catch you on your next episode.
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. 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.