As a health insurance agent, I call many potential clients and hear the same thing! They tell me that they’ve already spoken to an insurance agent, know how much health insurance will cost them, and tell me that they are very sorry, but they just cannot afford the bill! When I ask them how much the agent quoted them, I find that they were given price estimates two or three times more than my initial offer.
Why does that happen? Well, I can think of lots of reasons why agents would be tempted to sell the most expensive plans possible, but I also know that agents would rather make a smaller sale than no sale at all! I think the price quotes have more to do with a client’s expectations than agent’s greed.
Many clients are starting their own business after years in a corporate environment, and they were used to a group plan that covered almost any medical service with very small copays. Many clients are just not aware how much their old company contributed to a comprehensive plan like that, and when they quote invididual health insurance they get sticker shock!
The thing is, individual health insurance quote is usually cheaper than a group...