Finding the Best Health Broker in the San Francisco Bay Area for Your Company

You’ve invested years into your company and its success. You’ve watched it grow—possibly from just one great idea—into a business operation that not only provides an invaluable benefit to its clients and customers, but also takes incredible care of its employees. You know your employees are integral to your company’s past and future successes. You care for their wellbeing as if they were your own family members. That’s why you’re searching for the best way to ensure their healthcare needs are met. Working with an experienced health insurance broker will allow you to provide the best health insurance coverage for your staff without creating extra hassle for you. That way, you can focus on what you do best: taking care of your people and running your business.

Health Insurance Brokers versus Agents: What’s the Difference?

When searching for the best health broker in the San Francisco Bay Area to help you, pay specific attention to whether you’re working with a health insurance broker or a health insurance agent. What’s the difference between a health insurance broker and a health insurance agent?

In technical terms, an insurance agent usually represents one or more specific insurance agencies. Agents may be an employee or independent contractor of a specific agency. There are two general types of insurance agents: captive agents and independent agents. A captive insurance agent works for one insurance agency and can typically offer only products from that specific agency. An independent agent may be able to offer a larger range of products. A health insurance broker is not an employee or contractor for an insurance carrier. Brokers work for their clients, not for insurance companies. Brokers operate independently to offer a range of plans from a multitude of companies to best fit the needs of their clients. However, when it comes to health insurance brokers and agents, the industry tends to use the terms agents and broker interchangeable. Here at AEIS, we are independent agents so work with many carriers and have no affinity to one over another, but also our goal and mission is to help our clients find the best plans and rates that fit their needs for their companies.

What Will a Health Broker Do for Your Organization? 

Using a health insurance broker can save your company precious time and resources. A health broker will evaluate the insurance needs of your staff, identify the coverage best-suited to your unique needs, and put together a comprehensive package for you to offer to your team. Simplifying the process of buying health insurance provides you with peace of mind knowing that 1) your company is compliant with state employment and benefits laws, 2) your employees are properly covered and appropriately cared for, and 3) your entire team is accessing the best your benefits have to offer.

Let’s break down these key areas of service:

1. Your Broker Assesses and Addresses Your Plans to Help You Stay Compliant with Federal and State Laws.

Remaining compliant with your benefits may feel like trying to hit a moving target. Your health insurance broker knows how to anticipate and manage the safety of your business and the satisfaction of your employees through compliance.

The first hurdle in staying compliant is choosing a partner to help you proactively anticipate and actively manage regulatory issues. Working with an experienced broker reduces your risk for problems in the healthcare compliance arena. Your broker knows the ins-and-outs of the Affordable Care Act, HIPAA, COBRA, ERISA, and—importantly—state and local laws, such as San Francisco Ordinances, and the effect these laws and programs have on your benefits plan. For those reasons, it is crucial to find the best health broker in the San Francisco Bay Area, if that’s where your company is based. The end result is a location-specific, tailored compliance review and action plan designed to keep you “audit-ready”.

2. Your Broker Makes Sure Your Employees are Covered and Cared For.

Selecting the perfect health insurance for your team is a daunting task, and you have a lot to juggle. Your company’s budget and your personnel’s health needs are salient in this process. With a health insurance broker, you won’t have to go at it alone; you’ll have experts in your corner. As we touched on before, brokers will begin by explaining the practical and functional details, as well as the pros and cons of different benefits types and packages. They marry their wide range of knowledge with an understanding of your firm’s specific needs in order to offer personalized advice guiding you to make a plan selection. Making sense of healthcare terms—and all their many acronyms—goes a long way in the process of weighing your options.

A health broker will help you make sense of FSAs (flexible spending arrangements, or employer-sponsored and employer-owned benefits allowing for employee reimbursements), HSAs (health savings accounts, which provide certain tax benefits), and HRAs (health reimbursement arrangements), Fully-Insured versus Alternate Funded Plans, as well as the difference between ACA marketplace plans and off-exchange, non-ACA plans.

3. Your Broker Makes Sure Your Team is Accessing the Best Your Benefits Have to Offer.

Once you’ve worked together to select the right health insurance coverage package, you’ll certainly have all the information you need. But your health broker will make sure you understand it. Your health insurance broker brings their expertise to the table, and helps your employees understand how to select the best doctors, file and navigate insurance claims, and provide coverage for their dependents. Your broker provides support and advice throughout the entire process. Beyond just doctor’s appointments for preventative care and routine tests, your health broker will help your team identify all of your health plan’s perks and benefits so you can truly make the most of your healthcare dollars.

Did you know that many health insurance companies offer a range of benefits, including walk-in clinics, telehealth and virtual care, healthy meal and activities savings, chronic illness case managers, discounted gym and fitness club memberships, house calls, 24/7 nurse lines, and even away-from-home coverage? These are some of the undiscovered points in health insurance plans that your broker can help you understand and optimize. 

Advanced Estate & Insurance Services, Inc. (AEIS) brings more than 35 years of experience in the industry to your advantage. AEIS will walk with you through your health insurance questions and beyond for an easier, more complete benefits plan. Health insurance is complex. AEIS makes it simple for you.