Berkeley Parents Network: Health Insurance Broker

Berkeley Parents Network

Health Insurance Broker

Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > Insurance > Health Insurance Broker

Considering becoming a self-insured consultant, need advice
Self-employed, need help finding health care
Need help reducing our monthly health insurance bill
My group plan is ending, need an individual plan
Need someone to help me compare plans
We are self-employed and want to shop around for health insurance
More recommendations for brokers: see Private-Pay Health Insurance and Health Insurance for Self-Employed People
Related page: Insurance Brokers

Considering becoming a self-insured consultant, need advice

Oct 2006

I am thinking about moving to consulting from a full time job with benefits- but currently I am providing the benefits for my husband and 2 kids. Looking for recent experience with private health insurance, and/or Kaiser facilities convenient to the Berkeley area. Any recommendations on where to go for help choosing between plans? Any experience on what seems to be the fashion of lower premium, higher co-pay or out of pocket expenses? Looking to make a change.....

I would suggest that you speak to Jean Sturges, 510-845-6688. She is a health insurance broker. It does not cost anything to use a broker. They get paid by the insurance carrier. I know many people she has helped Julie P

I definately recommend going through a broker. Your premium will be the same and they can help you sort through what the best plan for you will be and how to go through the application process. They will also be your advocate should any questions arise. I think Bett Martinez is very good. She can be reached at well-being at pacbell.net or at 510-526-0312 Ilana T

In regards to the recommendation for Jean Sturges as a health insurance broker: I too found a recommendation to her on BPN when I was searching for new insurance for my family, I am a new stay at home mom. I found her to be less than helpful. She told me that she could not meet anytime in the near future because she was busy with her family from out of town. This is understandable of course but the way she communicated it was snippy and made me feel that my concerns about securing a health plan were not valid. I was eager to take care of my insurance policy and when I told her this she scolded me for not returning her phone call earlier!! I had a newborn at home and my delay in not returning her call was not more than two days. Needless to say, I choose another person to adovocate for my family and have been very happy. His name is Tom Fleming anon

I highly recommend my health insurance broker, Pat Meyer. She has helped me set up insurance plans for a small business, as well as helped me get the best personal health insurance plan after leaving a company. She is knowledgeable, helpful, persistent, and has a great sense of humor (which can be very helpful when trying to work with insurance companies!). There's one catch -- she relocated from Emeryville to the Napa area a few years ago, so if you're looking to deal with someone in person, she's probably not for you. But she's very responsive to phone calls and emails. You can reach her at 707.928.5200, or at patmeyer at mchsi.com Jessica C

Self-employed, need help finding health care

August 2006

I've checked the archives and don't see any recent listings for insurance agents who can help us with our healthcare woes. We are self-employed and have either gone without or just used Kaiser for the last several years. I'd like to change from Kaiser but don't know where to begin! We really need someone who can sit down and explain our options to us before we choose a plan.

In response to your request for someone to help you understand and buy health insurance, I would like to recommend Dan Peven. My wife and I, also both self-employed, just moved to Berkeley from New York last May and Dan was very helpful getting us our new policy. While Dan IS and insurance agent (yikes!) he's also rather human and had the desire and patience to explain everything to us...often more than once. (The options here are quite different than NY.) His contact info is: Dan Peven, The Pension & Benefits Co., Inc. 610 16th Street, Suite 504 Oakland, CA 94612 510 268-3586 Fax: 510 268-3587 dan at benefitarts.com
Matthew K

i think maria poroy at access benenfits group is just fantastic. i am self-employed as well and she explains everything. there is alot of personal attention and attention to detail- i have referred many people to her company and all of them have been very happy- 415 986 7726 www.accessbenefitsgroup.com
helaines

Jean Sturges Health Insurance Services 510-845-6688. She has helped several people I know navigate through the health care insurance maze. She can work with individuals and small businesses. She usually ends up saving them money while making the process painless Julie P

I can recommend Diane Sickman, who lives in Oakland Hills and whose office is in San Rafael. Diane Sickman, Allstate, 532 4th St., San Rafael, CA 94901 Phone number: 415-453-4300. She is helping a few of my entrepreneur women friends with health insurance as well as other insurance matters, and they are very happy with her assistance. Diane is a former teacher so she has the skill to explain things clearly, is very smart, has staff so never a voice mail maze and she is very kind. I feel confident you will like her. Please tell her I suggested you call her. Louise G

Here's a free resource (step-by-step) that will help you understand and finding affordable, low cost and even free health insurance. http://www.healthinsurance-help.com/affordable-health-insurance.html The Web site has sections for people who are unemployed or recently laid off, self-employed, and pregnant women who can't find insurance. There's also a Free Health Insurance Quotes section that provides you access to health insurance agents or get insurance quotes online. Hope this helps. Ann

Need help reducing our monthly health insurance bill

June 2006

My husband and I are paying $1000+ for health insurance for our family (2kids), and we would like to switch to a different plan where we pay less per month, but have a higher deductibe, and maybe even pay more of a co-pay. I'm just really skeptical of a lot of plans, and want to make sure that my family is covered with all expenses (less the deductible) should there be an illness or an emergency (hospitalization, surgery, etc...) I'm so confused about the different plans, quotes, etc..., that I thought maybe I can get some recommendations from this group. We currently have Blue Cross HMO without Dental, and belong to the Brown & Toland Medical Group (we live in S.F.) Any recommendation for health ins. plans and/or Independent insurance brokers would be greatly appreciated. I checked out the website but the latest recomm. is from 2003. Thank you! Health Insurance illiterate!

We are working with a broker now to fix the same type of problem (outrageous fees/high deductable). So far, we like her and she has done a lot of research for us to best suit our needs. We're looking at a new type of plan that has a low monthly pmt (well, I not EXACTLY low, but lower than we are paying now) and no deductable. You just pay a % of fees rather than a co-pay (except for regular office visits, which would be a small co- pay). It sounds good so far. Since we're still in the process, I can't tell you yet if it is great and how she is completely, but you can always give her a call and see what you think. Her info is: Christine Anderson Anderson & Company Insurance Services 985 Rolling Woods Way Concord, CA 94521-5420
Good Luck!

I just posted above for another insurance question, but in case you don't get to that one...here is our situation...we pay $350/month for a family of 4 (34, 36, 3, 1) with BCBS PPO 2500. They cover maternity (max $2500 out of pocket), and 70% of well visits including vaccinations, etc. We had no pre-existing conditions, etc, so I feel this is reasonable, but Kaiser is less expensive. Check out the website for BCBS, we went through a broker named Brian Fitzgerald and are in the process of moving now and I'm unable to find his number. I think he is with Spectrum in Concord or somewhere else east of the tunnel. Good luck Jodi

When I lost my health insurance last year after reducing my hours at work, I joined an organization. I am licensced Professional Engineer and hence joined their org. Through them, we have health insurance (Health Net HMO). The broker is RL Wells and Associates (800-568-4500). They are based in the central valley and are great. My daughter's health insurance is not through the org (Blue Shield PPO). They have also helped us get life insurance karenm

My group plan is ending, need an individual plan

Dec 2005

Can anyone recommend a good health insurance broker? I am looking for an individual plan for myself and my daughter since I was recently informed that my group plan ends as of January 31. I'm looking for someone who can tell me what my options are and guide me through the application process (a step beyond ehealthinsurance.com, etc). Thanks! AS

Keith Vaisnor of KEV Insurance gets rave reviews about his ability to provide health insurance to almost anyone! (925)299- 8726. He has a terrific website as well, KEV-insurance.com. Very personable, has small children himself. Julie G

Need someone to help me compare plans

March 2005

I need to get individual health insurance, and I'm not having much luck sorting things out online. I understand that working with an agent might help me find a better deal. I've heard that Blue Shield has the best rates for individuals, but I'd also be interested in working with someone who represents multiple companies in order to compare plans. Caroline

If you need health insurance, you couldn't do any better than Daun Pullem. She's self-employed herself, so she can understand all manner of needs. You can reach her at 559-994-6101. (Don't be put off by the distant area code - she can come up here anytime.) Honest, ethical, and hardworking . . . plus an awesome sense of humour! Kathleen

We recently worked with Carol Nickovich (http://www.nickovich.com) to set up health insurance for our small (3 people) business, but I know she handles individual plans, too. She was great - very good at laying out the options and liaising with Blue Shield during our application process to make sure all the i's were dotted, as it were. She works with several major providers (Aetna, Blue Shield, HealthNet, etc.) JP

I can highly recommend Edith Price. She is very customer service oriented and has a vast knowledge of insurance. I got my individual health plan through her as did a number of friends of mine. She also takes care of the insurance for my brother's business. All have reported back with positive feedback. Edith Price ejprice at msn.com 925-930-9449 Regards, sandy

Happy to recommmend independent insurance broker Bett Martinez. She's very informed --- been doing this for many years. You can contact her at well-being at pacbell.net. Susan F

We are self-employed and want to shop around for health insurance

Jan 2005

My husband & I are self-employed and want to shop around for good health insurance through an insurance broker - can anyone recommend a good one? diane

We just used broker Carol Nickovich to set up group insurance for our 3-person company and I would highly recommend her. She handles individual plans as well. She was patient, thorough and good at explaining things and suggesting options. She's based in San Ramon, but had no problem meeting with us in/near our Oakland office. www.nickovich.com for more info. JP

Instead of buying an expensive health insurance policy, have you considered a Health Savings Account? If you and your husband are self-employed, you probably qualify for one. A Health Savings Account is like a ''health care IRA'' in that all deposits are pre-tax or tax deferred dollars. You can pay for all qualified medical expenses from your HSA. including chiropractic care, massage therapy, nutritional supplements, and even yoga classes. Check out www.naturalhealthhsa.com for great information about what HSA's are and how they work, or call Carole Rogers after you've looked at the website. I wish I qualified! Lynn F., RN

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