Group Health Insurance Agents

A group health insurance agent is a licensed business or individual that represents one or more insurance companies in the promotion and sales of group health insurance. Most group health agents are independent contractors and compensated by the insurance companies on a commission basis. As a contracted representative of the insurance company, a group agent has the responsibility of acting as liaison between the consumer and the insurance company. However, the insurance company may not be legally bound by the actions or promises of the group health insurance agent if they acted outside of their contractual rights with that insurance company.

Types of Group Health Insurance Agents

There are two basic types of group health insurance agents: captive agents and independent agents.

Captive Agents

A captive agent is an agent that is contracted to work with a specific Insurance (or specific group) of insurance companies. This means that this agent will only be able to offer and sell group health insurance from one company. Some captive agents may even be under the employment of that insurance company and have an exclusive agreement that prohibits them from selling group health insurance from competitive insurance carriers.

Independent Agents

An independent agent is an agent that does not have an exclusive agreement with one specific insurance company. Although they may elect to only sell the group health insurance plans offered through one company, they are not contractually obligated to do so. Most independent agents will offer group health plans from more than one insurance company. Group health insurance agents that represented multiple insurance carriers are more commonly referred to as “brokers” because they assist you in comparing rates from multiple companies. Usually, independent agents have a better understanding of the pros and cons of almost all the policies available with different companies. They can provide comparison charts of the policies available with different insurers. This makes suggesting options that better suit your requirements an asset in your favor.

Benefits of Using a Group Health Insurance Agent

If you choose to not use the services of a health insurance agent or broker in finding a group health plan for your company, your only alternative is to contact the insurance companies directly. If you wish to compare plan options from multiple companies, this can be very time consuming. A group health insurance broker will be able to provide you with quotes from multiple insurance carriers within a short period of time. Using advanced quoting technologies, multiple quotes can be generated by insurance agents within a matter of minutes.

There are no additional fees or premiums associated with working with a group health insurance agent. The rates that they will quote you will be identical to the rates that you would receive directly from the insurance companies. The agent is compensated by the insurance carrier by receiving a percentage of the monthly premium as commission.

In addition to providing you with quotes from multiple insurance companies, a group health insurance agent will also provide you with all necessary enrollment applications, plan details and brochures. They provide assistance in helping you complete the applications and review them for completeness before submitting to the insurance companies. They will communicate directly with the insurance company on your behalf to assure that the enrollment process is seamless and processed in a timely manner. Before submitting your application to the insurance companies, they will make certain that you have all supporting documentation that will be required to verify that your company is eligible to enroll in a group health plan.

The assistance you will receive from a group health insurance agent does not stop once you are enrolled in a new group health plan. Your agent will continue to assist you with enrolling new employees, understanding your COBRA responsibilities, answer questions from your employees and help you consider alternative plan options during your annual open enrollment period. Many of the services that are provided by your group health insurance agent are best done at your place of business, so finding an agent in your hometown is beneficial and worth your consideration.