Questions a Health Insurance Broker Will Ask During Your First Meeting

February 14, 2023

Help Your Health Insurance Broker Help Your Company by Giving Them the Information They Need

Your health insurance broker will ask you questions during your first meeting, and you can easily be prepared.

So you have decided – wisely – to work with a health insurance broker as you look for a group health insurance plan for your company’s employees. There are likely many reasons you made the call. You don’t have the time to search for and compare multiple plans; you may not understand the process or how group coverage works; you may not know what kind of plan is best for your needs and budget.

Your broker is there to answer all your questions and provide the information and guidance you need to make an informed decision about health care coverage for your workforce. But before they can do so, your broker will have plenty of questions for you. They need to understand your business and its needs and goals to give you the best advice and recommendations and ensure that they present you with the optimal coverage options.

When you first meet with your broker, you’ll want to be ready with the answers they need to get to work.

Here are four questions you can expect your health insurance broker will ask at your first meeting:

What type of business do you operate, and how many employees does your company have?

There is no one-size-fits-all option for group health insurance. The needs and budget of a large company with hundreds of employees in multiple states will differ significantly from those of a small, local business with a handful of people on the payroll. Similarly, a plan that may be best suited for a law firm may not work as well for a manufacturing company. Your health insurance broker will ask about the size and nature of your workforce as a first step in evaluating your company’s needs.

What is your budget for health insurance premiums and employee contributions?

Enrolling in a group health insurance plan is a substantial investment and commitment for any business. As with any significant business expense, determining a budget will determine the scope of options you have. If you don’t know how much group coverage costs and what is reasonable for your needs, your broker can advise you of what similarly situated companies pay for coverage and a range of options from the least expensive to the most.

Since you will ask your employees to contribute to the cost of their coverage, it is no small expense for them as well. As such, you’ll also want to figure out how much you expect your employees to pay as contributions to the overall premium your company must pay. These figures will help you determine which plans are within your budget and which you can eliminate from the competition.

What type of coverage are you looking for?

Under the Affordable Care Act, all group health insurance plans must provide specific baseline coverage and benefits. But beyond those basic requirements, plans may have significant differences. These can include not only their scope of coverage but also the choice of doctors, amount of deductibles, coverage limits, and how much enrollees will pay in coinsurance, copays, or prescription drugs. Expect that your health insurance broker will ask this question.

For example, you may need to decide if an HMO with limited physician choice is acceptable to your employees or whether they need a PPO to access a more extensive network of doctors. Whether an HMO, PPO, EPO, or another type of plan, your broker can explain the benefits and downsides of each option.

Do your employees have any specific health concerns, major medical conditions, or chronic illnesses?

Having good health insurance is always important. But coverage can become a matter of life and death in the event of a serious injury or chronic illness that requires extensive – and expensive – medical care. Such care costs fall on the insurer – that is the whole point of health insurance.