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Time to talk about PEBB, SEBB, Health Insurance, and Medicare

  At The Suzie at Wenatchee Insurance Agency , we can explain and assist in enrolling in Health and Medicare Insurance Plans. We are trained by the companies, have annual certificates for Medicare and the Healthplanfinder and hold licenses in Washington state. Annual Enrollment Periods are limited: Enrollment Periods Medicare is from October 1 through the 14 we can talk about the changes for the following year.   From October 15 th through December 7 th , we can enroll and make changes to Medicare plans. Note we do not work for company retirement plans such as PEBB or SEBB. We can assist with Medicare Plan D Prescription plans, Dental or alternatives. Healthcare enrollment is from November 1 st through December 15 th for plans starting January 1 st 2023. Since we have a state-run exchange, they can extend it like this year we have a bonus enrollment period from December 16 th through January 15 th for plans starting on February 1 st , 2023. We are not employees o...

The Big Covid Post for Central Washington

  We have been following the Centers for Disease Control since last year at the Enrollment Center. We had some serious conversations about Covid because we did not hear the conversations occurring. At the end of July they passed a major change that folks might have missed. We do live under a media bubble when it comes to healthcare.   We have talked about a year for safe behavior .  To maximize protection from the Delta variant and prevent possibly spreading it to others, wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission. Deltas spread is twice as great as the original strain . By the reactions in my office this week most people did not get the memo. Delta has been a Snoop Dogg levels for some time. COVID-19 variants were expected . All RNA viruses mutate over time. Every time they infect a new host, they have a chance to change, and these changes are called variants.  So let’s break down some of the myths . Canadian Medical ...

Mandates and Vaccination are as American As Apple Pie

  We enroll people into health insurance . Over the last year plus, we have also had to battle with COVID restrictions. We were one of the fortunate small businesses in that we could help people remotely and we had most of the internal protocols ready because of a Tuberculosis exposure a few months earlier. There are 11 enrollment centers located through the state, we just happen to be in Wenatchee. It wasn't until May, that we noticed something. A local Health district published the vaccination rate by zip code. When we started looking at the vaccine hesitancy they have an commonality. It is not a real surprise because both are created in a similar fashion for people to operate in a destructive, toxic fashion. We have fought that disinformation wall for nine years. We know that there are a ton of our neighbors sitting in the center that will leave it for friends and family to pick up after they followed bad information. When you are in the country then you will probably recognize...

Cheap Health Insurance, Washington Healthplanfinder and Enrollment Centers

The Washington Healthplanfinder started the Full Service Enrollment Centers about six years ago. Some are run by small businesses (brokers) and some are run by corporations (navigators). When the Healthplanfinder put out the request, we seemed to be a good fit. There are some rules to operate an Enrollment Center.  1. Easy access to the public and open year round. 2. Enhanced Security and Insurance. 3. Experienced In person assisters.  4. Offer all plans regardless of pay.  5. No additional fees.  From our experience of working with insurance for nearly a decade. Always select a broker. If not us then someone connected to a Enrollment Center. You are already paying for them ($0 Dollars) and if you need assistance or have questions then you have a prepared customer service team. It is an easy way to support a small business and help build a community resource.  Special Interview with Coordinated Care CEO There are enhanced features such as ability to assist with ...

Why would a Health Insurance video be banned from Facebook?

  Hey, it’s The Suzie @ Wenatchee Insurance,  working with the Washington Healthplanfinder. We have had an office on Wenatchee Avenue for over six years now. We assist people navigate, understand, and enroll in Health, Life, Medicare Insurance to name a few. There is eleven enrollment centers spread throughout the state to assist folks. We help everyone that walks through our door or gives us a call. It is however getting tougher to reach folks. Here is the banned video on Facebook. Vivian was a friend of a friend that needed assistance and we were able to help out. Community is really about people helping people without judgement.  Unfortunately, we live in a politically charged world so getting the information out to the people that need it is not always easy. Every year, it gets tougher to spread the word about help being available. This year, we had to register for the first time as a Health Insurer to be able to do outreach on Google. That’s correct, we have to re...

Looking for Cheap Health Insurance first look at Rates for 2022

Hey, dialing in from the Wenatchee Enrollment Center . Thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act, healthcare has gotten cheaper for 2022. If nothing is done then it will skyrocket in 2023 for some of the people. That is for a different blog.  Here is the teaser of what we are looking at in Central Washington: Again, we are the most or second most expensive zone in the state for the health insurance plans. Healthcare is a team event with a dance between Providers and Insurance companies. When you have large areas to cover with only a few providers, providers can drive up the price. If you are concerned with the trend in Central Washington then our largest providers can be reached at: Confluence Health   Columbia Valley Community Health   A simple comment of could help:  Insurance Companies have left our area and have had to raise rates. We have some of the highest rates in the state for health insurance. The Health Insurance companies are required by law to pay back fun...

No Cost and Low Cost Children's Health Insurance

Hi, Suzie Health Solutions has been helping Central Washington eight years. We are the full service enrollment center located in Wenatchee . We are a family run small business. This means people can walk in, get help on there account and not be charged a fee. We recommend always selecting a no charge broker to provide additional assistance if things go sideways as well as getting access to their expert assistance.  While we insure a lot of people with the Healthplanfinder and on Medicare . Today we are going to talk about Apple Health or Medicaid. The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or Apple Health (Medicaid) provides insurance for kids under 19 if your modified adjusted gross incomes meets the requirements. The requirements are adjusted every April. Please contact us if you are interested in enrolling for healthcare for your child.  Is my child eligible? Kids with single parents kids with two parents kids living on their own kids living with grandparents, famil...

HR 5 Equality Act, BLM and discrimination in business.

Why would a small business fly a Pride Flag? Do you feel it is important to treat all people like people? As a business owner this comes up more than I expected over the last decade. So when one of my friends that runs a barber shop asked about HR 5: Equality Act , I had to have a deeper discussion. Representative John Lewis spoke about the importance of the Equality Act passing.  As a small business, we decided a long time ago to promote and support equality.  It's our job to insure , not to judge. It's an very old school mentality that was reinforced by my first District Manager. If someone walks through my door as long as they are not abusive, disruptive or spreading illness then they are welcome. Our office literally assists just about everyone because we do business and are open to the public. We have no problem flying a pride flag, or a Black Lives Matters poster or a Latinx banner. We are part of a larger community. Discrimination is an issue and it is ...

The gig economy and life insurance

It takes minutes Temporary work, contract jobs, seasonal jobs, freelance, piece work, driving for Uber, selling on Etsy, etc. The gig economy has been around for ever. Whether it is picking apples for the season, working the slopes at mission ridge, to being a contractor at a server farm it is easy to fall into a gig career path. About a third of the American workforce has found themselves bouncing from short term job to short term job. While the pay can be good temporary, what about the long term? A policy for everyone When was the last time that you met someone that retired after working from the same job for 40 years? On average, you will change jobs times 12 times in your lifetime. What happens if the next company doesn't offer a plan? We have seen companies terminate life insurance policies for retirees. Do really want to leave your family high and dry for a short term job? What happens when you die? Your bills don't go away . A majority of adults say a fu...

Healthplan Finder and Brokers

Brokers have always been an important part of the Washington Healthplan Finder . We have education requirements from the state for our license. We receive regular training from the Exchange on how it functions. We receive training from Insurance Companies on how plans functions. It was no surprise that one of the first customer satisfaction survey's rated brokers extremely helpful to 80%  from people enrolling in qualified health plans. Suzie Health Solutions is a no cost broker. The Washington State Auditor's office published it's Performance Audit in 2016 confirming the importance of selecting brokers. Right off the bat on page four, they mention shifting calls to brokers as being a possibility to reduce cost.  Brokers reduce cost by how they are paid. Brokers are paid by commission or charging fees receiving no payment for Medicaid. The exchange on the other hand pays for Navigators and the Call Center which drives up costs (page 28). Certain States improved th...

Travel Medical Insurance

We are exchange happy around here. They give the broadest selection for our clients without having to visit multiple agents/sites. Yes, we work with the Washington Healthplan Finder answering questions, helping people select plans (Just select a broker under Suzie Health Solutions ). We also have a life insurance exchange . We just added Travel Health Insurance . If you are not in our office then read up on the policies before you select them. There are some things to look for when selecting a policy.   Are you going on vacation and doing something adventurous? There is literally a section to read up on for Adventure and Sports Travel insurance. Some policies have exclusions for climbing, jumping, Thai Boxing , diving, etc. Look to make sure that what you are planning to do is not excluded. If you have seen it on a James Bond movie then probably some insurance company has excluded that behavior somewhere. Are you going with a group of 10 or more ?   For lar...