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Group Health Insurance
updated: Jan 09, 2013, 1:05 PM

I'm going to be switching from group health insurance with my employer to private insurance. Looking for a referral for a good insurance agent that can help me find the best options for me.

Places People Are Talking About:

Baxter Insurance

Diana Lewallen

State Street Insurance Solutions

What People Are Saying:

COMMENT 361755P	2013-01-09 01:14 PM
Stevens and Associates is an independent brokerage that has been in the area for 30 years so they know which products work well in this area. Not only are they incredibly helpful when they're signing you up, they have excellent follow up service should that be necessary down the road. http://sbhealthins.com/
COMMENT 361763P	2013-01-09 01:36 PM
Brown & Brown insurance is the best! Call Venia at 805-690-2690.
EDHATBARBARA	2013-01-09 01:41 PM
Roger Perry! rbp@perryinsuranceservice.com
EDHATBARBARA	2013-01-09 01:44 PM
http://perryinsuranceservice.com/
COMMENT 361770	2013-01-09 01:44 PM
Bob Hopper or Diana Lewallen, in Victoria Court by Soho & the Post Office. They're awesome, really good people.
COMMENT 361779P	2013-01-09 01:56 PM
Good luck, it's not easy or cheap, but should be at least somewhat easier than it used to be to get coverage. Than your lucky stars the government is finally forcing the system to cover more people. Five years ago, I went shopping. Bob Hopper tried to help me, but Blue Cross rejected my application. I don't smoke, drink, am not obese, and was under 40; I have no chronic physical or mental health problems, except pre-menstrual migraines. That was it. They denied me for a "pre-existing condition." This kind of corporate cruelty and inhumanity will not be allowed under forthcoming reform.
WESTZYDE	2013-01-09 02:07 PM
Second vote for Diana Lewallen. Very, very helpful
COMMENT 361793	2013-01-09 02:18 PM
779P - What you say is true but of course everyone will be paying more. Affordable Health Care Act is a funny name for the results it will produce.
COMMENT 361795	2013-01-09 02:35 PM
Bob Hopper is really nice, I remember he gave me a box of chocolates when I used him between providers!
COMMENT 361802	2013-01-09 02:54 PM
793's comment is supposition, not fact.
COMMENT 361804	2013-01-09 03:04 PM
793, you THINK everyone will be paying more. But actually (and particularly in CA) we will be paying less. If not sooner, then later. We pay some of the highest insurance rates in the country and they rates are virtually unregulated. Once the healthcare acts gets into practice, we will all likely be paying less. If you haven't done so yet, read up on the actual law. I'm very weary of people propagating the myth that any of us will truly be paying more or losing anything from this law. If anything, our premiums will go down and the ability for the companies that provide insurance to arbitrarily raise costs (as they do nearly every six to eight months on average in our state) will cease. Please, educate yourself on this subject!
COMMENT 361805	2013-01-09 03:06 PM
I'll 2nd EdhatBarbara - Roger Perry is awesome.
COMMENT 361813	2013-01-09 03:23 PM
Another vote for Stevens and Associates. They are very helpful and well informed.
COMMENT 361817	2013-01-09 03:32 PM
I have a Blue Cross policy I got on-line and via consultation with several insurance agents. I've had my policy for two years. I'm a single mother with a young child. We have only seen the doctor once a year each for routine visits, we have no pre-existing conditions and are both in excellent health. My premium has risen 40+% in two years! I just got a notice last week that the premium will rise 17.5%. I read on PBS just two days ago that the cost of health care in the US has been going up between 3 1/2-4% per year for the past few years (the lowest rate of increase was during the past 2 years). So why did my premiums rise 20+% per year in the same timeframe?! I wonder if they are sticking it to the individual policy owners.
COMMENT 361824	2013-01-09 03:52 PM
Yes, Anthem Blue Cross in particular is sticking it to individuals and small groups. Our state insurance commissioner Dave Jones has taken them to task for it (articles in yesterday's papers) but by law he cannot force them to lower rates. The silver lining is that Obamacare requires them to issue refunds at the end of the year if they do not spend 80% of the premiums on actual healthcare.
COMMENT 361829	2013-01-09 04:21 PM
Our insurance rates have gone up every year for about 15 years. You can blame the system, as my other family members who live out of the country, pay almost nothing. At least we are no longer paying for our preventative care-which is HUGE for women. Thank you Obama. It is mostly us women and children who suffer when a country leaves its people uninsured. Women have way more medical needs. Single payer is desperately needed here, but Americans for some odd reason, don't understand the system.
COMMENT 361839	2013-01-09 04:45 PM
804, you're kidding, right? The reason the rates are going up now is so consumers don't get sticker shock in a year. Those of us who actually pay our premiums will be short changed again. Those with low income will receive insurance subsidies from Uncle Sam. And yes, those of us who actually pay income tax will pay for those subsidies (again) via higher taxes. Like your momma used to say, there is no free lunch.
COMMENT 361845	2013-01-09 04:54 PM
839, I'm not kidding, no. I'm educated about what the laws really mean and not influenced by rhetoric or agenda. The rates have been going up steadily year after year long before the law was even conceptualized. I'm not talking about the last six months, I'm talking about the last 8-10 years. The amount of taxes that will contribute to this is probably negated by the amount of savings that will occur in terms of insurance company regulation. But if you want to break it down, it amounts to about $15 a year per person. Look into it, rather than believing sound bites...and you'll find the truth is a whole lot different than you're leading yourself to believe.
COMMENT 361846	2013-01-09 04:55 PM
Can we please just stick to the OP question asking for a referral...
COMMENT 361852	2013-01-09 05:05 PM
Call Kirkpatrick & Assoc. 805-966-7322
COMMENT 361883	2013-01-09 06:02 PM
I've made the transition from group to private before (now on group again). Roger Perry was very helpful. He was helpful in explaining the in's/out's of COBRA, HIPPA, etc. and steered me towards Blue Shield of CA which is non-profit (unlike Blue Cross of CA which is run by for-profit Anthem). Had no issues with BSCA but I had only one small claim.
COMMENT 361896	2013-01-09 06:40 PM
Diana Lewallen really helped me. If you need medical services on a regular basis, consider a buy-up plan if it's available - you pay more up front but end up saving more in the end (lower co-pays, lower ER co-pays, by-mail pharmacy). Wish you well in your search.
COMMENT 361927P	2013-01-09 08:56 PM
Thanks OP - I've often wondered who the insurance agent really protects - the client or the agent/insurance company. This is increasingly a question I confront - who does an agent/salesman really protect?
COMMENT 361959	2013-01-10 06:33 AM
Dave Peters at Peters & Milam. Great guy great office.
COMMENT 361961	2013-01-10 06:42 AM
Sandy at Stevens & Associates is the BEST of the BEST when it comes to an agent. Sandy is very knowledgeable and well versed in all the possible options when it comes to major medical and senior plans. Stevens also has a full service customer service dept that is always available to help with questions, claims or anything else that may come up. They are all wonderful and a pleasure to work with. 683-3636
COMMENT 361971	2013-01-10 07:14 AM
Diana Lewellan at State Street Insurance has been top notch. This year I've had a few unfortunate surgeries. I used Cottage who is in-network with my provider, Blue Shield, but the anesthesiologist was out of network. Diana offered to file an appeal on my behalf, took care of everything and it was paid in full. She actually ended up doing this for three different situations. It was a service that i didn't ask for, she just offered. Both she and Stephanie at her office are always pleasant, thorough and know what they are doing. Every time there is a price increase they evaluate our policy to be sure we're still with the right carrier for our needs. I couldn't be more satisfied.
OOHLALA	2013-01-10 07:44 AM
I knew Diana Llewallan as a parent ofone of my son's friends. She has worked in this field for at least 15 years, probably more! Haven't needed her services yet, but if I did I would go straight to her cos she is kind and genuine and easy to deal with! I am sure her insurance skills are as impressive as she is - in which case I know I'd be in capable hands.
FLICKA	2013-01-10 08:42 AM
I can't believe the comments against coverage for all. The emergency room at the hospitals are crowded with non-insured because they can't afford a doctor and the hospital can't turn them away. Raises hospital costs on all of us. Can't imagine how awful it is for anyone not to have insurance; often they have to forgo medical help and just suffer through.
COMMENT 362053	2013-01-10 09:25 AM
I have all my insurance with Baxter Insurance. They are a local family that you can trust.
COMMENT 362072	2013-01-10 09:51 AM
779: I got denied coverage because of migraines when I was a teenager. The private market isn't easy, and be prepared for 25%+ price hikes every year. In the three years since I've been self-insured, my rates have doubled (and I'm under 30 and healthy with no dependents). There was a good article about this in the NY Times very recently. I did it on my own (finding insurance), but perhaps a broker could help.
COMMENT 362090	2013-01-10 10:27 AM
804, Its simple math. More people will be covered under the new plan, especially people at the lower end of the economic scale. That means that the total cost of insurance (nationwide) goes up, which means that each current payer will pay more. I'm not making a point about whether it is wrong or right, simply that costs will go up.
COMMENT 362105	2013-01-10 10:40 AM
Except, you know. Shared risk and all that. It's not "simple math", it's more complex and your understanding of the issue seems woefully inadequate at best.
LUCKY 777	2013-01-10 11:07 AM
Diana Lewallen Higgins and Stephanie Ruby Reussner of State Street Insurance Solutions have been my agents for a decade, and I am very pleased with them. I have been off work for the past six months because of an injury, and for the first time I have learned to navigate the incredibly depressing world of medical insurance coverage. Without their help, and numerous phone calls on my behalf, it would have been much more difficult. Before this I considered them just clever gals who could figure out which were the best policies for my business, but now I see them as compassionate people who really go to the extra effort when mistakes are made. And they will be made. Premiums are slated to go up 22%+ this year for less coverage, and no mere mortal could possibly navigate the exclusions and limits ..... my vote is for giving a small local office your business, so that when you need their help with a claim you are talking to real people, who remember you and your situation.
COMMENT 362134	2013-01-10 11:07 AM
@361839 804 isn't kidding, 804 is informed. And any momma who thinks it's a zero-sum game among taxpayers has no understanding of economics. It has been a free lunch for the stakeholders of insurance companies and we have been paying for it.
COMMENT 362139	2013-01-10 11:21 AM
Second vote for Baxter Insurance!
COMMENT 362371	2013-01-10 08:12 PM
Just ask Lois why your rates will go up sharply... she'll have the informed answers. Hopefully, she will have read all the pages by now.