Grand Junction, Colorado
I retired in February of 2021 after having worked at the same company for 42 years. The company where I worked had good benefits, including better than average health insurance. I was old enough to be eligible for Medicare, but in addition to the benefits offered by Medicare, my financial advisor told me I would need to purchase a gap policy from an insurance provider that would cover potentially expensive health care items that Medicare did not pay for.
By nature, I’m not much of a shopper and I generally don’t have much patience for it. I rely more on what I would call “conventional wisdom” or a “trust network” when making purchasing decisions. I find out what other people whose opinions I trust are doing and go in that direction. So, I asked a couple of guys who had retired a year or two before me who they had dealt with and, without knowing what the other one said, they both told me they had gone to IPA and were happy with that decision. So that is what I did.
One of the retired guys who recommended IPA had told me he thought IPA was started by a lawyer and his wife. He couldn’t remember their names but told me they seemed to know their stuff. I knew enough about insurance to know “the devil is in the details” and I thought it might be good that a former lawyer owned the company, because he would be able to understand the increasingly complicated health insurance world and help protect his clients from making bad insurance decisions.
I have never had to “shop around” for health insurance since it was always provided by my employer while I was working. So visiting an insurance broker for health insurance was a first time experience for me. I literally had no idea as to what I would need and how much it would cost. But generally, you could call me a skeptic, because I don’t think health insurance should cost as much as it does for what we’re getting. And to me, words like “deductibles” and “copays” are just ways for insurance companies to have us pay more for the coverages we receive in addition to paying already high and ever-increasing monthly premiums.
In 2021, I visited IPA’s offices having no real idea what to expect. I was introduced to Barbara Hayward, IPA’s Medicare Sales and Service Broker. I’m sure Barbara could tell that I didn’t know much about Medicare, but she very patiently walked me through what it does and does not cover and why it was a good idea to purchase some type of supplemental or “gap” policy. It was determined that I would need to purchase a Plan G supplement along with a policy for prescription drugs that I was taking (Plan D).
Barbara explained that as an insurance broker, IPA is able to work with numerous different insurance companies in order to get their clients the best policies to suit their specific needs and ability to pay. They are not like State Farm agents who can only sell you insurance products offered by State Farm. The ability to shop for the best insurance deal seemed like a good idea to me. On a computer screen, Barbara showed me different companies that offered the coverages I needed and what their pricing would be to obtain those coverages. She told me what the coverages would be, the monthly premium costs for the coverages, and what my deductible would be. For the policy she recommended, she told me the deductible would not exceed something like $223 per year, which was so much lower than what I had experienced under my work insurance coverage that I could hardly believe it. And the monthly premiums for my gap insurance and drug plan weren’t as much as I thought they would be. The only question in my mind was if there were caveats in my policy that for some reason would cost down the road.
It’s now been about two years since I first met with Barbara, during which time I’ve had my share of visits to my primary care doctor and other specialists he has referred me to for various maladies. I’ve had multiple lab tests and imaging that included X-rays, CT scans and MRI’s – none of which are cheap in today’s medical world. I even had one visit to St. Mary’s ER, which included an overnight stay and emergency surgery to remove my gall bladder. Despite all, between those services covered by Medicare and those covered by the Plan G supplement Barbara sold me, it was all paid for by insurance. My only out of pocket costs are my monthly insurance premiums (which as mentioned I think are extremely reasonable) and the yearly deductible of $223 (or thereabouts – need to confirm this number with Barbara), which I gladly pay considering everything else that is covered. I suppose there are no guarantees that premiums and/or deductibles won’t go up, but things have not increased much at all since I started the plan, and my Plan D cost for prescription medications has gone down.
Considering my experience, here’s how I would characterize my experience thus far with IPA:
- 1. Since they specialize in this type of insurance, they are true experts. Barbara is extremely adept at understanding what her customer knows and doesn’t know, patiently answers questions, and explains coverages and costs so you can understand. She determines her clients’ insurance needs and does not sell you something you don’t need. And my experience has been if she quotes a price and what the deductible will be, that is what it is, and she has the experience behind her to be able to tell you these things with confidence and that it will work out the way she says it will.2. I’ve been in business and around a lot of businesses all my life. It does not take long to determine how a given business is motivated. At IPA, you can’t help but feel their philosophy is that if they take care of their customers, their customers will take care of them. They are obviously in it to develop long-term relationships with their customers, and not chasing the almighty dollar for short term gain. They truly want happy customers, and I include myself in that group. This type of philosophy comes from the top down, and I have no doubt the owners feel this way and they hire others who do too. It’s obviously the culture of the organization, from the owners to the reception folks and the agents who sell the insurance policies.3. They send out a great no-nonsense informative newsletter once or twice a year to their customer base letting us know of any changes in the world of Medicare, how it will affect us, etc. They also remind us of the yearly sign-up period and encourage us to make an appointment before the deadline to ensure we don’t miss it and have the continuing coverages needed.
4. They are always available if I have questions. Even though I’m sure that technically it is not Barbara’s job, she always tells me that if I have questions concerning any information received from the insurance company or Medicare to give her a call and she will help sort it out. I have not had to do this much, because the insurance she sold me has worked like she said it would. Still, she always says to call if I need help, and I’m sure she means it.
5. The policies they have sold me have done what they said they would do at the cost they quoted. You really can’t ask for more than that.
6. This is a tougher one. As a boomer pushing 70, a lot of businesses treat you like an old person. This comes in a lot of very subtle and nuanced forms – from the way they talk to you to the volume at which they talk to you, etc. I never feel that way at IPA and believe me it’s a breath of fresh air.
7. I referred a friend and his wife to Barbara who are both about to retire. These are bright informed folks. He is about to retire as an IT guy in the oil field industry and she is retiring from a career in business and actually works for a big health care provider. After meeting with Barbara, they took the time to call and thank me for referring them to her and told me they couldn’t be happier. That only confirmed what I already knew.
8. To sum it up, IPA is one of the best companies I’ve had the pleasure to work with, bar none. You really don’t get that kind of consumer experience in today’s world. And considering my generally dim view of insurance in general and health insurance in particular, that’s really saying something. Someday I would like to meet the owners and shake their hand.
