Are you ready for health insurance renewal season?

Oct. 12, 2021

This paid piece is sponsored by Central Bank.

Whether you’re a business owner offering a group insurance plan or an individual looking for your own coverage, it’s worth revisiting your options before you renew.

“This is the time of the year when you can impact your bottom line as far as your overall spend for health insurance,” said Justin Mohning, assistant vice president and agency sales manager at Central Insurance of Central Bank.

“Health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs represent a significant portion of many employer and individual budgets. An annual review of the options available to you can provide ways to maximize coverage while minimizing cost. Oftentimes, we find that businesses and individuals can implement tactics to influence their bottom line. For example, through employee education on plan utilization, we can introduce strategies that result in significant savings while improving the overall employee or individual experience.”

We sat down with Mohning for some expert advice this renewal season.

You expanded your services to Sioux Falls last year. What has your experience been like so far?

Expansion into the Sioux Falls market has gone well. It’s been busy, and busy is good. We have had a lot of productive conversations and continue to recognize new opportunities to help our clients each and every day.

For people still discovering Central Insurance, what do you offer?

Central Insurance is an independent agency offering a variety of insurance plans. We focus on the key areas of business, personal, individual health and life insurance, farm and agriculture insurance, as well as employee benefits.

What differentiates Central Insurance?

We look at insurance a little differently. Through direct collaboration, we help you recognize what you are trying to protect and build an approach to managing that exposure. It’s a tailored approach – what is it that you need, specifically, and how can we help you find solutions to protect what matters most to you.

We do that within all lines of coverage usually during the fourth quarter of the year with our employer groups and their employee benefits offerings. All consumers of health insurance utilize coverage in different ways. We help shed light on the areas that are being utilized and provide solutions to meet your business and employee needs.

Is this also a fit for business owners? Solopreneurs?

Regardless if you’re a business owner with multiple employees or someone who is self-employed or working on your own coverage, options do exist for you. Looking into the specific makeup and design of your business as well as your own individual needs will help guide us towards a variety of coverage options.

Once an individual’s specific situation is known, we provide additional resources and a variety of options aimed at meeting their specific needs. Options allow for relief, and relief can come in a variety of forms, including lower premiums, increased network access or specific health care needs.

On the individual side, what options do you offer?

We offer individual health insurance plans for those under the age of 65 as well as Medicare solutions for those over age 65 or otherwise Medicare eligible. Regardless of age, most plan options depend upon where a person calls home. Different options can exist based on the county and ZIP code that you live in.

For those under 65, many of the plans run through the Affordable Care Act and the health care marketplace. Additional health plan options outside of the ACA are available as well, including short-term medical plans and alternative health plans — typically not true insurance. When considering these plans, you must consider what is available in your area and how the network access works so you have a clear understanding of where you can go for care. That is where we typically start, and within that, there are a variety of options that may exist.

As individuals and businesses prepare for renewal, what if anything has changed this year?

Be aware of time frames for when open enrollment can occur – both from your employer or as an individual. Annual open enrollment is a time period when you’ll learn about your coverage options for the upcoming year. For individuals, it starts in November and goes through Jan. 15, 2022. Each employer is going to have their own open enrollment periods not necessarily in line with the individual annual open enrollment period. Employer open enrollment periods are typically based on their plan renewal date.

If someone wants to connect with Central Insurance, what are the next steps?

You can reach out to me by email at [email protected] or call me at 605-782-0720 to begin the conversation.

Not a deposit. Not FDIC insured. Not insured by any federal government agency. Not guaranteed by the bank. May go down in value.

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Are you ready for health insurance renewal season?

Whether you’re a business owner offering a group insurance plan or an individual looking for your own coverage, it’s worth revisiting your options before you renew.

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