August 10, 2011


Our guest asks:

I enrolled on ehealth and have some questions about my policy. You guys are easier to reach by phone and email.

OnlineAdviser responds:

This is a common situation lately. Ehealth is the nation's largest health online enroller but does not provide OnlineAdviser enrollment support (before or after enrollment) and is not affiliated with Freedom Benefits. Ehealth is easy site to find and use for enrollment but we hear that it is not so easy to get personal professional service. Ehealth agents are geared only for sales, not an ongoing personal relationship that you might enjoy with a local insurance agent. When you have a question or complaint, an enrollment Web site is not likely to provide the help you want.

Unfortunately, the rules for changing support are not in your favor. Once you select a policy on an Ehealth Web site or insurance exchange, you are stuck with that agent for the life of the policy. Neither the insurance companies nor the health insurance exchange will allow you to change agents on an issued policy. The only way to get better service is to replace the policy with another policy. You can change to a different insurance company or you might wish to apply again to the same insurance company.

There are two important cautionary issues to consider when changing insurance policies. First, do not cancel your current coverage until the replacement policy is in force. Second, pay attention to the details contained in any replacement notification that may be provided by the new insurer. Assuming that you've changed insurance companies before to get your Ehealth policy, you may recall the policy replacement process. Your new agent can advise you of any risks or differences in changing coverage. Hopefully you will wind up with a better-suited policy and possibly even a better value after taking more time to address your new issues.

In the meanwhile you may get better results trying to reach the insurer's member services office directly rather than try to get help from an Ehealth agent.

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