How We Work
A representative of John F. Sipp and Associates, meets with Jeremiah Owen of Chapel Hill about options for getting health insurance as a self-employed individual. Click here to view Herald-Sun article.
Let’s get a few things out of the way before we go any further:
- It doesn’t cost you anything to work through us.
- We don’t sell you health insurance. We help you buy a NC health insurance solution that fulfills your needs.
- We are independent health insurance agents licensed in North Carolina to sell insurance products from over 40 different companies. We’re not beholden to any company or product, our clients come first.
OK, now that’s cleared up, let’s move on.
Finding you the best North Carolina health insurance plan available.
Our approach is all about making things as simple for you as possible, so that you can make the best decision for your situation. To accomplish this, we typically follow a 3-step process:
What’s unique about our approach, however, is that we don’t just go an extra yard for you, we go an extra mile and then some. This reflects an unshakeable rule in our philosophy – our clients come first. Always. No exceptions.
“As a nonprofit director, it can seem overwhelming to review health insurance options and find the most affordable and high quality options for a small staff. We relied on the great staff at John F Sipp & Associates to navigate this system for us; in the process we saved money that we could use for our programs.”
It doesn’t matter where you are, either, we can help – whether you’re in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Burlington, Hillsborough, RTP, Pittsboro, Siler City … or anywhere in North Carolina for that matter.
If you’re interested in how we practice our philosophy, take a look at a few practical examples on our Case Studies page. And if you’d like to learn more about who we are, click here for an introduction to our company and our licensed professionals.
We haven’t been in business for as long as we have without doing something right. We believe we’ve nailed at least two of them – product and service. We offer you the widest and most comprehensive set of North Carolina health insurance plan options available. And we back it up with qualified expertise and unmatched service.
Now let’s look at some of those products …
Step 1: Listen and Learn
The first thing we do is listen. We let you do most of the talking. We’ve realized that we can’t learn anything while we’re talking. So you go first, and we get as much information as we can by prompting you to tell us more:
If you’re an individual:
Tell us about your situation … How is your health … What’s your medical history … What’s your dependent situation … How is their health … What can you afford … Where do you work … How much do you understand about health insurance … If you’re unemployed, have you looked into getting on your spouse’s plan …If you’re a business:
Tell us about your situation … How many employees do you/will you have … What are the demographics and health profiles of your employees … What kind of work do they do … What’s your current health plan … What does it cost you … What problems do you have administering your current plan … What problems do your employees have with the plan … What can you afford … How much do you understand about health insurance …
“My clients and I appreciate the integrity, knowledge and professionalism of the entire staff at John F. Sipp & Associates, especially, when quick and affordable solutions to health insurance needs arise.”
Step 2: Research and Educate
The bottom line is that we’ll spend a lot of time with you. We find that at least half of our job is education. And so in that sense we really see ourselves as counselors. And remember, you’re always going to be dealing with a licensed agent, so you’ll be getting qualified research and professional advice.
So once we understand your situation and your needs, we’ll look at the options.
We’ll explore whether it’s better for you or your company to go with a group or an individual plan … We’ll look at the benefits and premiums of various plans … We’ll tell you what’s covered, and what’s excluded (you won’t get this from everyone) … We’ll look at the tax implications … We’ll look at all the legal implications – we know the law inside and out, and – perhaps just as importantly – we know how it’s applied … We’ll look at combinations of plans – group plan for you and your wife, individual plans for your dependents, for example … If your situation’s going to change over time, we’ll look at various options that meet your needs as your circumstances change …
In short, we’ll turn over every stone and draw on the full extent of over 60 years of combined experience to find the best deal for you. We’ll explain all your options to you, and if you don’t understand them … we’ll explain them again.
To get a sense of how we practice our philosophy, click here for a few of our case studies.
Step 3: Options, Selection, and Follow-up
“I have known and worked with John F. Sipp & Associates for more than 20 years. They continue to help me and my clients solve insurance problems.”
And then you make the decision. We won’t pressure you, or force you in one direction or another. It’s your decision to make.
With most insurance agents, that’s where the helping hand ends (if you’re lucky enough to get half of this level of service in the first place). With us, however, this is only the beginning. Our service goes way beyond simply helping you buy a policy.
For example, if you have a question or a problem, call us – we’ll call the carrier, not you. We have direct lines into the right person, so you won’t have to deal with an 800 number, spend ages waiting to speak to a live person, get shunted from one office to the next, and still not get your question answered. We do it for you.
If you’re a business, and you’re hiring someone new, we’ll come over and enroll them. Then we’ll give them our card – if they have billing or claim problems, they call us, not you. We take care of them. That way you can concentrate on running your business, and the privacy of your employees is preserved. If you have questions or issues related to your plan, give us a call, and we’ll explain it to you. If it requires follow-up with the carrier … you guessed it, leave that to us.
