Confused by Health Insurance? 316 Can Be Your Guide

I'm Jason Garraway, owner of 316 Health Insurance. You know, 316 Health Insurance exists to provide a better client experience. A lot of our clients have turned to us over the years when they're just confused with how the system works. They feel like the entire industry is stacked against them, and they just don't know where to turn to get good, solid help.

Because let's be honest, in this industry, where does somebody find good advice? A lot of times, if I call my doctor's office, my doctor tells me to purchase the type of insurance that pays them the most. Because if you know anything about health insurance at all, you know that different insurances will pay doctors in different ways. And so lots of times, the receptionist at the doctor's office will tell you to purchase the plan that pays them the most.

So if I call insurance companies, I've got to realize they don't actually work for me. And while they'll give me advice, it may not be in my best interest. And I can try to call most agents or agencies, but if you know anything about this industry, you recognize it's very, very commission-driven. And most agents are either captive agents, which means they only sell for one company, which is kind of like me trying to buy a new truck if I walk into a Ford dealership.

That salesman's going to have a solution for me, but it's always going to have the word Ford attached to it. And that may be the right purchase for me. It may not be. But I know the advice that I received from that sales associate wasn't driven by what's best for my situation.

Or in the insurance world, we have brokers. And in all transparency, we're a brokerage here. But most brokers will only talk about the policies or products that make them the most money. So where in the world does the common person, the average American, find good advice for health insurance?

I looked around my industry and I thought, what's it look like if we were to create an entity that, first of all, educated and empowered her clients to make intelligent, informed decisions about their health care? And then we built a system that walked with them through the journey. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's exactly what 316 Health Insurance is. Again, our small business clients turn to us when they're trying to figure out how to offer a sustainable benefit for their employees that doesn't break the bank, but still offers quality coverage to be able to recruit and keep quality employees.

Folks turning 65 and going on to Medicare turn to us when they get this stack of confusion in the mail and they just don't know what to do or what decision to make. And while most folks, as they turn 65 and get on to Medicare, make their choices based on fear, we actually walk alongside of our clients and help inform them to make good quality decisions. Whether it makes us a commission dollar or not, at 316 Health Insurance, we will always do what's best for the client. As we train our staff and our advisors, we teach them from the very beginning that our clients always have to win.

So from the very first phone call to our agency where you speak with our client care coordinator, whose job it is to provide trust and transparency from the very beginning, as you sit down with our advisors and they understand your situation and seek to truly solve your problem, to our operations team who does the best to make sure that they fulfill every promise and provide such a great client experience, every single person that works here has the common denominator of serving those around us. So in 2018, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Now personally, I've been in the health insurance business for over 20 years and I've always recognized in this business that we carry a responsibility, a fiduciary responsibility to walk alongside of people on days that they get bad news. But in 2018, when my dad was diagnosed with cancer, all of a sudden I sat on the other side of the table and I got to experience what it was like to walk alongside of one of my very closest friends, my own dad, and walk with him through the journey of trying to access care through that system.

And I realized as we walked through that journey together how important it is that the health insurance piece be the right piece because in the right moment, it alleviates tension and stress and chaos and confusion. And if we can come alongside and take that burden away from our clients, we feel like we've done a very, very good thing. For those that don't know, I was born and raised in upstate New York. Matter of fact, I'm a bonafide Italian New Yorker.

And my mother, who's the Italian of my Italian New Yorker, I remember sitting with her and my father in the oncologist office down in Oklahoma City as my mom and dad were slowly trying to figure out what treatment options were available for them. And my mom, who's sitting in this meeting literally just inches away from this Midwestern oncologist, who can talk with her hands, her mouth, and her feet all at the same time, is taking up all the air in this room talking to this oncologist about what about this thing here and that treatment there. And I read on the internet here, this poor Midwestern doctor's looking at my mother with this exasperated look thinking, lady, just take a breath. And my father and I are sitting maybe 10, 12 feet away on a leather couch.

My dad leans over to me and says, son, there's not a single class that guy took in medical school to get him ready for your mother today because she is on fire. And that was exactly right. But the very next thing my dad said to me has stuck with me. He said, son, I don't really care how we treat for this cancer because I recognize I've got a 2% shot of making it two years or more.

So really, we're going to treat. I know that I need access to care, but I don't care how we do it. But here's what I know. And he pointed to my mother sitting at that chair next to that oncologist and said these words.

I know that that little woman over there, talking about my mother, is going to make every decision. We're going to treat where she wants to treat. We're going to go where she wants to go. We're going to do it exactly how she wants to do it because she's going to need some sense of control as we walk through this journey together.

Well, if you ever come visit us at our office, you'll see a sign that simply says this. We are part of people's experience on the day they get the worst news of their lives. Because that's a statement I wrote down personally, and I keep it on the right-hand drawer of my desk. And it is the foundation upon which we have built 316 Health Insurance.

By coming along with care, compassion, transparency, honesty, integrity, and a skill set that walks with people on the day they get the worst news of their life, we have been able to provide a client experience that is empowered, where folks can get the access to care that they need, and they can trust in the strategy that they've implemented for their health insurance. Ultimately, our entire business is built on trust, and we will do what it takes to welcome you, to listen to you, to not sell to you, but rather empower you to self-discover to make the right choices for you, your family, or your business right here at 316 Health Insurance. 316HealthInsurance.com