Posted by: Jonathan Tate, Vice-President of Sales

The last time you were at a hospital, did you notice the ceilings?  Fortunately, most times I have been at the hospital I have been visiting a friend or walking to get a test done.  I see the walls, the doors, the decorations, and the staff.  But I recently was there for a minor knee surgery and saw the hospital from a perspective that’s new to me.

I was flat on my back on a gurney as I was wheeled from pre-op to the operating room and then to post-op afterward.  The whole time my only view was that of the hospital ceiling tile. A lot can go through a person’s mind when all you can see is hospital ceiling tile.  

No procedure is without risk.  Did I remember to bring my crutches?  Did I get everything ready at home? There are a lot of unknowns.

How much is this procedure going to cost me?  What is my deductible? Coinsurance? Is this going to be covered?  The best time to prepare the answers to these questions is when you develop your health plan or during your annual review.  Whether it’s health insurance or Medicare, Venture Insurance knows ways to package plans together so that one picks up where the other one ends.  Often, layering policies this way means you get the best of both policies. Can packaging two (or more) policies together offer richer coverage and lower premium?  YES!

It’s worthwhile to learn the possibilities to see if packaging plans together is a good strategy for you.  Whether you have an individual health plan, a health plan through work, or Medicare, please contact me and ask what packages are available for you.  Let us help you find your answers now so that you’re not wondering about the answers while looking at a hospital ceiling.

I baked my mom’s famous cookies last night. My kids have gotten used to them as part of their lunch, and they would be disappointed without one. I had “Mom Tate” cookies in my lunch every day while growing up, so I know the feeling.

Mom Tate cookies are one of a kind, but Mom has always been happy to share the recipe. After emailing the recipe to one of our carrier reps a few years ago, I received a quick reply that said, “that’s too complicated for me.” Actually, the recipe only has 8 ingredients. They’re the same ingredients probably found in every chocolate chip cookie recipe. Anyone can mix 8 ingredients together, right?

The difference is in how my mom puts those ingredients together, so in my email I included details such as: sift the flour, use a silver cookie sheet, and (most important) when you roll out the cookie dough be sure to have a little flour on your hands. It was this detail that the reader found discouraging, but these are vital steps! Originally, my mom may have put a little flour on her hands just to keep the dough from sticking. But that extra flour on top of the dough while it bakes is what gives the cookies the cracked finish. They’re just not the same without it. Details matter.

How does making cookies turn into an insurance blog? When we at Venture Insurance Group are asked to help a client, we follow a detailed process. I’ll use Medicare planning as an example, but the same holds true for health, life, auto, home, and all other lines of insurance as well. With Medicare, all of the plan information is publicly available. Anyone can shop plans on Medicare.gov just as anyone can mix 8 ingredients to make cookies. But which plans include your doctor in their network? Which plans cover your drugs? And where can you get Medigap rates since they’re not listed on Medicare.gov? Those are additional steps that we take in our process to make sure your plan is right for you.

I took my mother’s cookies for granted while I was growing up. As I got older, I assumed the dough for sale off the shelf would be just as good. I mean – who doesn’t like the dough boy commercials? But even though “off-the-shelf” cookies are good, they just lack that detail that puts them over the top. Had I never tasted Mom Tate cookies, I never would have known what I was missing.

An “off-the-shelf” insurance policy may seem just fine for you. But when our clients work with us many of them tell us that they just didn’t know what they were missing. I invite you to visit us at Venture Insurance Group. Remove the taste of “off-the-shelf” insurance and find out what you may be missing. And if we have fresh cookies, we’ll be happy to share.