You Are #1
We Are Your Fiduciary: Insurance professionals traditionally recommend plans based upon what is reasonable and suitable for your needs. Suitable is akin to a car salesperson recommending the brand of cars they sell even if a competitor is a better fit for your specific needs because the car they recommend hits your major wants and is on their product shelf to offer. Suitable doesn't necessarily mean the best fit. Unlike other firms, our Principal is a Financial Advisor and holds our firm to a fiduciary standard. We are committed to operating in a fiduciary capacity where we are legally required to recommend a program that is in your best interest. You are our singular focus.
Privacy: Effectively solving your health insurance needs requires a level of trust. We take that very seriously. Whether you are an individual looking for help with a plan, an employer considering different plan options, or an employee with an underlying health condition, our commitment is to you. We will never share your personal information with other people. If you are pregnant, we are usually the first ones to know. (We wont tell!) or if you are selling your business and trying to determine the best way to merge plans in an M&A situation, we will focus on the problem at hand and are held to strict confidentiality.
Objectivity: As a noncaptive agency we maintain appointments with as many carriers as possible to address your needs. We are plan and company agnostic and focused on solving your problems.
Consumer Advocacy: Your support shouldn't stop once a plan is in force. Instead, our team works behind the scenes to support clients with general questions, concerns, and even claims and billing issues. Depending on the severity of a claim we may opt to work on your behalf between the insurance company and medical provider to settle claims correctly. In addition, we partner with State and Federal congressional members as well as local papers, such as Lancaster News Papers and the Reading Eagle, to expedite isolated issues and spread the word about community-based issues. We stand on your behalf in Washington multiple times per year at closed-door discussions at the Department of Health and Human Services, CMS, and CCIIO committees, as well as broker, calls for PENNIE, Pennsylvania's new state-based exchange. Your voice is heard and carried into those spaces. We are your advocate.
Highly Competent Advice
In order to get accurate and complete recommendations, it's important that the firm you trust has a high focus on competency and professionalism. Being aware of current events, industry shifts, legislative changes, and compliance issues can be the difference between a solution that seems attractive in theory but a major burden in practice. We work to remain ahead of the markets through three initiatives.
Education and Certifications: We are Registered Employee Benefits Consultants® with exhaustive certifications in Advanced Self Funding, ACA Compliance, and Account-Based plans such as FSA, HSA, ICHRA, and QSEHRA. Additionally each year we renew our AHIP Medicare Certification and Individual Marketplace Certifications to assist clients across the board. Often seen as a resource from other health insurance agencies locally, Joshua Brooker personally reads all regulatory notices/proposals and reports to key stakeholders privately.
Trade Groups: Trade groups focus on being aware of challenges and opportunities for the trade they support. Because of this, PAHA is an active member of the National Association of Health Underwriters(NAHU), Society of Human Resource Managers(SHRM), Health Agents for America (HAFA) and the Financial Planning Association(FPA) at both the chapter and federal levels. Regionally we are active in the Central Pennsylvania Business Group on Health as well. In addition, we support the Lancaster Chamber and Northern Lancaster Chamber of Commerce. All of these resources give us a greater toolkit of resources ranging from legal determinants of IRS regulations, template employer letters(COBRA/SOB/Wrap/Onboarding) and plan changes for our clients.
Partnership Diversity: Any quality health insurance agency has a General Agency behind them that helps with day to day operations and continues to be another source of information for recommending plan designs. Like we are plan and insurance company agnostic, we are also GA agnostic. We regularly meet with our partners and have relationships with CPA firms, Attorneys, Providers, Hospital Systems, and Financial Advisors to both spread consumer advocacy and get insight of the Health Insurance system from different angles.
Confidentiality
HIPAA/HITECH: PA Health Advocates is required to comply with all applicable federal laws, including the standards established under 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164, Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information(commonly referred to as HIPAA). In addition we are focused on complying with HITECH legal requirements for securing data digitally.
Security: All entry points to your digital records are held to the highest security standards. Not only do we encrypt all inputs to this site and securely transmit them, all electronic devices we utilize are also encrypted to protect your data. We also reserve access to our systems to only associates and vendors who have signed a Business Associate Agreement legally holding them to the same security standards that we have.