What does a health insurance agent do?
Health Insurance Agents are salespeople whose primary product is health insurance. Insurance companies hire them to reach sales targets. They are trained to sell insurance to individuals or groups of people. They are expected to be familiar with all the products of the company. Health Insurance Agents should assess their clients' needs and recommend the best health insurance product that fits their needs. They should be able to explain the product's features and answer any inquiries that the clients may have. Health Insurance Agents should also know how to compute insurance premiums and estimate payouts.
Health insurance agent responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real health insurance agent resumes:
- Manage communication points between corporate advisers, providers and patients for medical service advisory requests.
- Sold/Enrol individuals in ACA health plans over the phone by making cold calls on a daily basses.
- Explain healthcare benefits cover by major insurance carriers under the ACA.
- Post CPT codes and ICD-9 codes for every patient at check-out.
- Verify clients' eligibility and check clients' status within CMS and UHC system.
- Initiate appeals process on behalf of members, and assist with online web portal services.
- Maintain knowledge of updates and staying in compliance with CMS rules and regulations by being AHIP certify.
- Provide consultative and professional counsel to clients regarding health and life insurance with an additional strategic emphasis on annuities.
- Resolve clients' problems which include appeals and follow-ups, phone conversations with HRA or other representatives; and fair hearings.
- Verify Medicaid eligibility with state agencies.
- Educate and assist Medicare and Medicaid customers regarding insurance purchases.
- Cross selling supplemental insurance, annuities for retirement or diversification of certain portfolios.
- Communicate with patients, providers and insurance companies regarding coverage and reimbursement issues.
- Generate referral business and cultivate individual lead sources, using networking and prospecting techniques to grow potential sales opportunities.
- Interview and assess prospect's insurance and annuity needs.
Health insurance agent skills and personality traits
We calculated that 57% of Health Insurance Agents are proficient in HIPAA, Health Insurance, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Self-confidence, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Health Insurance Agents that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- HIPAA, 57%
Received training for HIPAA standards, making ethical business decisions, maintaining integrity, Anti-Money Laundering course.
- Health Insurance, 11%
Advised and directed commercial and non-profit organizations on group health insurance, employer sponsored benefit plans, and disability insurance.
- Customer Service, 8%
Provided exemplary customer service and work quality while demonstrating attention to detail, flexibility and innovation in resolving problems.
- Health Insurance Products, 3%
Identify consumers and initiate client interaction to introduce and implement supplemental health insurance products.
- Health Insurance Sales, 2%
Group health insurance sales and marketing, client benefit administration, group insurance renewal quotes, employee meetings and enrollment.
- Inbound Calls, 2%
Handled one hundred Inbound calls daily providing senior citizens and disabled individuals with information and enrollment in annual Medicare.
Most health insurance agents use their skills in "hipaa," "health insurance," and "customer service" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential health insurance agent responsibilities here:
Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a health insurance agent to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what health insurance agents do because "insurance sales agents must listen to clients and be able to clearly explain suitable policies." Additionally, a health insurance agent resume shows how health insurance agents use communication skills: "preformed daily cold calling/door to door outreach for potential clients and demonstrated effective verbal communication skills through sales presentations,"
Self-confidence. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling health insurance agent duties is self-confidence. The role rewards competence in this skill because "insurance sales agents should be confident when contacting prospective clients." According to a health insurance agent resume, here's how health insurance agents can utilize self-confidence in their job responsibilities: "maintained confident when making cold calls. "
Analytical skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of health insurance agents is analytical skills. This skill is critical to many everyday health insurance agent duties, as "insurance sales agents must evaluate the needs of each client to determine the appropriate insurance policy." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "utilize product knowledge to properly analyze customer need, potential disqualifying factors per policy application, definition of specifications and coverage. "
Initiative. health insurance agent responsibilities often require "initiative." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "insurance sales agents need to actively seek out new clients in order to increase business." This resume example shows what health insurance agents do with initiative on a typical day: "program served as a model for the affordable care act and health insurance marketplace initiatives. "
The three companies that hire the most health insurance agents are:
- Sutherland126 health insurance agents jobs
- Symmetry Financial Group45 health insurance agents jobs
- Healthcare Solutions Team31 health insurance agents jobs
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Compare different health insurance agents
Health insurance agent vs. Agent assistant
A sales producer is responsible for performing sales calls and administering all leads. You will be responsible for preparing the policies aimed at sales procedures and developing the necessary sales documents. Other responsibilities include making sure that all sales personnel adhere to all policies and procedures, coordinating with customers about policy expiration dates, and maintaining strong and long-lasting relationships with customers. As a sales producer, you will be responsible for managing prospective sale campaigns and managing all correspondence with both prospective and existing clients.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a health insurance agent are more likely to require skills like "hipaa," "health insurance products," "health insurance sales," and "medicare advantage." On the other hand, a job as an agent assistant requires skills like "life insurance," "insurance policies," "auto insurance," and "scheduling appointments." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Agent assistants tend to make the most money working in the real estate industry, where they earn an average salary of $42,564. In contrast, health insurance agents make the biggest average salary, $51,803, in the finance industry.On average, agent assistants reach similar levels of education than health insurance agents. Agent assistants are 2.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Health insurance agent vs. Licensed sales producer
Agents are individuals who are employed by their clients to represent them in various dealings. Agents are usually employed by people in the show business industry, such as actors, writers, or directors. They meet people who are interested in dealing with their clients. They listen to the plans and vision for the project and assess if the project fits their clients' interests or public image. In the case of agents whose clients are actors, they send their clients to auditions upon review of the project details. Agents are also responsible for negotiating terms on behalf of their clients, such as salary, royalties, and set benefits, among others. They also inform the project leaders of their clients' demands on set. Agents are expected to be business-savvy and good negotiators.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real health insurance agent resumes. While health insurance agent responsibilities can utilize skills like "hipaa," "health insurance products," "health insurance sales," and "medicare advantage," licensed sales producers use skills like "financial products," "life insurance," "policy changes," and "customer relationships."
On average, licensed sales producers earn a lower salary than health insurance agents. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, licensed sales producers earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $39,583. Whereas health insurance agents have higher pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $51,803.licensed sales producers earn similar levels of education than health insurance agents in general. They're 2.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Health insurance agent vs. Sales producer
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, health insurance agents are more likely to have skills like "hipaa," "health insurance products," "health insurance sales," and "inbound calls." But a sales producer is more likely to have skills like "insurance products," "strong work ethic," "business relationships," and "insurance sales."
Most sales producers achieve a similar degree level compared to health insurance agents. For example, they're 1.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Health insurance agent vs. Agent
Types of health insurance agent
Updated January 8, 2025
