When seeking a health insurance plan or looking for a health insurance quote online or elsewhere, taking the help of an authorized health insurance agent can be invaluable in selecting the best health insurance quote for the insured's needs. There are several questions to ask a health insurance plan specialist that can ensure the prospective customer is able to identify the health insurance plan that is an ideal fit for their current budget and health insurance requirements. These questions are not necessarily ones that every prospective insured might think to ask. Even with the plethora of online resources, including health insurance quote generation tools, that are now readily available for prospective customers' use, there is still no substitute for talking with a knowledgeable insurance agent who can walk a new customer through the often complex maze of insurance quotes to arrive at the one that best fits their health insurance plan needs.

The first question to ask is how much coverage the agent recommends that the insured get, and the reasons for why the agent makes that recommendation. It can be tempting to assume that less is more, and to place budgetary considerations before all else when selecting a level of health insurance coverage to purchase. However, a knowledgeable insurance agent can help the prospective insured think through other considerations, such as the impact of a catastrophic health event, the impact of limitations or restrictions on available coverage at certain policy levels, the best deductible to obtain for the insured's own financial wellbeing, and other factors that can make a policy that looks affordable on paper not the best choice in actuality. With the help of a knowledgeable insurance agent, it becomes much easier to select a policy that will actually work for both budget and healthcare needs.

The next question to ask is how the policy actually works - how are claims handled, what is the procedure to obtain care from a primary care or specialist provider, what does the fine print say, what are the out of pocket annual maximums should major care be necessary, are the deductible amounts different for receiving care from in network versus out of network providers, and other pricing related questions. Asking the insurance agent what the policy actually provides for the premiums paid is a great place to start in investigating this question. This is also a good time to ask if there is a further pricing discount for paying in one annual premium, or for paying through automatic bank draft, rather than writing checks or paying monthly. An agent can offer information about all of these factors to help the insured find the best policy for the very best price.