Chicago's Only Boutique, Retail Health Insurance Store

Jordan Wishner grew up learning about health insurance.

"My father had a health insurance agency," he said. "When I was home for the summer or school, I would sell insurance for my dad."
He watched his dad's business model and learned from that. He also learned from his dad's business partner in an unexpected way.
Wishner's story is one about overcoming adversity. Although Wishner began his career by going to college with the intent to earn a degree, an incident his second year changed everything. Wishner was at a party one night and was jumped. He was beaten so badly he ended up in the hospital for nearly a month.
"By the time I was finally ready to go back to school, everyone was a senior and I was a sophomore," Wishner lamented.

Unlike a lot of other college students, Wishner did not see only one route leading to success. His father's long-time business partner never finished college so Wishner had a role model in the same field.
In 2001, Wishner dropped out of college and sold insurance for a couple years. Then, in 2003, he became a floor trader on the stock exchange.
"I lost a lot of money and then I went back to work for my dad," he explained.
He would end up as a floor trader one more time, but then in 2008, everything in the industry shifted and changed.
"My phone started ringing because people couldn't afford COBRA," Wishner said of the insurance option given to people when they are laid off of their jobs. "I still wanted to trade, so I thought about finding a retail space."
In August, Wishner will have been selling insurance in a retail space for nine years. He has long since stopped trading stocks and exclusively sells insurance now, with an emphasis on face-to-face customer service.
"I did this for four years by myself before I brought on staff," Wishner recalled.
Currently, The Health Insurance Shoppe has three regular staff, additional seasonal staff and two dogs, Vail and Cosmo, that make The Health Insurance Shoppe feel warm and welcoming.
"I sell health insurance; I don't do any other kind of insurance, so I am a boutique in that regard," Wishner detailed.
In the early years, Wishner was working to find coverage for people with health limitations. The years before the Affordable Care Act meant that the magic formula was in how to handle underwriting.
Everything changed again in 2014.
"The worst part of the Affordable Care Act is government involvement," Wishner believes. "They work on a computer system and there is no human interaction."
Before 2014, if Wishner was trying to fit a client to a plan, he could speak to someone trained in the field who understood the insurance product. Now it was all computer-based.
It also shifted how Wishner was paid.
Prior to 2014, Wishner was free to clients. He was paid by the insurance companies. In 2014, he was paid by a commission that fell every year until, in 2016, insurance companies were not paying outside of the enrollment period. This was true of everyone but Blue Cross Blue Shield, who still paid commissions outside of the enrollment period.
So Wishner had to change his whole business structure.
"I only sell Blue Cross Blue Shield now to individuals," he pointed out.
Business clients do have more insurance companies to choose from and Wishner is a Medicare expert as well.
Despite governmental changes, one thing remains the same:
"You get to speak with me each time," Wishner said of his customer service. "We know more about the product than the representatives. We bring value; you can walk in here and talk to someone."
For more information on The Health Insurance Shoppe or to make an appointment, visit the company website.