The insurance world can be a daunting, challenging task to take on for anyone attempting to navigate it alone. Fortunately, a Hughesville husband and wife have teamed up to help ease that burden.

“If you would have asked us five years ago where our life would be, we would never have said insurance,” said Amanda Krehling, president of Krehling & Associates, LLC., who was previously a trauma ICU nurse, while husband, Derek owned a woodworking machinery repair business.

Following the birth of their children and the COVID-19 pandemic, Amanda would step away from the medical field, and take on a human resources role at Derek’s business.

“We had a broker one year that allowed our benefits to roll over without a conversation, and we faced a huge increase of around 17% that year,” Amanda explained.

The following year, Amanda would use her experience in the medical field to secure the same benefits at a significantly reduced rate, and from there, word spread, and Amanda began helping others with obtaining affordable benefits on a part-time basis.

Amanda’s new venture continued to grow to the point where Derek would ultimately sell out his woodworking business and achieve a license in the field for himself, taking on the role of CEO. Shortly after, the couple moved into their current location, 112 S Railroad St Suite 112, Hughesville, in February of this year.

Krehling & Associates caters to both individuals and businesses.

“The Medicare annual enrollment is coming up, so that’s really going to be a focus the next few months, and that runs from October 15 to December 7,” Derek explained.

Other service options offered by the couple include annuities, both term and permanent plans and life insurance plans.

“Hospital indemnity plans are a big one right now,” Derek said, especially in light of the uncertainty around Marketplace tax credits.

“We can couple an indemnity plan along with your traditional plan. Traditional insurance pays the last dollar, after your deductible and your copay, well, indemnity plans pay first dollar,” Derek said.

“They pay a set amount. It might pay $200 if you just go to the doctor, or they’ll pay a set amount per day you’re in the hospital. So, we can couple this higher deductible plan that’s on the marketplace to maximize the usage of your tax credits, and then use some money to pay for an indemnity plan,” he explained.

“Another big one we do is accident coverage,” Amanda said, noting that both their children are very active, with the youngest being somewhat accident prone.

“Unfortunately, we’ve utilized our accident plan every year in some capacity, thankful they’ve all been mostly minor things. But with the plan, if you go to the ER for whatever the accident is, you submit the bill afterwards, and then you get money back from your insurance,” she said, noting after one trip to the emergency room, the entire visit was paid for through the insurance.

“They’re pretty affordable, too. We have accident plans that start at $18 a month, so pretty much anybody can afford an accident plan at that rate,” Amanda said.

Krehling & Associates works with over 25 carriers, so virtually all customers can be matched with a plan perfectly suited to meet their needs, the couple said.

Additionally, the couple cater to businesses of all sizes.

“We can offer anywhere from two employees up to our largest group that has almost 1,000, and we treat our two employee groups the same as we treat our big employee groups,” Amanda said.

“Being from the employer side, we didn’t like the service that we were receiving as far as help for the employees. So with our employer groups, we actually give them access to our phone numbers, so their employees call us directly,” she said, which she said can help move things along much quicker, while adding that automated options are still available for those that prefer to utilize those methods.

One of the highlights of Krehling & Associates is their personalized treatment of their clients.

“Some of the products are just confusing for the average person to understand. So we really try to educate the employees and our individual clients on what the insurance covers, when they’re going to have to pay something,” Derek said.

“When we have somebody who does need to fill out a claim form, that’s another thing that we’ll help with,” which might include utilizing short-term disability, hospital indemnity or other types of coverage, Amanda said.

“With my background in medical billing, I like to help people work through denied claims, so I always tell people, if you get a bill from the insurance company, it just doesn’t seem right, please send it to me,” she said.

Their efforts have seen bills reduced by anywhere from over $500 to having a $37,000 wiped clean due to a minor clerical error.

“One of the things that you love about being a nurse is you get to help people, especially in the trauma unit, you’re seeing people at the worst of the worst, and it’s very rewarding. But with this is, you get to help people in another way, so you still have that fulfillment,” Amanda said.

“When you have somebody that maybe makes $30,000 a year, a $37,000 medical bill is more than a year of income. She would have been paying on that forever if she didn’t have the right coverage, and our ability to help her make sure the claim got processed right,” she said.

The services provided by Krehling & Associates are zero cost to clients at the time of service, instead being recovered via a cost paid by the client as part of their insurance premium.

Whether for individuals or employers, making the process of obtaining the right coverage is what attracts many to Krehling & Associates, the couple said.

“For the employer groups, I would say, if they never want to answer another health insurance question for their employees, come talk to us, because we’ll take all that off their plate. For the individual, we’re going to offer them expert guidance. We’re going to make sure that we’re looking out for their health and their financial well being,” Derek said.

“Us being local too, and having an office here in town, people can walk in. It’s not like some insurances, where you can only reach them over the phone.We welcome people to walk in our door, have a conversation and make sure your needs are being met,” Amanda added.

“We still do business face to face, and we make house calls, especially for people that either have busy schedules or have a hard time getting around, we’ll come to their house and meet with them and go over their their plans and options,” she said, adding that consultations by phone are an option as well.

“I think a lot of people appreciate being able to see somebody in person, especially these days, people are very non-trusting of somebody over the phone,” Amanda said.

Those interested in more information on Krehling & Associates are encouraged to check out their website at www.krehlingassociates.com, give them a call at 570-244-8764 or stop into their office.