Brent Barnes

Who he works with

Brent handles the under-65 side: people buying their own plan because there is no employer plan, or because the employer plan costs more than it is worth for the family. Losing coverage after a job change, a spouse aging onto something different, a plan that doubled at renewal, a deductible that turned out to mean something different than expected.

He is usually the first voice you hear here, and he is the one who will ask what prescriptions you take and which doctors you want to keep before he shows you anything.

How he narrows it down

Plans are sold county by county, so the number available where you live is a fraction of the statewide number, and most of them will not cover the doctors you already see. Brent starts from your providers and your prescriptions and works backward, which usually turns an impossible list into two or three real options.

He will also tell you when the answer is to stay put. An agent who only ever recommends switching is telling you something about how he is paid, not about your coverage.

He writes the product explainers

Brent has written 8 of the 24 guides here, mostly the ones explaining how a product works before anyone tries to sell you one: what a supplement covers that Advantage does not, when dental or vision earns its premium, what short-term coverage actually is and is not. He also reviewed 12 of the guides Jake wrote, so nothing on this site is checked by its own author.

What Brent has written

• Oregon Finalized Its 2027 Rates: What Central Oregon Employers Should Read Into Them
• Is Dental Insurance Worth It? An Honest Cost-Benefit Guide
• Is Vision Insurance Worth It?
• HMO vs PPO vs HDHP in Plain Terms

Every guide on this site names the person who wrote it, and where a second licensed agent checked it, it names the reviewer too. See all guides.

Verify this

Brent is a licensed insurance producer, NPN 19248676, California insurance license #4580991. Apex Health Advisors LLC is licensed in Arizona, Alabama, Texas, Oregon, and California, agency NPN 22248855, and holds California insurance license #6019793. You can verify any of these with the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions, Alabama Department of Insurance, Texas Department of Insurance, Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, and California Department of Insurance, or by NPN on the national producer registry.