BIP Winter 2024

Industry Innovation

Camper creates Medicare connections Carrie Espinosa takes her show on the road to educate consumers.

Building relationships Nostalgia Day in Zion, Illinois, was a perfect event to showcase the camper and talk with attendees. “It’s a great way to build relationships and opportunities for conversation that then become business opportunities,” she says. “People will say, ‘Oh, my gosh, my parents had one of these when I was growing up.’ So that’s kind of how the conversation starts. And I tell them, ‘I thought this would be a great way to begin the conversation that today’s Medicare isn’t your parents’ Medicare.’” Espinosa says the conversation then typically moves into how Medicare has evolved beyond the original Medicare program to additional options that can often be better suited for the client. She says she tries to sit down with each client and do a one-on one consultation to ensure her recommendations best meet the client’s needs. “That’s what I do for a living, help people navigate Medicare, and with the camper, my grandmother is there engaging people as the Medicare poster child,” she says. “Our lives are so busy. When we can combine efforts and make something that’s business and also fun, that’s success. And when we can make insurance consumer-driven, friendly and fun, people are way more receptive.”

Carrie Espinosa knew the minute she saw the vintage camper online that she had to have it. “I thought, ‘Gosh, I haven’t been doing any marketing,’” she says. “I’m always trying to be available for my grandmother, Nancy, and doing everything I need to do to keep the agency functioning. I’m going to go buy this, and Grams and I are going to be the roadshow. We’re going to go to different farmer’s markets throughout the area and just have a presence.” Espinosa has owned Horizon Benefit Services in Gurnee, Illinois, since 2013, although the agency has been around since the 1980s. While Horizon started as benefits-only, when Espinosa took over, she saw an increasing need for clients to understand Medicare and, eventually, Affordable Care Act individual coverage.

Carrier Espinosa (left) with her friend Cathleen Eager, who painted the back of the camper with, ‘Got Medicare Questions? We have answers!’.

Carrie Espinosa

revamped a vintage camper from the inside out to hold Medicare informational meetings.

She now refers to the agency as “a hire-to-retire” solution for the community. The camper has enabled Espinosa to get out in her community in new ways, helping her bring in new business while educating the community on the role she plays. “I’ve grown up in this community all my life,” she says. “Many of the people I serve — like a woman I just helped recently — have known me since I was a kid. I think it’s that familiar face, that caring persona and the opportunity to walk up and ask questions and not feel like they will be pushed into any sort of sale.

12 bip magazine Winter 2024