Serena Heckathorn-Calabrese, right, is a licensed insurance agent with HealthMarkets Insurance Agency, offering office locations in St. Clairsville and Steubenville to serve clients all over the Ohio Valley. (Photo Provided)

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — With an ever-changing landscape in the world of insurance, Serena Heckathorn-Calabrese and her team help clients navigate through chaos and confusion to find the best options for plans that cover their individual needs.

Heckathorn-Calabrese is owner of Heckathorn Insurance Inc. and operates two independently owned offices at 4169 Sunset Blvd. in Steubenville and 50966 National Road East Suite 3 in St. Clairsville under the umbrella of HealthMarkets Insurance Agency.

While the two HealthMarkets Insurance -Serena Heckathorn office locations are in Ohio, the agency serves clients throughout the Ohio Valley, including those in West Virginia.

“I’m licensed actually in five states, and the HealthMarkets umbrella agency is nationwide with independently owned contractors under them with their own businesses,” she noted. “We do everything except for home and auto.”

The insurance agency specializes in health care, Medicare, dental, vision, supplemental and life insurances.

“It is a crazy maze out there,” Heckathorn-Calabrese said. “Unless you’re trained to understand all of the aspects of health care, it is very confusing.”

Like a lot of agents do, the team at HealthMarkets Insurance – Serena Heckathorn sit down face-to-face with clients. They provide objective guidance and solutions, working to understand the specific individual or family coverage needs of their clients.

“I think what makes us stand out is the personal service that we give our clients,” she said. We help them, guide them, educate them and work with them to find what is in their best interest. We do deep diving and fact finding with them, and eventually guide them to their best options.”

The agency serves a wide range of clients who typically are individuals who do not have insurance through their employer. This includes people who are self-employed, retired or getting ready to retire, of Medicare age or who are about to become Medicare age, young adults over 26 years of age who have to come off of their parent’s plan and get their own or retirees who are going to lose their coverage through their employer.

“Through the stepping stones of their life, we always meet with them to make sure they have the best coverage for their situation,” Heckathorn-Calabrese said. “Everybody’s situation is different.

“We’re brokers. We have all of the plans available to them, and we’re there for the claims process, as well.”

The locally-based agency is a small business that has a staff that is bolstered through traditional enrollment months.

“Currently, I have eight staff members right now on the team. During our busy season, Oct. 1 to Jan. 15, we have a full staff of 12 employees,” Heckathorn-Calabrese said, noting that her business has grown in a grassroots way over the years. “My team and I are very dedicated and believe in what we do. So that’s definitely helped. We get a lot of word-of-mouth referrals. When someone sends you somebody through a referral, it’s the best compliment you can get from your clients.”

Heckathorn-Calabrese is an Ohio Valley native originally from the Upper Panhandle of West Virginia in the Beech Bottom and Wellsburg area. She later migrated to Steubenville where she started her business over a decade ago, but the insurance industry was not always on her radar as a career goal.

“I had gone back to school and graduated with honors for respiratory therapy, but no one was hiring at that time,” she explained. “I had my resume out there on line, and HealthMarkets called me and wanted to interview me. I said ‘why not, I’ll go listen to what they have to say.’ From there, I took my business to where it is now.

“Thirteen years later, I never worked a day in the field I graduated from! I started in November 2013, and it’s been the best decision I ever made in my entire life.”

Heckathorn-Calabrese implemented operational practices at her HealthMarkets Insurance locations that are being used as a model for other sites across the country.

“All of my staff are W2 employees. They work the business, and I manage the back end now, and I don’t have to be in the office Monday through Friday anymore,” she said. “Nobody was doing that in our business. I just grew it as a small agency myself.

“I definitely couldn’t do this without my amazing staff and my awesome clients. They trust us, and we educate and guide them.”

Guidance is often crucial to find a way through the labyrinth of bureaucracy that often bogs down the health insurance game.

“The industry itself is based off of the government,” Heckathorn-Calabrese said. “There are changes every year. Medicare and health insurance guidelines change. It fluctuates year after year. It’s chaotic out there.”

When things get confusing, people need help figuring it out, she said, noting that the chaos often creates opportunity for the industry.

“We don’t have a crystal ball for what health care is going to do and not do,” she said. “We are right on the same timeline as everyone else in finding out what’s happening for the coming year. We don’t have any insights beforehand. They open all of the plans up to the public at the same time as they do for us as agents, and we’ve just got to hurry up and roll with it.”

The health insurance industry is always evolving, but a key that has helped HealthMarkets Insurance – Serena Heckathorn truly move forward and be successful has been its people.

“Technology is always great when it works,” Heckathorn-Calabrese said, noting that she looks forward to growing her business and serving more clients who could benefit from their expertise. “I’m always adding to my team to help us grow and operate more efficiently, and I am definitely hoping to add other storefronts and just keep growing the team.”

Heckathorn-Calabrese encouraged those who need help finding the best health insurance or life, dental, vision or supplemental insurance options to reach out to them in Steubenville or St. Clairsville.

“We are brokers, and we’re licensed in five different states,” she said. “Come see us. It’s a free consultation, and there’s no obligation. We’re a one-stop shop.”