Hear Better! The Focus Hearing Show with Shannon Schneller

David Thiessen • April 14, 2026
Smiling man with white hair in a light blue shirt, shown in a circular profile photo.

Host:

Cary Hall, America’s Healthcare Advocate

Click Below Check Out Our Other Episodes


By David Thiessen August 22, 2026
Episode 2226 notes My guests from Blue KC are Barron Roberts, the director of small Group and individual and Drew Hatten, the vice president of underwriting. There's some very interesting things going on with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Blue KC, right now as we move into the fourth quarter of next year. For our broker partners in the market: how we can drive additional value, to the small group space in the Kansas City market. Blue Select plus reporting, including Heatmaps to help our broker partners understand where members live in regard to the Spira Care locations. Incentives to drive and reward. Additional work and education support provided when they introduce Spira Care and Blue Select Plus. We’ll discuss Curve Underwriting and advanced reporting for level funded ASO customers. Spira Care is at 80,000 members and was built on the belief that advanced primary care and the primary care component of health care being the front door of health care, would drive better outcomes, better outcomes for patients, better outcomes from a cost perspective with which then made affordability more achievable. And we're now up to nine care centers. This is season 22, episode 26 of America’s Healthcare Advocate. I’m Cary Hall. Learn more about the information on today’s show and more by calling 816-467-2145 , or visit: https://bluekc.com/sgvalue Need help or have something to share? Send me a message. Contact Cary Hall, America's Healthcare Advocate: https://www.americashealthcareadvocate.com/contact-us
Or Return to Podcast Page

S22 E9 - Hear Better!


The Focus Hearing Show with Shannon Schneller

Episode 2209 notes


Learn about new tech and what happens if you wait too long to get hearing help. How to help a family member or friend find a hearing specialist that can really help as opposed to the "one size fits all" approach.


This is Season 22, Episode 9 of America's Healthcare Advocate


Learn More about hearing issues and what we discussed today: https://myfocushearing.com or call: 913-754-2144.


Have a question for me: https://www.americashealthcareadvocate.com/contact-us

As always, if you need help or have something to share, contact me using this form on my website and let me know what's on your mind, the issues you are dealing with, or any other health, healthcare, or health insurance questions or concerns. Visit: https://www.americashealthcareadvocate.com/contact-us

Listen to this episode

Below are audio podcast players to stream from here on our website. or search for "America's Healthcare Advocate" on your favorite podcast platform.


On Rumble:

Play full audio podcast (above) or find it by clicking from the list below:


Spotify

iHeart

Spreaker

Soundcloud

TuneIn

Amazon

RSS

Pandora

Google

Overcast

Pocket Casts

Apple

YouTube Podcasts

Recent YouTube Studio Video Episodes

Recent Podcast Episodes

By David Thiessen August 22, 2026
Episode 2226 notes My guests from Blue KC are Barron Roberts, the director of small Group and individual and Drew Hatten, the vice president of underwriting. There's some very interesting things going on with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Blue KC, right now as we move into the fourth quarter of next year. For our broker partners in the market: how we can drive additional value, to the small group space in the Kansas City market. Blue Select plus reporting, including Heatmaps to help our broker partners understand where members live in regard to the Spira Care locations. Incentives to drive and reward. Additional work and education support provided when they introduce Spira Care and Blue Select Plus. We’ll discuss Curve Underwriting and advanced reporting for level funded ASO customers. Spira Care is at 80,000 members and was built on the belief that advanced primary care and the primary care component of health care being the front door of health care, would drive better outcomes, better outcomes for patients, better outcomes from a cost perspective with which then made affordability more achievable. And we're now up to nine care centers. This is season 22, episode 26 of America’s Healthcare Advocate. I’m Cary Hall. Learn more about the information on today’s show and more by calling 816-467-2145 , or visit: https://bluekc.com/sgvalue Need help or have something to share? Send me a message. Contact Cary Hall, America's Healthcare Advocate: https://www.americashealthcareadvocate.com/contact-us
By David Thiessen August 15, 2026
Episode 2219 notes Remember when your kids came home with their report cards and how that felt? What if the difference between a good retirement and a great retirement isn't just how much you've saved ... but the strategy behind it? Rick Dwyer has created a way to analyze the strategy in your retirement. He created SageonRQ.ai, where you will find the tools to verify your strategy, because with retirement decisions every decision affects another and the SageonRQ algorithm will show you opportunities to strengthen your retirement. Listen and learn, the financial Doctor is in the house.  This is season 22, episode 19 of America’s Healthcare Advocate. I’m Cary Hall. After the show, visit: https://sageonrq.ai/
By David Thiessen August 8, 2026
Episode 2223 notes Today we learn how to lose weight with GLP-1 medications, without losing muscle mass. Our expert guest is Ron Hoyler, a Diabetes Educator, Executive healthcare and diabetes technology leader at St. Luke’s Hospital System in Overland Park, Ks. Ron will explain the history of GLP-1s from the 1990s till now, and the difference between the versions for diabetes vs the versions for weight loss. You know the names: Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound, just a few of the powerful once-weekly injectable medications divided into two drug pairs based on their active ingredients and FDA approvals. This is season 22, Episode 23 of America’s Healthcare Advocate. I’m Cary Hall. As discussed in this podcast, we are providing these additional assets to help you in your path to successful weight loss: The GLP-1 Nutrition Exercise Protein Guidelines for GLP-1 meds The new Medicare Bridge Program guide And the amazing bio and qualifications of our expert guest, Ron Hoyler As always, if you need help or have something to share, contact me using the form on my website and let me know what's on your mind, the issues you are dealing with, or any other health, healthcare, or health insurance questions or concerns. Visit: https://www.americashealthcareadvocate.com/contact-us