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

Or search for "America's Healthcare Advocate" on your favorite podcast platform.

Episode 2006 Transcript

00;00;01;14 - 00;00;05;24

Announcer

And now America's Healthcare Advocate, Cary Hall.

00;00;05;27 - 00;00;25;06

Cary Hall

Hello, America. Welcome to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting coast to coast across the USA here on the HIA Radio Network. You can find out more about us by going to the Web site America's Healthcare Advocate dot com America's Healthcare Advocate dot com. Also, all these shows are posted on 15 podcast platforms now.

00;00;25;08 - 00;00;48;13

Cary Hall

That's right. 15 of them. We just added iHeart Radio so you can find us on just about any podcast platform out there. And of course, on YouTube, by the way, we're up to about 16,000 views, 16,000 downloads. I regret that on the podcast platforms and we've had 257,000 people go to the YouTube platform. So a lot of people paying a lot of attention to what we're doing here.

00;00;48;14 - 00;01;05;10

Cary Hall

We're very happy to be able to do that. The man that makes all that happen is Mr Dave Thiessen. He's the man behind the camera that does all of this, puts it all together and gets it up on YouTube and on the podcast platform. And our producer, the always perfect Mr. Darren Wilhite from Audacy here at our Audacy studios in Kansas City.

00;01;05;12 - 00;01;20;00

Cary Hall

All right. If you are chronologically challenged and you're looking for Medicare every week, you hear me say you can get a hold of the lovely Carolee Steele and our benefits by design. Guess what? She's in studio today. Hello, Carolee.

00;01;20;03 - 00;01;21;14

Carolee Steele

Welcome back. Thank you.

00;01;21;15 - 00;01;36;02

Cary Hall

Glad to have you here today. So we're going to talk about all things Medicare. And also joining us, in the studio today. And I also call her out every week. If you're an employer out there or a broker and you're looking for some really good employer benefit options. Maria Ahlers welcome, Maria.

00;01;36;04 - 00;01;37;09

Maria Ahlers

Hi, Cary, Nice to see you again.

00;01;37;12 - 00;02;04;18

Cary Hall

It's great to be back in here again. Have you guys back? So let's just kind of start off with we're out of the open enrollment season now. We're past all of that. Let's talk about, you know, for folks that are aging and let's just start off with Medicare and for folks that are aging into Medicare, you know, they're turning 65, whereas I have the I was in we were in Nebraska, this is a week ago.

00;02;04;20 - 00;02;24;24

Cary Hall

And the CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska called Ron Rowe, who we're working with up there and said, hey, I'm really confused about Medicare. Can you send somebody over to help me? And they sent over Adam Wells from Blue Cross Blue Shield. He spent some time with them and he called back to Ron afterwards, said, God, I really appreciate that.

00;02;24;26 - 00;02;35;29

Cary Hall

The point about that story is this gentleman is the former CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, and he didn't understand it. So it's confusing as hell for people, is it not?

00;02;36;00 - 00;02;58;05

Carolee Steele

There are so many moving parts. There's typical questions of people aging in Do I have to go to Medicare? Do I What am I do? What do I do now? You know, so and the questions typically are like, do I first of all, do I have to sign up for Medicare? How much is Medicare? What if I have an employer plan?

00;02;58;06 - 00;03;19;18

Carolee Steele

Because about a third of all people who are at the age 65 keep working. And so like, can I leave my employer coverage? Do I have to leave my employer coverage? I got my blood draw on last week and the lady said, well, my husband is turning 65, doesn't he? Doesn't he have to? Or I have penalties of a lot of penalties.

00;03;19;18 - 00;03;42;20

Carolee Steele

And I said, well, every situation is different. Every there's nothing there's no one size fits all with Medicare. It completely depends on are you the spouse, Are you the actual Medicare eligible person? Do you have employer coverage? And so all of that taken into account. That's what we do. We help them walk through piece by piece according to their particular situation and help them the best way going forward.

00;03;42;28 - 00;03;58;00

Cary Hall

Yeah, because it is the alphabet soup of Medicare. So we talk about part A, part B, part C, part D, part F, and how in Part H, how do people figure all of that out? Does what applies to me, what doesn't apply to me? It's confusing.

00;03;58;04 - 00;04;13;12

Carolee Steele

It's very confusing. And I've even had someone yesterday call in and say, as far as Part D, like, do I have to get Part D? I don't I don't take any drugs. I'm like, But there are penalties involved in that. So there's a lot of little moving parts that people need to be aware of.

00;04;13;16 - 00;04;35;00

Cary Hall

So what I used to get that question, I would then they would say, I don't take any drugs. I would say, Now, yeah, add the word now to the end of that conversation, because if you're a seasoned citizen, 65, at some point, unless it's a miracle, you're probably going to take some medication between now and the time that you leave here and go to the next Earth plane or whatever you want to call it.

00;04;35;05 - 00;04;55;24

Cary Hall

Okay, So, so, so yeah, so but those are the questions people ask because they're confused by this stuff. So let's just go back to this. Where do they start? So they haven't signed up for Medicare. They don't know. They're not going to be all employer plan now. We'll go back to that in a minute. Okay. But let's just say I'm not on the employer plan.

00;04;55;24 - 00;04;59;23

Cary Hall

I'm retiring now. I'm coming off it. Where do I start?

00;04;59;25 - 00;05;04;06

Carolee Steele

So most people think you call Medicare to get Medicare, but that is not true.

00;05;04;08 - 00;05;18;01

Cary Hall

Please don't call Medicare, do you not? Okay, Well. Well, we've got stories you don't even want to hear about people that have called Medicare and people that have called the government health care website for ACA. We'll talk about some of that later on. But that don't call them. Okay.

00;05;18;04 - 00;05;41;03

Carolee Steele

So you actually go through Social Security to get Medicare and that's how you would do it. So there is a Medicare Part A that's hospitalization, Medicare part B that is pretty much medical and everything else. Some people say, well, Medicare only covers about 80%. Then what happens? And that's where we come in. So we kind of introduce all the possibilities that can cover that 20% that Medicare does not.

00;05;41;03 - 00;06;02;01

Cary Hall

So let's go back to that, because it's the Part B we're talking about here they've got to sign up for if they don't get part B, they can't get a Medicare Advantage plan. They can't get a Medicare Supplement plan. And when you talk about 80%, you've got part A and part B, You go into hospital, have $100,000 hospital stay you're up to played for 20 grand.

00;06;02;04 - 00;06;14;21

Cary Hall

That's why you sign up for a Medicare Advantage or Medicare supplement program. That's what a lot of people do. Well, I've got Medicare. You're right. That's what you got. Okay. What you don't have, there's no cap on that 20%, Carolee.

00;06;14;21 - 00;06;31;22

Carolee Steele

There's no out-of-pocket. And so a lot of people will call and they would have a B and then their drug plan, like I have a drug plan, I have A and B, that's the only thing I need without penalties. But you're leaving yourself exposed to 20% of all of those services. And they're like I said, there's no out of pocket with the government.

00;06;31;22 - 00;06;32;12

Carolee Steele

So.

00;06;32;14 - 00;06;33;11

Cary Hall

Yeah, yeah.

00;06;33;13 - 00;06;34;01

Carolee Steele

Yeah.

00;06;34;03 - 00;06;50;28

Cary Hall

And here's the thing, okay? The Medicare Advantage plans, every carrier out there that has a Medicare Advantage plans, Blue Cross, Aetna, Humana, United, they all have zero premium plans. So talk a little bit about you don't have to do a plan where you're going to pay a large premium, Correct.

00;06;51;03 - 00;07;20;10

Carolee Steele

So most of the advantage plans have a zero premium and there are co-pays and co-insurance along the way. Most people have a primary care physician visit that would be zero specialists, maybe 30, 25, 30, depending on that co-pays, coinsurance. And there always is an out-of-pocket maximum. And that's how much they would be exposed to should they reach their co-insurance, you know, to like, let's just say 3500 at 3500.

00;07;20;12 - 00;07;24;04

Carolee Steele

The rest of it any and be covered service is going to be covered by the carrier.

00;07;24;06 - 00;07;35;04

Cary Hall

Yeah. And that's the important part to understand is when you when you sign up for one of these programs, you are not at risk for that 20% that you would be a risk for if you didn't sign up for it.

00;07;35;04 - 00;07;46;06

Carolee Steele

Correct, and then there's also dental vision hearing transportation that are built into the Medicare Advantage plans. You know, that's kind of it and there isn't sometimes on those supplements.

00;07;46;09 - 00;07;56;07

Cary Hall

Yeah. So the extra benefits that are built into the Medicare Advantage plans and the carriers, that's how the carriers compete with each other. Yeah. So talk a little about that before we go to break here.

00;07;56;09 - 00;08;18;25

Carolee Steele

Well, and typically, you know, the out of poverty, obviously you're going to look at an out of pocket but they kind of range 3000 4005 depending on so they they actually do compete with dental benefits and they also compete with transportation or vision and hearing and over-the-counter products. So you can get like your Tylenol plus NyQuil, vitamins and things.

00;08;18;28 - 00;08;24;07

Carolee Steele

The carriers will give you a card to be able to utilize those over-the-counter products.

00;08;24;07 - 00;08;29;22

Cary Hall

your debit card. And so but I think the one that Blue Cross has is called Blue Bucks.

00;08;29;25 - 00;08;33;26

Carolee Steele

It's a yeah, it's a flex card. And there's quite a bit on there to do whatever.

00;08;33;28 - 00;08;39;13

Cary Hall

What's a classic example of how that particular on that Blue Cross one, how it works on Blue Cross of Kansas City.

00;08;39;13 - 00;08;56;03

Carolee Steele

On Blue Cross of Kansas City, Depending on which plan you have, there can be like a one of the essential plans has like a 250 max out of pocket, I mean, a maximum OTC. See, on the other one, there's $2500 on that one. That can be.

00;08;56;05 - 00;08;56;13

Cary Hall

For you.

00;08;56;13 - 00;09;12;11

Carolee Steele

To use, for you to use dental, vision, hearing, transportation. If you want to use it all for dental, you can pivot it and use it all for dental. And if you're over the counter, you don't even get you know, you would rather pay for that. And you have all your dental. Dental is expensive. Yeah. So there's about 2500.

00;09;12;14 - 00;09;30;26

Cary Hall

So this is just an example. We'll get more in the weeds on this stuff as we go through the show. But this is just an example of why you want to talk to somebody like Carolee at RPS Benefits by Design, because she is an expert. And you can tell that by listening to her in how to navigate through this alphabet soup.

00;09;30;26 - 00;09;52;05

Cary Hall

And did you even know there's a Blue Cross plan that actually has $2500 on a debit card? You probably didn't. You would if you talked Carolee You could do that by calling 877-385-2224 or their website rpsbenefitsbydesigninc.com. We'll be right back after the break.

00;09;52;06 - 00;10;01;21

Cary Hall

You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting here on the HIA Radio Network. Coast to coast across the USA. Don't go anywhere. We've got more on.

00;10;01;23 - 00;10;34;29

Steve Kuker

The golden rule. Treat others as you want to be treated. I'm Steve Kuker and this is one of the founding principles of my firm senior care consulting. Since 2002, our value statement has included honor our mother and father, respect our elders, care for those in need, and treat your family as our own. We've been honored to help hundreds of families make one of the most difficult decisions they could ever make, serving them in their greatest time of need.

00;10;35;01 - 00;11;09;11

Steve Kuker

If you're looking for someone who can provide you experienced and objective guidance when searching for a senior care community, reach out today and discover the services of senior Care Consulting at 913-945-2800. Know your options and choose with care that senior care consulting dot com.

00;11;09;13 - 00;11;27;21

Cary Hall

Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting coast to coast across USA. Here on the HIA Radio Network. As I said, you know you're listening to this. Maybe you want to tell somebody about the Medicare show and and what Carolee’s saying and what Maria Ahlers is going to talk about here, you probably want to go up to the podcast platform.

00;11;27;21 - 00;11;52;06

Cary Hall

They're loaded on all the podcast platforms. There's 15 of them out there. We're on every one of them from Amazon to Pandora, you name it, we're on it. Okay, Rumble, all of them. And we're on YouTube. You can always get the episode off YouTube, which a lot of you do. So if you want to tell somebody about this show or maybe you want to share it, you know, maybe, maybe you're a caregiver and you've got a 90 year old mother and you need to have them convinced that this is something they should do.

00;11;52;06 - 00;12;10;07

Cary Hall

Maybe they should sit down and talk to an expert about is that plan you're on really the best plan for you to be on? That's Carol Steele and the team over at RPS Benefits by Design. You want to reach out to them, I don’t care where you are in the country. If you're in Phoenix, Arizona, if you're in New Mexico, if you're in Florida, it doesn't really matter here in Kansas or Missouri.

00;12;10;14 - 00;12;28;13

Cary Hall

877-385-2224. They can help you wherever you are. 877-385-2224 The website rpsbenefitsbydesigninc.com So you were off we were off here there a minute ago and you you talked about that your parents have that Blue Cross plan.

00;12;28;16 - 00;12;49;24

Maria Ahlers

They do yeah the 2500 during open enrollment I went to Carolee, she's down the hallway from me and said my parents needed to switch their carrier. She got their prescriptions. She looked it up, looked at their network, and came up with some options. It's zero premium for both of them, and they get $2500 to spend

00;12;49;26 - 00;12;51;08

Cary Hall

They like that $2500.

00;12;51;11 - 00;13;16;04

Maria Ahlers

Mom definitely likes at $2500. She goes to you know, she'll go to the retail stores and she'll buy her Band-Aid or her Tylenol or her Zyrtec, and she calls me and she'll say, Maria, it worked. And like it does work. It's just a debit card and you just swipe it and it works. The other nice thing we've been using it for is transportation, because it's covers transportation.

00;13;16;07 - 00;13;28;21

Maria Ahlers

So, you know, my parents used to live in Wichita, so they don't really know the roads here and they have a doctor's appointment. We just get an Uber for them, takes them there and then brings them back.

00;13;28;24 - 00;13;29;18

Cary Hall

That's wonderful.

00;13;29;18 - 00;13;38;22

Maria Ahlers

Yeah, it really is. Yeah, because most of us are having to go pick up our parents, take them to the doctor's appointment, drive them back. And that's a big chunk of our day in this way. It it really does help.

00;13;38;23 - 00;13;46;13

Cary Hall

Yeah, you don't have to do it. And if you know that you can go to the appointment, leave the appointment, come back to the office. You're not driving them back and forth and dealing with all that. Yeah. So it makes a big difference.

00;13;46;13 - 00;14;03;16

Carolee Steele

And that particular plan also the in and out of network costs are the same as far as a primary thing because they spend some time, you know in Texas they do you know with other family and so that was really important to them as well that the in and out of network costs were the same amount. It wasn't like an in-network zero out-of-network.

00;14;03;16 - 00;14;04;29

Carolee Steele

This is what it's going to cost you.

00;14;04;29 - 00;14;15;01

Maria Ahlers

And let me tell you, we were in California for a family function and at that age they're talking about their ailments. You know, that's what old people do say, hey.

00;14;15;03 - 00;14;18;02

Cary Hall

Look, you see she said that that's what old people.

00;14;18;02 - 00;14;18;11

Maria Ahlers

Do.

00;14;18;11 - 00;14;19;00

Cary Hall

Or people do.

00;14;19;00 - 00;14;40;11

Maria Ahlers

I'm sorry, but they do. They share their ailments. My back hurts, but this hurt and that hurt. And my mom could not stop talking about her. 2500. She gets suspended and they're like, well, how much is a premium? And she said, Zero. And they said, Well, how did you get that? And she goes, My daughter. And so she that's all she talked about was the 2500.

00;14;40;14 - 00;14;55;29

Cary Hall

The point in telling that story was to kind of drill that home a little bit. You know, when you're out there looking at these plans or trying to figure out what you're going to do, you know, you're going to get signed up. You've got to get the Part B, etcetera, etcetera and you're looking at all this stuff. It is extremely confusing.

00;14;55;29 - 00;15;12;10

Cary Hall

Okay. As I illustrated in that first segment, the show, and this is a classic example of having somebody this an expert that understands how to walk through all this stuff and turn around and find something that really works for you. And that's really that's really what's important about this is it not Carolee.

00;15;12;13 - 00;15;12;18

Carolee Steele

Yes.

00;15;12;24 - 00;15;25;09

Maria Ahlers

And Cary the icing on the cake is it's so easy. You just call Carolee, give her your information. She does her magic and you're enrolled.

00;15;25;11 - 00;15;33;16

Cary Hall

So question Carolee, does it cost more for people to use you as a broker agent than if they try to do this themselves?

00;15;33;16 - 00;15;45;02

Carolee Steele

No, not at all. No. And no, it doesn't cost you. People go, how much do I owe you for the appointment? I said, No, you don't owe us. You know, we get kind of a backside on the carrier. But no, this is what we do is to be able to help people out.

00;15;45;05 - 00;16;02;14

Cary Hall

Yeah. And so so it's not totally altruistic. They get paid by the insurance carrier for bringing people to the plans and putting them on it. But again, you're showing them a variety of plans. You're showing them all the different plans that are out there. You just heard Maria just said you got their meds and looked up their meds.

00;16;02;14 - 00;16;03;11

Cary Hall

How important is that?

00;16;03;17 - 00;16;23;22

Carolee Steele

They're very important. And they need to know, like what tier, where does it fall on? Will they hit the coverage gap? You know, and everybody knows there's a donut hole or a coverage gap. So, you know, and when when they'd be able to do that. And so it's very important for them because meds tend to be the hurdle in, you know, quite a lot of people.

00;16;23;25 - 00;16;28;21

Cary Hall

Because as we age, there's more medications involved oftentimes.

00;16;28;26 - 00;16;42;13

Carolee Steele

And it's just not a one size fits all. I can't reiterate that enough that it's a not a one size fits all for this particular person. My uncle has this and that and it's like, but that may not be the best thing for you or your mother or your dad.

00;16;42;15 - 00;17;00;26

Cary Hall

Or or I heard this at the Senior Citizen Center, and this friend of mine said, you know that friend, yours is not an expert, okay? And if you listen that to the other thing and we talked for this, the very opening a show, please go to the government website or look at that. How many pages is that handbook?

00;17;00;26 - 00;17;04;03

Cary Hall

I meant to bring that to the show and I forgot to bring it today. The Medicare Handbook.

00;17;04;05 - 00;17;04;29

Carolee Steele

It’s about that thick.

00;17;05;01 - 00;17;12;14

Cary Hall

Okay. And you know, I've been doing this for 27 years and I sit down and look at that book and how is somebody going to make any sense out of this?

00;17;12;17 - 00;17;29;17

Carolee Steele

Because it's different because even UHC has two different types of plans in like the state of Kansas. You know, they have two different. How can you tell that when if it's just in a in a book, you can't tell the difference. And so they go, what is what makes this one different than this one is that's where we come in.

00;17;29;17 - 00;17;29;24

Carolee Steele

Yeah.

00;17;29;24 - 00;17;52;07

Cary Hall

And that's again, whether it's the prescription drugs. Maria said you went and checked those for her parents or you know, or whatever the issue is then you can tailor make the issue to fit what that person needs. Because you said size 44 overcoat doesn't fit everybody. Okay? And that's why, you know, you may find the United plan is a better plan for you than a Blue Cross plan or an Aetna plan

00;17;52;14 - 00;18;04;25

Cary Hall

or maybe a Blue Cross plan is better than either one of those. It just depends on what your needs are and what you're looking for. So you talked about that out of network, especially for Maria's parents going to Texas. Explain that a little bit because that on the Blue Card.

00;18;04;28 - 00;18;23;11

Carolee Steele

That is the you know that's on the there's a Simply Blue plan the Blue Cross of Kansas City offers that has the in and out of network costs are the same. So if it's zero for a primary, you know, then it's going to be out of network is also going to be a zero 35 for a specialist out of network will also be 35.

00;18;23;11 - 00;18;43;05

Carolee Steele

So that just you know for some people that gives them confidence, you know, and comfort is to know that other. Otherwise it's like I go everywhere in Kansas City area, you know, it's no no big deal. I'm okay with that. So it just depends. So each plan fits for, you know, you have to just look at someone's situation and know which plan fits them.

00;18;43;08 - 00;19;02;23

Cary Hall

So in Maria's parents case, they go to Texas quite a bit. So being able to have coverage in Texas is important. You know, if you're a snowbird and you're going to Arizona and Florida, then obviously you're going to want to actually have coverage in either one of those places. That's why it's important to use an expert. Okay. This is not something that I suggest you try to do yourself.

00;19;02;25 - 00;19;23;23

Cary Hall

We've got some examples that we'll talk about. One of those examples when we talk about ACA plans in one of the later segments and what a mistake it can be to try and do this on your own. And then what happens if you do it and there's a problem? That's why it's important to use somebody that is a certified Medicare expert and that is Carolee Steele and the folks over at RPS Benefits by Design.

00;19;24;01 - 00;19;48;16

Cary Hall

The phone number, if you're looking for help, maybe you've got a parent on a plan you're not happy with whatever the case may be. 877-385-2224. The website rpsbenefitsbydesigninc.com. So if you want to learn more about our podcasts or more about what we do on YouTube, you can go to the website America's Healthcare Advocate dot com.

00;19;48;21 - 00;20;08;24

Cary Hall

As I said, those podcasts are on 15 podcast channels now, so they're out there on almost every podcast are on tTuneIn, they're on Amazon, they're on Pandora. The list is long. Okay, So you can find us on the podcast platform and then all the episodes are posted up on the YouTube platform. So you can also go up and look for America's Healthcare Advocate.

00;20;08;24 - 00;20;26;20

Cary Hall

It's up there and then all the episodes are posted up there. So maybe in this particular case you're looking at this for Medicare to share this information with somebody or get somebody to do something in terms of maybe changing a plan or looking at a different plan, that's the best way to do it. Go to the podcast platform or go to the YouTube platform.

00;20;26;23 - 00;20;46;22

Cary Hall

We'll be right back after the break. Now you're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting here on the HIA Radio Network Coast to Coast across the USA. You stay right there.

00;20;46;25 - 00;21;06;13

Cary Hall

Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting coast to coast across the USA here on the HIA Radio Network. You can find out more about us by going to the website America's Healthcare Advocate dot com. Also, the YouTube platform is America's Healthcare Advocate and the podcast platforms just put it in America's Healthcare Advocate.

00;21;06;18 - 00;21;33;26

Cary Hall

It's up there on SoundCloud, Amazon, you name it, iTunes, Pandora, Rumble, on all 15 of them across the country. In studio with me today, Carolee Steele and Maria Ahlers from RPS Benefits by Design. They are in-house insurance experts. We're starting off the show today, these last two segments talking about Medicare. We're going to continue to talk about that a little bit in this segment and just kind of educating you on this alphabet soup and Medicare.

00;21;34;01 - 00;21;57;24

Cary Hall

How do you navigate it? How do you do it? Why should you do it? And if you're turning 65 or you have a parent who is aging and maybe they're having problems, these are the folks that can help you anywhere in the country. 877-385-2224 or the website RPS Benefits by Design Inc dot com. All right, so let's go back a little bit.

00;21;57;26 - 00;22;16;02

Cary Hall

There are some options out there for seasoned citizens. Also under the Spira Care model for folks that are just on regular health insurance. But let's focus on seasoned citizens right now. So we've got CenterWell and we've got Spira Care, both our primary care centers center.

00;22;16;03 - 00;22;16;07

Carolee Steele

Yeah.

00;22;16;07 - 00;22;17;09

Cary Hall

So let's talk a little about that.

00;22;17;10 - 00;22;40;04

Carolee Steele

Well, starting off with Spira Care, a lot of people are on Spira Care in the Kansas City area on employer plans, and they have had a connection with the center. It's kind of like they take care of the whole person. And so when they then go to Medicare, then with Spira Care, they they actually have that availability with Medicare, too, to continue with their Spira Care doctor.

00;22;40;10 - 00;22;52;12

Carolee Steele

But it's basically a center where they kind of take care of the whole person. You have a care guide, behavioral health you can have. And so it's kind of an all in one encompassing a lot of employer groups with Blue Cross have that.

00;22;52;12 - 00;23;08;15

Cary Hall

And a lot of individuals are like the Spira Care program. I think the retention is something like 90%. Yes. So when people get on it, they want to stay. There are nine locations around the city, easier for people to get to. And people really enjoyed the experience.

00;23;08;19 - 00;23;29;07

Carolee Steele

Right. And some of the centers have like you can get an X-ray there or you can get some, you know, just generic medication there, depending on the actual location in the city. But once people get in there, they really love it. And so even when they go to Medicare, you know, on the Blue Cross, they have that availability to be able to use their primary care doctor at Spira Care.

00;23;29;12 - 00;23;51;20

Cary Hall

So Maria the CenterWell program is just for seasoned citizens. It is not for under 65, it's just for seasoned citizens. And that's a that's a there are five of those in Kansas City and they're part of the Humana. But any any carrier, if you're on at the United Humana Cigna, you can go to the center well programs right.

00;23;51;23 - 00;24;14;13

Maria Ahlers

You can go there make an appointment. They will send transportation for you to pick up the patient and take them to the center to see a physician. You can call an 800 line and get an appointment set up. You can call Carolee and she can help you get the appointment set up. But it is it's I call it the Spira Care for senior citizens.

00;24;14;19 - 00;24;36;16

Cary Hall

Yeah, it's really what it is. And so that's the CenterWell program that's offered by Humana actually. But it's open to if you're on a Medicare Advantage plan. Okay. And you you want to try one of these primary care centers, The CenterWell program is great if you're on United, if you're on Aetna, if you're on Humana's, Cigna, you have access to those programs.

00;24;36;16 - 00;24;44;25

Cary Hall

Here's the thing. This is interesting. The average time that a person spends with a primary care physician in this country is seven and a half minutes.

00;24;44;26 - 00;24;46;08

Carolee Steele

Just going to say five and a half.

00;24;46;10 - 00;25;07;22

Cary Hall

You're close. You know, we we had Doctor Dr. V on here from CenterWell, a couple of weeks ago, and he talked about, you know. He talked about how they do what they do. And then we had Dr. Castro on here from this Spira Care. People are walking in there and sitting down, spending 45 minutes to an hour, correct?

00;25;07;24 - 00;25;08;04

Carolee Steele

Correct.

00;25;08;05 - 00;25;11;00

Cary Hall

What's last time you went to a primary care and had 45 minutes to an hour?

00;25;11;00 - 00;25;32;28

Carolee Steele

And that's what's so attractive about those is that situation of CenterWell and Spira Care is that they spend the time they kind of look at the whole person and then like with CenterWell they hone in on senior at the senior population you know which is really important a lot to you know some people they really like that particular element of it.

00;25;33;00 - 00;25;52;21

Cary Hall

Yeah. And by the way, the CenterWell, clinics are around the country. You could be in Florida and go to the CenterWell, you could be in Arizona to go to the CenterWell, they have clinics all around the country and you can go to their website centerwell.com and all that information is up there. So the center well, clinics are available, you know, throughout the metro here and in different parts of the country, they're available as well.

00;25;52;21 - 00;26;01;11

Cary Hall

So it's just a different model. And I think it's great, you know, not just for senior citizens, you know, the Spira Care is available for a lot of the group plans, Maria.

00;26;01;14 - 00;26;28;09

Maria Ahlers

They are a lot of our employers enjoy them because it is a one stop shop. I mean, you can get your like Carolee said, your prescription, your labs, they have a care team for you. They'll help you with your EOB, your explanation of benefits. If you go there and they discover some major medical issues, they will refer you out and they will walk along with you on that path of your care plan.

00;26;28;11 - 00;26;48;22

Cary Hall

Yeah, And that's the other thing is, especially if you're an employer, your employers are going to be happy. There's no co-pay either on CenterWell, if you're seasonal citizen, okay, or it's Spira Care, there's no co-pay. So it's so the barrier to primary care is gone. There's no it doesn't cost you anything to go see a primary care physician.

00;26;48;24 - 00;27;00;13

Cary Hall

And they also have behavioral health available at both CenterWill and Spira Care. So if you're dealing with behavioral health issues, it's also available. I think it's just important that we get that kind of information out and people know.

00;27;00;15 - 00;27;04;15

Carolee Steele

And they take care of the whole person, which is good, and they really like that.

00;27;04;19 - 00;27;22;23

Cary Hall

Yeah, it is so, you know, we're going to switch topics here just for a minute. We're going to talk about special needs programs. Let's talk it let's start about what are special needs. And they're available throughout the country, the different ones in every state, Correct? Okay. Because the way they're set up. But let's just talk about special needs.

00;27;22;23 - 00;27;31;08

Cary Hall

Let's use Missouri as an example where there are multiple of these programs and talked about I think UnitedHealthcare has got the plans in Missouri, is that correct?

00;27;31;08 - 00;28;01;29

Carolee Steele

Yes. And yes. And so special needs, dual eligible special needs plan. Medicare is federally driven and that people are eligible for Medicare. Some people are eligible for Medicaid as well. And that's state driven. So if you have both, then you have Medicare and Medicaid, you're considered dual eligible. And there is a D-SNP plan which is Dual Special Needs Plan that is available with, you know, so many rich benefits.

00;28;02;01 - 00;28;14;16

Carolee Steele

You know, the dental can be somewhere between $3000 and $4000. And then also vision, hearing, transportation, they're much richer then they're more rich than your average just Medicare Advantage plan.

00;28;14;23 - 00;28;17;05

Cary Hall

And the out of pockets on them.

00;28;17;07 - 00;28;20;00

Carolee Steele

Well it's your Medicare and Medicaid it's zero zero.

00;28;20;00 - 00;28;31;15

Cary Hall

And that's important to understand. Yes. Okay. So talk about who qualifies for those. You've got you got different categories. You've got chronic illness. So that that would be somebody with type one diabetes.

00;28;31;17 - 00;28;57;01

Carolee Steele

Type one diabetes, any kind of heart, dementia, things like that. That's chronic special needs and those type of plans hone in on to the particular needs of the like the terminally ill or some very chronic conditions. Dual eligible Medicaid is income driven. And so that they particularly do they have very rich benefits for people. They think, well, I have Medicare, Medicaid, I don't need anything else.

00;28;57;03 - 00;29;00;15

Cary Hall

But think back to this discussion. I don't know what you don't know.

00;29;00;15 - 00;29;01;29

Carolee Steele

You don't know what you don't know. Right.

00;29;02;02 - 00;29;11;27

Cary Hall

And here, if you get this plan, you may have all of that, but you can step up to another level of care, greater opportunity and not pay for it.

00;29;11;29 - 00;29;25;20

Carolee Steele

Correct. And case managers you know, they can kind of the case manager for Medicaid and Medicare. They can kind of work together. People who do not look into the D-SNP plans, they are leaving a lot of benefits on, you know, on the table.

00;29;25;23 - 00;29;36;10

Cary Hall

And so let's talk a little bit about that. Let's say you've got a 94 year old mother and she's in a facility and that she could qualify for this program. So talk a lot about that.

00;29;36;13 - 00;29;48;10

Carolee Steele

There's an institutional special needs plan and then, you know, it depends on the criteria. And like I said before, with the Chronic, it's geared specifically to the needs of those particular seniors.

00;29;48;13 - 00;29;56;29

Cary Hall

So that that so if they're in a nursing home or in a facility of some kind, then you may be it's a memory facility. They would qualify for the program.

00;29;56;29 - 00;30;10;16

Carolee Steele

Yeah. Kind of the criteria they'd have to go through the criteria. So there's there's institutional, there's chronic, and then there's the dual eligible, the ones that have Medicaid. So those are the three special needs plans and they're very rich in benefits.

00;30;10;16 - 00;30;15;11

Cary Hall

And there's a process you have to go through and that's what you do. So talk a lot about them.

00;30;15;13 - 00;30;32;12

Carolee Steele

Well, and we just kind of look at their eligibility, you know, do what kind of level of Medicaid do you have or what type and do you have Medicare and Medicaid? Would you qualify for that? So we go through all of that and just look to see what is available for those particular needs. And for that individual.

00;30;32;17 - 00;30;35;10

Cary Hall

And you're able to do that, get it through the paperwork.

00;30;35;10 - 00;30;41;27

Carolee Steele

Go through the process, go through the paperwork. We handle everything with the carrier and then, you know, then they're enrolled.

00;30;41;29 - 00;31;07;06

Cary Hall

So it's not your parent out there or your grandparent aging. And they have some of these issues. Maybe they are a type one diabetic and they're on a plan but you don't they don't have this particular plan. You really do need to again, you don't know what you don't know and you need to take the time to pick up the phone and give these folks a call, Call Carolee or one of the folks over at RPS Benefits by Design. They'll walk you through the whole process. You don't have to do any of it, and they help you get it done.

00;31;07;10 - 00;31;16;14

Carolee Steele

Let me piggyback on that just for a minute. Dual eligible people don't have to adhere to the annual election period. They can enroll in each quarter.

00;31;16;19 - 00;31;17;25

Cary Hall

That's important.

00;31;17;25 - 00;31;18;18

Carolee Steele

Very important.

00;31;18;18 - 00;31;32;26

Cary Hall

I didn't even know that. So you're already on a plan. Maybe it's a parent that's already on the plan, whatever the case may be, or you're on the plan and you just listen to this and hey, I could be eligible, maybe my husband's eligible or my wife. Whatever the case may be. You don't have to wait for open enrollment.

00;31;32;26 - 00;31;53;01

Cary Hall

So, again, call Carolee at 877-385-2224. Or online at RPS Benefits by Design Inc dot com. We'll be right back with more after the break. Stay right there.

00;31;53;03 - 00;32;12;00

Cary Hall

Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate Show broadcasting coast to coast across the USA. Our producer on the microphones, Mr. Darren Willhite, our producer behind the camera, Mr. Dave Thiessen, putting it all together to get it up on those podcasts and YouTube site. If you want to learn more about us, the website America's Healthcare Advocate dot com that is the website.

00;32;12;00 - 00;32;35;06

Cary Hall

Send me an email if you've got questions I am happy to answer. If I can help you with something, I'm happy to do that as well. Once again, the website America's Healthcare Advocate dot com. And if you want to speak to one of the experts at RPS Benefits by Design like the lovely Carolee Steele 877-385-2224 she is there to help you if you're looking for Medicare, if you're looking for employer sponsored.

00;32;35;06 - 00;32;59;00

Cary Hall

We're going to get to that in the next segment. So if you're looking for employer sponsored health care, maybe you got one of those big premium increases and you're like, I don't like this. Well, call Maria, Have a conversation with her. 877-385-2224 or the website rpsbenefitsbydesigninc.com. Let's go back through that special enrollment because we did that right at the end of the segment.

00;32;59;02 - 00;33;06;26

Cary Hall

And I want to make sure people understand, first of all, the three categories of special enrollment. Go to that again. Okay. Chronic disease.

00;33;06;29 - 00;33;07;25

Carolee Steele

chronic disease.

00;33;07;25 - 00;33;08;29

Cary Hall

Institutionalized.

00;33;09;00 - 00;33;11;15

Carolee Steele

And dual, which means Medicare and Medicaid.

00;33;11;15 - 00;33;21;09

Cary Hall

Yes. So any one of those three can qualify you for these programs. They are extremely benefits rich. They have no out-of-pocket. Right. Okay. And that's a big deal.

00;33;21;13 - 00;33;23;23

Carolee Steele

Yes. Okay. For the Medicaid eligible.

00;33;23;26 - 00;33;30;21

Cary Hall

Correct. And they offer a whole series of benefits that the other plans still offer.

00;33;30;21 - 00;33;53;11

Carolee Steele

Yes, absolutely. And they offer much more. Other plans do offer dental transportation hearing, but not in the amounts that these do like. There's 3 to 4000 in dental, sometimes with some of the D-SNPs. One of my sweet little men that I visited and got him a dual needs and he goes, You mean I can get like dentures, I can smile on my next birthday?

00;33;53;11 - 00;33;56;03

Carolee Steele

I'm like, Yes, you get to see that. And that's a lot.

00;33;56;04 - 00;34;19;06

Cary Hall

People don't know that that that's a that's why we do these shows is so you can understand what's out there because it's complicated. You know, I keep saying that, but it is. And if want to talk to somebody that really understands how to navigate this and get it done, that's what these folks do. So but that's so there's an open enrollment very for Medicare.

00;34;19;06 - 00;34;23;25

Cary Hall

We're not talking about that. We're talking about special needs. It's different. How does that work?

00;34;23;28 - 00;34;35;12

Carolee Steele

Their special needs, They can enroll once per quarter. So, you know, January to March 31 and so forth, so they can enroll like right now. And your election period is over for most Medicare.

00;34;35;12 - 00;34;36;06

Cary Hall

Right.

00;34;36;08 - 00;34;38;28

Carolee Steele

They can enroll right now for the next.

00;34;38;28 - 00;34;39;24

Cary Hall

Special Needs program.

00;34;39;24 - 00;34;40;29

Carolee Steele

Absolutely, they can enroll.

00;34;40;29 - 00;34;42;29

Cary Hall

And in the next quarter, they could do the same.

00;34;42;29 - 00;34;45;09

Carolee Steele

Thing for something didn't work out. They can do the same.

00;34;45;10 - 00;35;06;20

Cary Hall

Right. So that's important because if you if you don't know that and you think, well, I'm locked in till next year because I've got mom or dad on on a program, maybe they're institutionalized. So you're not happy with the way things are going. There's some opportunities that it could make a big difference. Or just like Carolee said, you know, the gentleman she just did this for said, I'm going to get a $3,000 dental benefit.

00;35;06;22 - 00;35;22;20

Cary Hall

I can go get my dentures done. Yeah. I mean, those are you know, these programs are designed to help people that don't have the means. That's what this is for. All right. And it is it is a great benefit. But you have to understand how to get it and you have to understand how to navigate it. So that's really important.

00;35;22;20 - 00;35;48;20

Carolee Steele

And the. Carriers now, the new benefits are food allowances and to be able to have money for utilities. So food allowances is a big thing for some of our seniors. You want to make sure to talk to one of us, like waive the food allowance. Then what's the out of pocket? What am I giving it for? It may still be nothing but those food allowances and the money to be able to pay for utilities is so important for so many seniors.

00;35;48;23 - 00;36;01;28

Cary Hall

Wow. So there is there are food allowances now in these Special Needs programs. Okay. And the same thing with utility allowance. So if somebody is living on just Social Security and they can't make ends meet, this can make a big difference.

00;36;02;04 - 00;36;12;19

Carolee Steele

Right. For dual eligible who are Medicare and Medicaid, those are available. So that's what you to you want to look over. If that's really key important to them you know then that's how we want to address.

00;36;12;21 - 00;36;38;24

Cary Hall

Those are called Medicare Special Needs programs. Once again, you can reach out to Carolee 877-385-2224 and she'll be happy to help you. Let's kind of go through your back through this a minute, the regular Medicare Advantage programs are offering some of the things they're offering as additional benefits for people. These are zero premium plans. Okay? They don't cost any more for you to sign up through RPS Benefits by Design if you try to do it yourself.

00;36;38;25 - 00;36;59;12

Cary Hall

Course, the difference is you may sign up yourself and find out that that formulary doesn't cover your medications, that won't happen if you're talking to the folks at RPS BBDI. So let's kind of go through the additional benefits that we talked. We touched on that Blue Cross and Blue Shield card, that debit card that Maria's mother really likes.

00;36;59;14 - 00;37;05;16

Cary Hall

So let's talk about, you know, some of that. Why do you do that? What are some of the benefits they offer.

00;37;05;18 - 00;37;32;25

Carolee Steele

For like the for a decent if they've got dental, vision, hearing, transportation, you know, over the counter, you've got food allowances, utilities I mean, sometimes that keeps people in, you know, maintenance mode because there's a lot of the seniors that, you know, are a little food deprived. And, you know, one of the guys we were talking to and he goes, I might actually be able to go buy a roast instead of my canned thing that I always get, you know?

00;37;32;25 - 00;37;38;18

Carolee Steele

So he was so excited to be able to have a food allowance, to be able to kind of, you know, up the quality of his food.

00;37;38;21 - 00;37;43;22

Cary Hall

Now, that's not on the regular Medicare Advantage plans. Let's talk about those benefits.

00;37;43;22 - 00;38;15;22

Carolee Steele

Yeah, those on a regular Medicare Advantage plan, they have dental, vision, hearing and transportation. It is, you know, more minimal than, of course, a D-SNPs, but they still have that available. And each plan differs like with, you know, you know, each plan differs some to some have a large dental benefit, some have them compartmentalized where they have this much dental, you know, this much in transportation, this much Some of them have, like Maria's mom did, have the whole 2500 to spend how they need to.

00;38;15;27 - 00;38;30;14

Cary Hall

Yeah that's really you know so that whole $2500 can be going to the you know, going to get those over-the-counter meds, whatever the case may be, or that whole $2500 could be I need a new set of dentures and this is going to pay for 80% of it or whatever.

00;38;30;14 - 00;38;48;15

Carolee Steele

They get in Some of the regular Medicare Advantage plans have the opportunity to buy a dental buy up so they pay an extra maybe $25 a month. They'd have a dental buy-up so they'd have $2000 in dental and still have their 2500 to move toward that. So potentially it could be like a $4500 benefit.

00;38;48;18 - 00;38;57;03

Cary Hall

All the shows are posted on YouTube platform. America's Healthcare Advocate can also go to the website RPS Benefits by Design Inc dot com.

00;38;57;03 - 00;39;10;23

Carolee Steele

And I do have one thing to say about that. Just we are licensed in many, many states and we represent all the carriers. So I want to make sure that people do know that even though we've been talking about Blue and UHC and CenterWell, I just want to make sure they knew that.

00;39;10;23 - 00;39;38;12

Cary Hall

Yes, we're we're carrier agnostic. Okay. It's what works best for you. Okay, let's switch gears. Maria, so let's talk about, you know, the people that are the most challenged on the employer side. On the group side are small businesses, without a doubt. They're the ones that are suffering under the ACA model. Premiums keep going up significantly. That pool of people in those plans continues to shrink because there are no subsidies for employers.

00;39;38;19 - 00;39;48;13

Cary Hall

They're paying for it out of their pocket. So let's talk about that and how you're able to help employers and small group employers like 1 to 50, right?

00;39;48;13 - 00;39;50;29

Maria Ahlers

Yeah, that's what we considered small employers.

00;39;50;29 - 00;39;51;27

Cary Hall

Is talk about that.

00;39;51;27 - 00;40;23;00

Maria Ahlers

Yeah I'd love to. Small employers are companies with fewer than 50 employees. They do have a challenge because of how of the number of employees they have. Not every carrier will provide coverage if you don't have a minimum number of employees. However, we we have experts to help you with that, whether it's one employee, meaning you're an LLC of one person, you're an accountant, you're a lawyer or.

00;40;23;01 - 00;40;23;08

Cary Hall

Uber.

00;40;23;08 - 00;40;43;09

Maria Ahlers

Driver, Right. You're an Uber driver. We have an exclusive partnership with a carrier that we can provide you with a PPO plan. So a PPO plan is better known as the plans with co-pays. You go to the doctor, you pay a certain amount, you go to a specialist, you pay a certain amount, you go get your prescription filled.

00;40;43;09 - 00;40;55;02

Maria Ahlers

You pay a certain amount for tier 1 to 3 and four. So we have those plans available for really anyone that needs group employee benefits.

00;40;55;05 - 00;41;05;17

Cary Hall

And they're available again around the country. Does it matter where they're at? They could be in Arizona. They can be in Mexico, they can be here, they can be in Missouri, Kansas, whatever the case may be. And you're able to help them with whatever it is they need.

00;41;05;20 - 00;41;27;03

Maria Ahlers

That's right. We can help them with whatever they need. If they have. You know, as Cary mentioned earlier, renewal rates go really high. Every year. I hear from our clients, premiums keep going up and they do. They keep going up. And we have to find ways to keep the costs down because benefits are the largest piece of overhead for a company.

00;41;27;05 - 00;41;30;07

Cary Hall

Yeah, they are next to payroll.

00;41;30;07 - 00;41;30;20

Maria Ahlers

That's right.

00;41;30;26 - 00;41;31;21

Cary Hall

That's number two.

00;41;31;22 - 00;41;32;19

Maria Ahlers

That's right. Yep.

00;41;32;25 - 00;41;42;26

Cary Hall

And the other problem is, you know, you have carriers just I mean, if employers just walk away from this and they're not going to offer coverage, then they have some challenges with that, don't they?

00;41;42;29 - 00;42;06;18

Maria Ahlers

They do. They are some compliance challenges, certain size employers are required to to offer benefits to their employees. And if they don't, they can get fined thousands, thousands of dollars per day per employee. So we really want to avoid that. But also the biggest piece is recruiting and retention. The number one reason that people accept roles are because of benefits.

00;42;06;18 - 00;42;22;08

Maria Ahlers

I mean, you hear of husband and wife, a two income household where the husband or the wife have their own business, but the spouse continues to work for an employer for the benefits. So benefits is a big part for recruiting and retention.

00;42;22;11 - 00;42;43;29

Cary Hall

Yeah. And in recruiting or retention and the level of employee satisfaction. That's right. If you're offering a lousy plan or you're shifting cost over to the employee and you know, unfortunately, a lot of employers do this, that may look good in the short term, but you better start looking at your turnover rate.

00;42;44;00 - 00;43;16;01

Maria Ahlers

That's right. You do you need to look at your turnover rate not only because of the morale for the organization, but also when you get new employees. That affects your plans because it depends on your claims. It depends on the the group's medical history. It depends on the risk aversion for a certain group. So that's why, again, not just with Medicare, but employer group benefits, you should reach out to an expert, let them know what your challenges are, what your pain points are.

00;43;16;03 - 00;43;36;14

Maria Ahlers

If the benefits are working well for you, for your employees. And I always say there's no reason to offer a benefit if no one's going to take advantage of it. And so it's really important to make sure that your benefits are meeting your employees needs. We always strongly encourage a benefits survey done every year just to do a climate check with your employees.

00;43;36;21 - 00;43;57;16

Cary Hall

So let's talk about unlimited. So I just I just renewed my policy with my cat, with my company. I'm an employer. I just renewed it last year. I went through the painful process. I'm not really happy we got a 27% increase. My employees are complaining they're not happy. We got a narrow network because we had to lower costs, so we accepted a narrow now policy.

00;43;57;21 - 00;44;23;02

Cary Hall

Now I've got employees who can't see the doctor they used to go to. Their wives are unhappy, their husbands are unhappy. Whatever the case may be. They can't see the pediatrician. They need. Wouldn't that be a great time to fill out that survey and let you guys go look at everything in the marketplace, some of which isn't offered by what we call the BUCA carriers, Blue Cross, United, CIGNA, etc..

00;44;23;05 - 00;44;33;12

Cary Hall

There are plans that are outside of the box. Yes. Okay. That are great plans around the country that are different than that did that can solve a lot of those problems.

00;44;33;12 - 00;45;03;07

Maria Ahlers

Yeah, there really are plans that will meet every employer's needs based on what they know. Employees are very vocal about benefits. It is the number one most important thing to them. Not only does it impact their their health, their families, but also their pocketbook. Cary. It’s huge. Yeah. I've seen people, you know, go bankrupt because they didn't have the right plan.

00;45;03;07 - 00;45;25;17

Maria Ahlers

And that's what we also do. Not only do we help the decision makers of organizations figure out what's the best plan for their team, but also we we can sit down with the employees and talk about what's best for their family. Because many times, even with small employers under 50, we can still offer two or three plans.

00;45;25;19 - 00;45;29;23

Maria Ahlers

One size doesn't fit all, and we want to have those choices out there for them.

00;45;29;29 - 00;45;41;22

Cary Hall

Yeah, and that gives them that opportunity to have those choices. So reaching out to you to do that survey, then then you have the information you need to go back and say, We've got some recommendations here.

00;45;41;25 - 00;45;50;13

Maria Ahlers

We do. Okay. Yeah, we do. And again, like you mentioned, we have options besides just the major BUCAs They're wonderful, They're great. They don't.

00;45;50;13 - 00;45;51;02

Cary Hall

Fit everybody.

00;45;51;02 - 00;46;13;24

Maria Ahlers

They don't fit everybody. But we we work with every carrier and we know the plans for every every carrier. And we've had clients with every type of situation where we know where the right carrier might be. And we present you with the options and talk you through it and talk about strategy. Health care is not a short term fix.

00;46;13;24 - 00;46;17;00

Maria Ahlers

It is a long term strategic goal.

00;46;17;07 - 00;46;34;19

Cary Hall

So, you know, I used to do a commercial for Benefits by Design, which was my company then before it merged with RPS, and I said, if your broker agent tells you to call the one 800, I don't give a damn number. And that was referring to the customer service number for a lot of different carriers who really don't have good customer service.

00;46;34;21 - 00;46;56;10

Cary Hall

Talk about customer service at one of the big things about RPS Benefits by Design and by the way, my daughter and her husband, their company is with RPS Benefits by Design. They're in Washington state. Okay, So believe me, I know how the customer service works. Talk of that to me is one of the key differences between the way RPS BBDI works and other agencies and brokers.

00;46;56;10 - 00;46;58;12

Cary Hall

It just called the 800 number for the carrier.

00;46;58;14 - 00;47;28;20

Maria Ahlers

Yeah, we give you the term is is widely overused, but it's the best way to describe it. It's that white glove service, that concierge service. We have actually an agent on on our staff that he takes appointments, you can call him whether it's an employer, an individual Medicare. And he will do the enrollment for you. He will walk you through the plans, talk you through what your needs are, and get you enrolled.

00;47;28;20 - 00;47;31;04

Maria Ahlers

And all you're waiting for is your card.

00;47;31;06 - 00;47;35;23

Cary Hall

But if you have a problem, you're on a plan and a claim doesn't get paid. They can call you.

00;47;35;25 - 00;47;56;18

Maria Ahlers

They can call us and we'll have one of our account managers or someone, one of our client services person give the carrier call. As a matter of fact, just the other day we had an employee email me saying that her husband needed to have eye surgery, call the doc the eye doctor's office and they didn't have him in the system.

00;47;56;20 - 00;48;15;19

Maria Ahlers

We got one. We got the doctor's office phone number, we got the husband's phone number. We called the doctor's office, gave him the information, and we also told her that probably we need to also consider her medical insurance to cover some of it. And she was so grateful because she didn't even think about the medical piece of it.

00;48;15;21 - 00;48;17;25

Maria Ahlers

But that's what that's the expertise we bring and.

00;48;17;27 - 00;48;31;04

Cary Hall

That's what customer service is all about. And that's something they do at RPS Benefits by Design. If you want help 877-385-2224 Your employer, Maria, is happy to help you and show you your options out there. Thank you both for doing this today.

00;48;31;04 - 00;48;31;13

Maria Ahlers

Thank you, Cary.

00;48;31;13 - 00;48;46;26

Cary Hall

Think there's a lot of information out there today for a lot of folks. And now I leave you with this thought from Dr. Albert Einstein, the one who follows the crowd, they usually get no further than the crowd, the one who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been. Remember, friends. It's a funny thing about life.

00;48;46;26 - 00;48;58;13

Cary Hall

If you refuse to accept anything but the very best, you most often get it. Thank you for listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting coast to coast across the USA. Goodbye, America.