Episode 2131 notes

JMy guest, Ron Miller is BlueKC’s FEP Senior Sales Consultant & Labor Liaison and Ron and I have all the things to know Right Now and why Federal Employees should consider Blue Cross Ble Shield for their health insurance needs!

• The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program is the number one health insurance choice for federal employees, retirees, and their families.
• For nearly 60 years, we’ve been committed to offering federal employees the best healthcare coverage in the U.S.
• More than 99% of our members stay with us year over year.
• Our preferred provider network includes 95% of doctors, 96% of hospitals and 65,000 pharmacies nationwide. And you never need a referral to see a specialist.
• 24/7 care provided by Teladoc Health – treatment for minor injuries and illnesses, mental health support, dermatology care and more by phone or video.
• Preventive care is always covered when you see a Preferred provider.
• OPEN ENROLLMENT SEASON runs from Monday, Nov. 11th through Saturday, Dec. 8, 2025.

Virtual Fairs:

https://www.fepblue.org/events

To learn more about the Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Program, visit fepblue.org or call 800-411-BLUE.

And if you need help or have something to share, contact me Cary Hall, America's Healthcare Advocate at https://www.americashealthcareadvocate.com/contact-us

And let me know what's on your mind, issues you are dealing with, or other health, healthcare, and health insurance questions and concerns.

00;00;01;14 - 00;00;23;24

Cary Hall

And now America's Healthcare Advocate, Cary Hall. Hello, America. Welcome to America's Healthcare Advocates. 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 AmericasHealthcareAdvocate.com. Also, all these shows are posted on our podcast platform and YouTube platform. New numbers.

00;00;24;01 - 00;00;46;28

Cary Hall

We are at 605,000 views. That's because. And listens on podcast. That's because of all of you in this audience. I want to thank you too. The show continues to grow. We continue to pick up affiliates and what's going on on our podcast. And YouTube is beyond anything I thought we'd ever accomplish. Hats off to Garner and to Dave Thiessen for putting all this together.

00;00;46;28 - 00;01;06;22

Cary Hall

And Dave, particularly for all the shows he videotapes and puts up there. If you're looking for ACA, Obamacare, maybe you're going to get one of those letters and you got one of those 17% increases. Of course you wouldn't if you were on Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. But let's just say you're not. You might want to give Carolee Steele over at RPS Benefits by Design a call.

00;01;06;25 - 00;01;26;08

Cary Hall

And see if they can help you. That would be (913) 385 2224. That's (913) 385 2224. And if you're looking for employer sponsored coverage, call Maria Ahlers she'll show you everything in the marketplace and help you make the right decision. All right. In studio with me for what is this, like the 12th, the 13th year we've done?

00;01;26;15 - 00;01;27;16

Ron Miller

It's been a lot of years.

00;01;27;21 - 00;01;29;01

Cary Hall

Well, you've been there 30 years.

00;01;29;01 - 00;01;29;16

Ron Miller

30 years.

00;01;29;17 - 00;01;45;09

Cary Hall

Okay, I don't have that number, but I've been doing this since Ron Rowe brought us in. Yes. And that was seven, 18 years ago. Yes. As Blue Cross became our first sponsor. Yes. And so today we're going to do what we call the FEP Show. That's the Federal Employee Show. We do this every year.

00;01;45;11 - 00;02;07;12

Cary Hall

The purpose of it is to inform the federal employees about this open enrollment period they have, which is very narrow. It's November 10th to December 8th. It's not a large open enrollment period. So the idea here is to get this information out there. We'll put it up on our YouTube channel. Our podcast channel, and then we'll tell the federal employees, you know, where they can go to get more information.

00;02;07;12 - 00;02;16;26

Cary Hall

But the whole idea about this is to educate folks. So let's just start with how many federal and postal employees estimate do we have in the Kansas City metro?

00;02;17;02 - 00;02;31;18

Ron Miller

Kansas City Metro, we have over 39,000 members. That and their families have chosen us. And, you know, we appreciate that federal employees in the Kansas City area, over and over have shown we have a 99% retention, which is.

00;02;31;18 - 00;02;32;05

Cary Hall

Insane.

00;02;32;05 - 00;02;40;19

Ron Miller

Which is insane that, you know, members join us and they stay because we have and we'll touch on this later. Our customer service is oh, we'll.

00;02;40;20 - 00;02;41;05

Cary Hall

Talk about.

00;02;41;05 - 00;02;45;19

Ron Miller

That. And so we just have, we just really it's really a priority for us.

00;02;45;22 - 00;02;51;28

Cary Hall

Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Yeah. I the fact that you retain 99% of your members, that's, That's really hard to believe.

00;02;51;29 - 00;02;53;00

Ron Miller

It's hard. Yeah.

00;02;53;02 - 00;03;07;00

Cary Hall

But it's remarkable tribute to the folks at Blue Cross of Kansas City and all that you guys do. So let's talk a little bit about, doctors, hospitals and access, because this is another piece of this that makes it so different than anything else that's out there in the marketplace.

00;03;07;05 - 00;03;30;09

Ron Miller

Yeah. For all of our plans that we have there nationwide plan, some of them. May you have to stay in the network for both our basic and our blue focus. But as far as access, we have 99% of all doctors. That are in nationwide that are in the network. Okay. So if you go in for Thanksgiving, you're going to go see somebody out of town.

00;03;30;09 - 00;03;32;00

Ron Miller

You're going to have coverage wherever you are.

00;03;32;00 - 00;03;33;12

Cary Hall

Hundred percent, wherever you are.

00;03;33;14 - 00;03;43;21

Ron Miller

You’re going to have coverage. So that's one of the good things about Blue Cross Blue Shield. You're not going to go anywhere. Show your Blue Cross card. And they're going to say, what is it that you have.

00;03;43;24 - 00;03;47;16

Cary Hall

No they will not. So yeah they won't you know.

00;03;47;16 - 00;04;03;26

Ron Miller

And so the doctors, hospitals that we have, we also have a Teladoc program, you know, which during Covid really kind of picked up where people are able to do it, on their phone, for doctors and so we still have that Teladoc, available.

00;04;03;26 - 00;04;08;05

Cary Hall

Which is interesting because, you know, that that also has mental health support on it as well.

00;04;08;08 - 00;04;23;19

Ron Miller

That is, that is and that's really been a priority for us, as well as a lot of other people out there with just, you know, things. As things are going mental health is definitely, mental health parity that we have in the state. And so it's a very important thing. And we have that with our Teladoc as well.

00;04;23;20 - 00;04;40;16

Cary Hall

Yeah. And I know Erin Stucky, your CEO, has really kind of pioneered this along with, you know, you've got Ryan Lefebvre who's going to be in this radio studio in a couple of weeks to talk about mental health and all that. You know, there is an issue with this, especially, you know, amongst younger people. I've got, you know, six grandchildren.

00;04;40;23 - 00;04;58;26

Cary Hall

And thank God none of them had this issue. But there are a lot of young people out there on social media and these other places. You see these kids committing suicide. You see these kids harming themselves. And the fact that you've got this available in Teladoc, where the kid can go in a room, close the door and get on a computer and talk to a clinician.

00;04;58;29 - 00;04;59;29

Cary Hall

That's a big deal, Ron.

00;04;59;29 - 00;05;18;26

Ron Miller

Right. Yeah, it is a big deal. It gives people some privacy. It gives people some comfort, especially to be able to do it in their home. You know, I think that allows some people to have some comfort to do it in their own home. And so it's just one of the things that we try to do, you know, and we've been in Blue Cross is 60 years in the federal employee program.

00;05;18;29 - 00;05;20;25

Cary Hall

That's amazing. I didn't know it was that long. Yeah.

00;05;20;25 - 00;05;27;21

Ron Miller

60 years of continuous service to the federal employees of their family. Of the members and the families.

00;05;27;25 - 00;05;30;17

Cary Hall

And, that includes postal workers as well.

00;05;30;18 - 00;05;32;05

Ron Miller

Includes postal workers as well.

00;05;32;06 - 00;05;39;25

Cary Hall

So pretty remarkable. Let's talk a little bit about the FEP Medicare prescription drug program. And how that works and what that's like.

00;05;40;02 - 00;05;59;16

Ron Miller

For, Medicare prescription drug programs. So for postal employees, we'll talk about that real quick. Postal employees, it's an automatic add. You don't have an option for it. Okay. So when you retire, and turn 65 as a postal employee, you're automatically going to be enrolled in that Medicare prescription drug program.

00;05;59;16 - 00;06;01;05

Cary Hall

And you get to keep your benefits.

00;06;01;08 - 00;06;09;24

Ron Miller

And you get to keep your. Those are your those are your, prescription drug benefits, a medical drug. But as well that goes along with your medical benefits.

00;06;09;24 - 00;06;10;01

Cary Hall

Right.

00;06;10;03 - 00;06;18;04

Ron Miller

So but you have to enroll in that because if you do not as a postal employee, you will not have any, prescription drug program or prescription drug.

00;06;18;06 - 00;06;18;19

Cary Hall

Covered.

00;06;18;19 - 00;06;19;02

Ron Miller

Benefits.

00;06;19;02 - 00;06;36;11

Cary Hall

Yes. So that's really kind of important thing to know. Very important. So if they have questions about that, the phone number is (888) 338-7737. That's (888) 338-7737. If they want to call and try to have somebody say, well what is it and how does it work.

00;06;36;11 - 00;06;49;29

Ron Miller

Yeah, what is it? How does it work. They can call that number. They can also call, you know, your blue cross. If you turn around on your Blue Cross card, the back of it, on the back of there is your customer service number. We're always available to answer those questions.

00;06;49;29 - 00;06;59;26

Cary Hall

So talk a little bit about, you know, the approved prescription drugs and some of the tiers and how all that's going to work for these folks that are on these plans with the out-of-pocket costs, because that's always a big issue.

00;06;59;27 - 00;07;22;24

Ron Miller

Right? So, some of the out-of-pocket cost on those. The prescription drugs, so on the on the new Medicare MPDP, is what they like to call it. There are some savings. So there is a, deductible that is on there for the Medicare prescription drug program of $2,500.

00;07;22;24 - 00;07;27;00

Cary Hall

Okay. That's the typical one that's on the Medicare programs. The same thing that I have.

00;07;27;00 - 00;07;46;27

Ron Miller

So that is your stop loss. So that's the most that you're going to be out of pocket in the calendar year. That wasn't available before. There was no stop loss on the Medicare prescription drug program. Right. On your regular prescription drug plan. So that is a really big thing, because a lot of people as you age, as we all age, we take more prescription drugs.

00;07;46;29 - 00;07;47;14

Ron Miller

00;07;47;14 - 00;07;53;24

Cary Hall

He’s looking at me. You're seeing this, right? The guy with the white hair feature, right? Yeah. You're right pal.

00;07;53;27 - 00;08;08;08

Ron Miller

So you know, we take more stuff. It's more expensive. And so it really kind of gives you an idea of, hey, this is the most in a calendar year that I'll be out. So it kind of helps you prepare and kind of train for what, or just prepare for what you're going to have for the year.

00;08;08;08 - 00;08;32;15

Cary Hall

And here's the thing, okay. This is confusing to people, okay. And we don't expect you to understand this just by listening to the broadcast today or the podcast or whatever. But I urge you, you know, if you do have questions (888) 338-7737. The customer service. And we'll talk about this later in the show at Blue Cross. And Blue Shield of Kansas City is above and beyond, any competitor in the marketplace.

00;08;32;15 - 00;08;50;10

Cary Hall

And they get they've won award after award after award. J.D. power multiple years. There's other ones. We'll talk more about that later in the show. But the point I'm making is don't be concerned or confused. Get the facts, call that number. They'll be happy to help you. Right? That is correct because there's always somebody there to do whatever is needed.

00;08;50;11 - 00;09;03;14

Ron Miller

There's always somebody there to to help you out. And so and definitely use the resources. FEPBlue.org on our website, you can always go to FEPBlue.org. We have a lot of great information there as well.

00;09;03;15 - 00;09;20;15

Cary Hall

Yeah. We're gonna come back to the break. When we do, we'll start talking about the other benefits that are available, including the FEP dental and the FEP vision. These are some pretty robust benefits. So if you're a federal employee or one of the federal employees in your family, you definitely want to listen to this.

00;09;20;17 - 00;09;48;09

Cary Hall

Then we'll talk about the actual plan designs for this year. What changes there are and what they look like. So stay tuned. We'll be right back after the break. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting coast to coast across the USA here on the HIA Radio Network. We'll be right back after the break. Stay tuned.

00;09;48;12 - 00;10;13;23

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, you can find out more about us by going to the website AmericasHealthcareAdvocate.com. I want to give a shout out to one of our oldest affiliates, KGOZ, 101.7, in Trenton and Gallatin Missouri. I remember going up to that studio to do live radio up there.

00;10;13;25 - 00;10;30;01

Cary Hall

How long I've been on the air, Dave? 20 years. So I was up there, I think about 18 years ago when we first started, they were opening a LifeFlight base, and we also had a Saint Luke's had taken over the regional hospital there. So shout out to them, because we've been around a long time on KGOZ 101.7.

00;10;30;01 - 00;10;46;29

Cary Hall

We're on their Saturday mornings. I think it's about 8:00. So thank you all. And we're so happy to still be on the air there. All right. In studio with me, Ron Miller from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. This is our FEP show. This is the show we do to tell federal employees how they can enroll. And what that timeline is.

00;10;46;29 - 00;11;07;16

Cary Hall

And this is kind of important for you to know. I'm going to repeat this. Probably every segment. Open enrollment here starts on November 10th and it ends December 8th. What is that, 18 days? Yeah, it's about 18 days. That's the shortest open enrollment period. Of anybody out there, that the federal employees have. So it's really important that, you know what your options are.

00;11;07;21 - 00;11;26;18

Cary Hall

And if you don't understand this stuff, did you call 1-800 411 BLUE. 1-800 411 BLUE. That is dedicated to the federal employees to help you. FEPblue.org is the website, FEPblue.org is the website. So the options for the health plans for the postal workers, just go through those briefly. If you can, Ron.

00;11;26;20 - 00;11;47;25

Ron Miller

Yeah. So last year the postal workers, all the federal employees were in one big group. All right. We had postal workers, we had federal employees. And last year, the, postal employees separated from the federal employees. And now you have two buckets. You have the postal employees, and you have the federal employees. They're all they're all federal employees.

00;11;47;25 - 00;11;48;20

Ron Miller

But postal.

00;11;48;23 - 00;11;49;12

Cary Hall

Is separate.

00;11;49;12 - 00;12;10;19

Ron Miller

Yeah, they're separate from. So they all three still have the same options. So on the postal side, they still have the Standard Option, the Basic Option and the Blue Focus okay. So they have the exact same options for postal as they as they've always had before. So there's no change. So they don't have to go out there and look and say oh are these benefits different.

00;12;10;19 - 00;12;11;14

Cary Hall

They're just separate.

00;12;11;14 - 00;12;33;22

Ron Miller

They're just separated out as two different buckets. So for postal employees, you still have your standard option, which is for us, which is our it's our traditional, deductible plan. You can go in or out of network. All right. You have total flexibility. It also has on the prescription drug. You have a 90 day supply mail order on there.

00;12;33;26 - 00;12;51;06

Ron Miller

So if you're taking a lot of maintenance medicine, it's always a good plan to have because it's going to save you money over time. Yeah. So that's the standard option. The basic option that's been really been our growth engine over the years. The basic option is kind of a in-network copay based plan. So you kind of know what your co-pays are going to be.

00;12;51;06 - 00;13;07;09

Ron Miller

You know what your out of pocket expenses are going to be. And so the basic option has really been the driver. People really like the copays. They like to know what their out-of-pocket expenses are going to be. And the good thing about it is still, Cary, on both of these plans, they're nationwide plans.

00;13;07;11 - 00;13;08;12

Cary Hall

That's amazing.

00;13;08;15 - 00;13;09;02

Ron Miller

Yeah.

00;13;09;06 - 00;13;11;08

Cary Hall

Wherever they are. You don't have to think about it.

00;13;11;08 - 00;13;17;09

Ron Miller

And we use for all of our FEP, we use our Preferred Care Blue Network. That is the largest network that we have.

00;13;17;09 - 00;13;18;28

Cary Hall

And that's that's the best network, the.

00;13;18;28 - 00;13;41;11

Ron Miller

Best network period of period. And that is across the board. So in any state that you go to you're using the largest network that's available to the Blue Cross Blue Shield plan in that state. You don't have a little limited network. You're not limited. You know, if you go live in a rural area, we have hospitals and doctors that are in those areas, and.

00;13;41;18 - 00;13;49;18

Cary Hall

That's pretty amazing. Let's switch gears a little bit and talk about the Blue Cross Blue Shield FEP Dental features, and what those look like this year.

00;13;49;20 - 00;14;07;23

Ron Miller

Yeah. And before we get I'm sorry I skipped that. We're going to go back real quick. And so the Blue Focus. Blue Focus has been was new. So we brought up Blue Focus as kind of a low cost option. There's a lot of young federal employees that are coming into the federal employee, plans now or, government.

00;14;07;26 - 00;14;17;21

Ron Miller

And so we really, Blue Focus is really kind of helps people. It's a lower cost if you're not using your health insurance. You say, but I need it, but I don't spend a lot of money on it, so I'm not going to use it.

00;14;17;21 - 00;14;18;05

Cary Hall

00;14;18;05 - 00;14;38;00

Ron Miller

Blue Focus has really been a really good plan for those young federal employees just getting their career started. And we really kind of just kind of nailed that down. And it's really good plan. It has all of your it has ten free Teladoc's. It has your first five visits to your PCP or your Primary Care Physician are no co-pays.

00;14;38;08 - 00;14;42;20

Ron Miller

So they really kind of encourage you to use it without having any out of pocket expenses.

00;14;42;20 - 00;14;49;08

Cary Hall

You ask most 25 to 35 year old guys. That was last time I went to the doctor, when I broke my arm in softball.

00;14;49;15 - 00;14;50;20

Ron Miller

Yeah, that's exactly right.

00;14;50;20 - 00;14;57;23

Cary Hall

And the ladies will go to their OBGYN, but that's basically it. I mean, these folks do not go to doctors, period.

00;14;57;23 - 00;14;58;06

Ron Miller

They don't go to doctors.

00;14;58;06 - 00;15;05;11

Cary Hall

So it doesn't make sense for them to have a big, bloated benefits plan if they're not going to use it. So that's really great because it gives him an option to come in at a much lower cost.

00;15;05;12 - 00;15;17;14

Ron Miller

And it has that Teladoc feature. You know, with all the young kids. I have a 20 year old daughter. She doesn't know how to do anything that's not attached to her phone. Right. I mean, and so that is so great about that whole Teledoc thing.

00;15;17;14 - 00;15;27;11

Cary Hall

I don't know how to do anything that is attached to the phone, which is why my grandson at 17 fixes everything I need fixed. So so let's let's now let's switch gears and talk about the dental.

00;15;27;15 - 00;15;46;15

Ron Miller

Yeah. So the dental. So the dental plan is really good. So we started out initially when the dental came out for federal employees. We did not we did not have a plan. So we've been in the dental for the last ten years. We are now the number one dental option of federal employees nationwide.

00;15;46;16 - 00;15;47;09

Cary Hall

Are you serious?

00;15;47;09 - 00;16;04;15

Ron Miller

Yes. So we have the largest nationwide dental network. Again, we have preventive coverage. No waiting period. And I'm going to say this no waiting period on crowns, bridges, implants and dentures. That's insane. Insane. Day one coverage.

00;16;04;15 - 00;16;21;23

Cary Hall

That's that. I let me just tell you, there is no other dental plan out there. And I have the best dental plan you can buy. All right. And no other dental plan has no waiting period. I'm sorry. They just don't. So this is, pretty remarkable that you get this plan. You can immediately go in and get a crown or bridge, whatever you need.

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

Cary Hall

That's pretty strong. Yeah.

00;16;23;00 - 00;16;37;20

Ron Miller

And one thing I always remind people is that, you know, you have your medical benefits that you pay for, and then you have your two options on your supplemental dental and supplemental vision. So those are separate costs for you, but the costs are very minimal for the benefits that you get.

00;16;37;21 - 00;16;42;27

Cary Hall

If you have to get a crown or a bridge. And you know, I've had multiples, it's a lot of money.

00;16;42;27 - 00;16;43;22

Ron Miller

It's a lot of money, a.

00;16;43;22 - 00;16;50;27

Cary Hall

Lot of money. Yeah. If if you've got a plan that's going to cover it, you're making money. If you use that plan because you're not paying the cost of that dental.

00;16;51;04 - 00;16;53;25

Ron Miller

I have a crown. I have a crown this afternoon. So I know exactly.

00;16;53;25 - 00;17;01;10

Cary Hall

What I have to do tomorrow. So we'll see. All right. We got about two minutes left real quick. What are we doing here on the Vision plan?

00;17;01;10 - 00;17;28;10

Ron Miller

Let's talk about the vision plan. So the vision plan? A vision plan is definitely a great plan, right? If you're wearing glasses, you know how expensive, how expensive they are. So everybody, every year you get a zero copay, zero cost comprehensive eye exam. So you always want to get your eyes checked every year. We also have if you pick what we have a fully covered Blue Cross and Blue Shield FEP Vision Collection, frames.

00;17;28;12 - 00;17;44;05

Ron Miller

You're going to pay nothing for the frames. If you pick those frames out of our collection, you pay nothing for the frames. But if you would like to have some Oakley's or something fancy with the name on it, we do have a. We give you a $140 that goes towards the cost of those frames.

00;17;44;05 - 00;17;45;18

Cary Hall

Yeah, I use Costco pal.

00;17;45;21 - 00;18;05;20

Ron Miller

Yeah, or Costco. Yeah. And so and so. And then a lot of people say, well, Ron, I don't wear glasses, but I do wear, contact lenses. So we do have a contact lens allowance of $140 as well. So you can either do glasses for the year or you can do in lieu of the glasses. You can do the contacts.

00;18;05;22 - 00;18;24;22

Cary Hall

That's, that's a pretty decent benefit, I'll tell you right now. And you're very you're very fortunate if you're on one of these plans because, all of this is included. If you want more information, go to the website FEPblue.org. FEPblue.org or the phone number 1-800 411 BLUE. Stay tuned. We'll be right back after the break.

00;18;24;26 - 00;18;53;02

Cary Hall

Now we're going to go through the plans and talk about the plans and the upcoming virtual health fairs that they're offering on all this stuff. So we'll talk about all that in the next segment. Stay tuned. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting coast to coast across USA. You're on the HIA radio network.

00;18;53;04 - 00;19;14;03

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. You can learn more about us by going up at our website. AmericasHealthcareAdvocate.com. All you federal employees out there, go to our YouTube channel. America's Healthcare Advocate. On that channel. This show is posted up there.

00;19;14;04 - 00;19;32;27

Cary Hall

You can watch the show with Ron in studio with me, or of the 16 podcast channels we've got. And I think that's all of them out there pretty close. We're up on all those podcast channels, from SoundCloud to Audacy to you name it, we're on it. Okay, so you can also go up on the podcast channel and listen to everything we're talking about.

00;19;33;02 - 00;19;50;03

Cary Hall

So if it's your spouse that's a federal employee, you want to tell her, hey, I heard this. Or if you're the federal employee and your spouse needs to know what the plans are offering, this is a great way to do that. And we're going to talk about what's coming up here with some virtual health fairs they're going to do.

00;19;50;03 - 00;20;08;27

Cary Hall

That will also give you an opportunity to learn more. So let's switch gears now and just get back to the actual plans themselves. The Standard, Basic and then the Blue Focus again and some of the cash benefits. I think this is the only health insurance plan in the country that offers people money, for doing things they should do anyway.

00;20;08;27 - 00;20;09;07

Cary Hall

Yeah.

00;20;09;07 - 00;20;30;18

Ron Miller

I mean, you know, definitely on all the plans that we have, we definitely want to promote healthy lifestyles, healthy, healthy living. And one of those ways for us is to incentivize our members to do some of the stuff. And so for the Standard in the Basic option, you have a $50, you can earn up to $50 for completing just your Blue Health Assessment.

00;20;30;21 - 00;20;49;18

Ron Miller

That's it. So your Blue Health Assessment, you go out there, you put in, your blood pressure, you put in your height, your weight, you put in any information. And it's a really a good spot to just keep track of your stuff from year over year. Right? So if you go out there, you log that stuff in. We do not share that information with anybody.

00;20;49;18 - 00;20;49;26

Ron Miller

Okay.

00;20;49;26 - 00;20;55;07

Cary Hall

So that's great. So your your your boss isn't going to see your information.

00;20;55;07 - 00;21;22;06

Ron Miller

Yeah. We don't share that information. We don't we don't give it to any of our vendors. Nobody. That is just information that is in there. So you get $50 for doing the Blue Health Assessment. We also have online coaching for your pregnancy, tobacco care, as well as hypertension and weight management. So all of these things that people struggle with, especially if you're new, if you're a new mother, we have a great new mother package that we mailed out to our new pregnant moms.

00;21;22;06 - 00;21;36;09

Ron Miller

That's cool. So yeah. So if you if you get into the program, we send you vitamins, we send you a nice little welcome, Blue Cross. Welcome Kit, for the for the boy or the girl that you're having. And it's and we're going to give you $50 for doing so.

00;21;36;09 - 00;21;39;17

Cary Hall

You get prenatal and postnatal care. Yes. As part of the plan.

00;21;39;17 - 00;22;03;15

Ron Miller

As part of the plan. That's part of the deal. Yeah. And then like I said, you know, a lot of people have are trying to stop smoking. Tobacco cessation. We have a great program for that as well. Hypertension, hypertension management. If you sign up, we can send you out a blood pressure monitor as well. So we have all of these great benefits, all of this stuff for our people that we really want them to incentivize them.

00;22;03;15 - 00;22;08;08

Ron Miller

We want to give them money for doing it, and we want to give them something to help keep track of it as well.

00;22;08;08 - 00;22;09;18

Cary Hall

You're also keeping them healthy.

00;22;09;18 - 00;22;10;22

Ron Miller

Yeah, yeah.

00;22;10;25 - 00;22;11;29

Cary Hall

One, it's a pretty good idea.

00;22;11;29 - 00;22;12;28

Ron Miller

Yeah, it's a great idea.

00;22;12;28 - 00;22;17;24

Cary Hall

I mean, yeah. And $150 for completing their annual physical. Yeah. So yeah,

00;22;17;25 - 00;22;40;09

Ron Miller

That is on the Blue Focus. Yeah. So if you, if you're on the Blue Focus as we said for our healthier younger members. Well I don't do anything but we want to at least incentivize them to go in once a year to get their physical. You get your physical, you have $150. And what we what we've done, we've partnered with our blue 365 partners, Reebok, Skechers, TRX products, Blue Apron.

00;22;40;16 - 00;22;57;25

Ron Miller

So we have all these different products that they can use that $150 for. So it's not anymore that I just can use it on health care expenses. You can also use it on Reebok TRX, if you’ve got a workout room and you want to put some new TRX. If you want to eat healthy Blue Apron, that’s a mail order.

00;22;58;01 - 00;23;04;28

Ron Miller

That's great. Yeah, yeah. So we have a lot of we have a lot of great partners in Blue 365 that you can use that $150 for.

00;23;05;01 - 00;23;24;01

Cary Hall

And you know that Blue 365, and I have the Blue 365 because of my Medicare supplement, I have access to Blue 365 and these hearing aids that you that I talk about on the show, I got those from Focus Hearing, but I was able to take advantage of Blue 365 and got a significantly strong discount on the cost of these things.

00;23;24;01 - 00;23;40;09

Cary Hall

So that Blue 365 is available on a lot of different plans that they offer. But I'm telling you, it's a great time to take advantage of it because there's all kinds of benefits out there. And they're there across the board on all the Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans. So, let's talk about the basic option.

00;23;40;09 - 00;23;51;16

Cary Hall

You know, on the Medicare side, enrolled in A and B, and then, you know, getting to this thing about getting $800 a year, again, you're paying people money that are on a health insurance plan.

00;23;51;16 - 00;24;10;29

Ron Miller

Yeah. And and so, you know, we have a lot of annuitants or retirees, on our plan. So they've had a great career with federal employee program. They're still on they're still on the plan. And so we want to incentivize them of taking, hey, if you have Medicare Part A and B, if you take B, we realize there's a cost to that.

00;24;11;00 - 00;24;26;21

Ron Miller

Okay. And to kind of offset that cost, we want to give you $800 reimbursed for you and your spouse. So not only just for you but your spouse as well. So it's basically $1,600 in the household toward your part B premiums that you could have, every year.

00;24;26;22 - 00;24;57;08

Cary Hall

That's, I don't get that, by the way, just so you know, that's a that's for federal employees. That's a really nice benefit. Seriously, to offset the cost of your of your, part B. And the thing about part B is, is so critical is that 20% that’s not covered by part A, part B. Signing up for part B is critical because if you're only on part A, you don't have any of that, the hospital or, you know, physician benefits, outpatient, all that's not covered.

00;24;57;11 - 00;25;05;00

Cary Hall

Party part A, part B together along with the Blue Cross plan. Now, you've got total coverage all the way around. And it's a pretty remarkable plan.

00;25;05;00 - 00;25;11;02

Ron Miller

Really, really, really. I mean, you'll have a little. But really, most of your out-of-pocket expense will only be your prescription drugs.

00;25;11;02 - 00;25;11;14

Cary Hall

Yeah.

00;25;11;14 - 00;25;13;20

Ron Miller

And then we waive the deductibles.

00;25;13;22 - 00;25;14;17

Cary Hall

Yeah.

00;25;14;19 - 00;25;22;11

Ron Miller

So, you know, your out-of-pocket expenses for having A and B and getting reimbursed for reimburse for B? Yeah. I mean, it's really.

00;25;22;17 - 00;25;23;24

Cary Hall

That's not a bad option. Yeah.

00;25;23;24 - 00;25;26;05

Ron Miller

It's not a bad option at all because then so yeah.

00;25;26;05 - 00;25;45;06

Cary Hall

So let's talk. This is important. So let's talk a little bit about these Benefit Virtual Health fairs that are coming up. And, and again, the USPS. So there's one set for the federal employees and a second set for postal workers. So let's kind of go through this. And by the way, Dave is going to post all these up, on the video.

00;25;45;06 - 00;26;00;23

Cary Hall

So you have them and it's going to be up on our website when we post the show. So you'll have these as well. But I want to run through them today so you can hear this because obviously we're explaining a lot here. But these these are actual seminars, virtual health fairs, whatever you want to call them.

00;26;00;23 - 00;26;05;19

Cary Hall

They go into the plans a great detail. And are they allowed to ask questions during these things, like get a chat bot?

00;26;05;21 - 00;26;14;23

Ron Miller

Yes, they are we. So we do have active chat bots and all of those. So as you see here. So as you see you cannot see this. But so we have.

00;26;14;23 - 00;26;18;02

Cary Hall

Yes they can watch watching on YouTube. So they can okay.

00;26;18;08 - 00;26;43;01

Ron Miller

So there'll be benefits. So benefits is going to be doing both not only the medical but they'll also be doing the dental and the vision okay. So during those virtual health fairs they'll be talking about medical. They'll also be talking about dental and vision okay. So a very so you get to cover everything. And then we will have Blue Cross and Blue Shield representatives there that will be able to answer questions in the chat box that you alluded to.

00;26;43;04 - 00;27;07;28

Ron Miller

And then for the USPS, as they are separated out, they have their own virtual health fairs as well. And so those are all they start. So benefits starts in November. The last one is on December 8th. And then on the version for the USPS, it's November 4th, the 20th, the 3rd and the 8th. So they have one about every week going through the open season.

00;27;07;28 - 00;27;29;11

Ron Miller

That allows you to try to fix it. And they're not all at the same time as well, because everybody's schedules are a little bit different. Some of them are 10 to 5. There's one from 3 to 7 p.m., one’s from noon to 5 p.m. There's a lot of different as well as for the, USPS, everybody. There's a lot of different schedules, especially for the post offices.

00;27;29;11 - 00;27;31;11

Ron Miller

The morning schedule is afternoon shift.

00;27;31;11 - 00;27;32;20

Cary Hall

But yeah, because you're out delivering mail.

00;27;32;20 - 00;27;42;21

Ron Miller

They’re out delivering mail. If they’re not delivering, they’re getting sorted for the next day. So there are those evening and there are those morning times for those post office, employees.

00;27;42;21 - 00;27;46;04

Cary Hall

And how long do these last typically.

00;27;46;06 - 00;27;51;07

Ron Miller

They, they could they they last for about three hours.

00;27;51;09 - 00;27;52;04

Cary Hall

That's a lot.

00;27;52;07 - 00;28;07;28

Ron Miller

But that covers. When you first start it, they kind of give you an outline of what, what it will look like. So if you're looking just there for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield, you can come back in oh 2:00.

00;28;07;28 - 00;28;27;15

Cary Hall

Okay, I get it. Okay. So this is for all okay. Yeah. So so then there's a specific time to come back in. Yes okay. All right. Well that's important to know. So once again here's what we're going to do. We're going to post all of these up on on the on the YouTube platform. And we're also going to post them up on our website when we, when we set the show up.

00;28;27;15 - 00;28;44;09

Cary Hall

So that'll be up there. And it's an opportunity. As I said, you don't have to sit there for five hours. They'll give you the breakdown. You can go out and come back in when they're going to talk about the Blue Cross plan, or maybe just talk about Dental and Vision or if you're a postal worker or whatever the case may be, all of that will be in there.

00;28;44;09 - 00;29;07;27

Cary Hall

Also, it's really important to understand there's a very tight window here, November 10th to December 8th. You don't want to miss the open enrollment period. It's critical. You can go to the website FEPblue.org if you need help, or you can call 1-800 411 BLUE. That's 1-800 411 BLUE. When I come back from the break, we're going to talk about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City.

00;29;08;00 - 00;29;18;11

Cary Hall

Main Street, not Wall Street. Stay tuned. We'll be right back after the break.

00;29;18;13 - 00;29;39;19

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. You know, today, Dave Thiessen, my producer here behind the cameras. And Garner Cowdery, once again doing a great job. They're the ones that put all these shows together. They get them up on our YouTube platform, our podcast platform 605,000 views.

00;29;39;22 - 00;29;55;10

Cary Hall

It's because of all of you out there in the audience that listen to this show, follow the show, etc. we really appreciate you. When you're following us and you're paying attention to these shows, we know a lot of you do because I get a lot of comments. So this show today is with Ron Miller from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City.

00;29;55;10 - 00;30;12;23

Cary Hall

It is for the federal employees, both postal workers and federal employees for the open enrollment period, which starts November 10th and ends December 8th. It's really important to know that if you're one of the federal employees, maybe you've got a family member. Whatever the case may be, might want to remind somebody, we got a limited amount of time.

00;30;13;01 - 00;30;30;23

Cary Hall

There's a whole series of webinars they're offering. We're going to post all of those. You heard Ron go through them, on the website, and we're going to post them on the YouTube. So you'll be able to see those as well if you want help. 1-800 411 BLUE. 1-800 411 BLUE. And November 10th through December 8th is open enrollment.

00;30;31;00 - 00;30;56;19

Cary Hall

And, the phone number 1-800 411 BLUE, as I said, and the website FEPblue.org. All right. So this is interesting. So that line that I just did comes from Ron Rowe. Yes. We're Main Street not Wall Street. And what I mean by that when I say that is primarily focused on customer service, the 87 years you've been here in Kansas City, some of the other things you're doing, you're very unique, like you're the only plan on ACA, Obamacare this year.

00;30;56;23 - 00;31;19;01

Cary Hall

It is rolling out a single digit increase, 4% versus everything else. That’s 11, 12, 13, 23, 29% higher. It means something to be the hometown carrier. And that's really what you are. You're not doing an earnings report every quarter to Wall Street. That's why I say that. Okay, I'm trying to put in play. You're not UnitedHealthCare. You're not Aetna. You're not Centene.

00;31;19;03 - 00;31;30;02

Cary Hall

You know Ambetter. You're Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. But what makes this most interesting to me is the customer service award. So I want you to go through these because I think this is actually quite remarkable.

00;31;30;08 - 00;31;36;27

Ron Miller

Yeah. In your line. Your line is fantastic. And the reason why, the line that Ron said and that, you know, Ron comes up with most of those things.

00;31;37;02 - 00;31;37;25

Cary Hall

Yes. Okay.

00;31;38;02 - 00;32;01;16

Ron Miller

But like you said, it really talks about that we. Customer service is here. We live amongst our members. Okay. And so it is important to us because we have family members, we have friends, we have neighbors that have Blue Cross and Blue Shield. So we're not just working for people we don't know. We're working for people that we live amongst.

00;32;01;19 - 00;32;24;10

Ron Miller

So we're in the community. We are the community. And so we have over 39,000 members, federal employee members here. And so this SQM World Class Certification is amazing. So we have, 100% of our eligible staff met in 2024, met the world class certification.

00;32;24;10 - 00;32;26;18

Cary Hall

Right. So explain SQM

00;32;26;20 - 00;32;51;25

Ron Miller

So it's a customer advocates that called survey. So member. Oh so they get surveyed customers get surveyed and 85% they have to meet 85% of their calls are at a very satisfied level. So they go back out. They survey the members who have called in and they say, well, how was your experience? Your experience? And they said, fantastic.

00;32;51;25 - 00;33;06;04

Ron Miller

So they say very satisfied. And 85% is very satisfied and 100% of our eligible, because those aren't our new people that were in there. There are new customers. 100% of our reps made that in 2024.

00;33;06;04 - 00;33;07;04

Cary Hall

That's remarkable.

00;33;07;07 - 00;33;08;07

Ron Miller

That is remarkable.

00;33;08;09 - 00;33;26;10

Cary Hall

In today's world, where the line: “customer service”. The word “service” is gone, I'm just going to tell you, you don't believe me. Call up AT&T, call up an airline, pick. Pick anything you want out there. Okay, and see what you get. How many voice prompts do you go through? How many people do you have to talk to before you to get something done?

00;33;26;14 - 00;33;44;23

Cary Hall

This is why this matters, okay? And here's why it matters to you. Because when you have an issue, maybe you have a claim issue. Maybe you have a provider issue. You're going to call. And I can tell you from personal experience, because I've been on Blue Cross and Blue Shield for 24 years. Okay. At least, it's one call resolution.

00;33;44;23 - 00;33;47;25

Cary Hall

And if that person can't fix it, they take you right to the one that can.

00;33;47;25 - 00;34;04;00

Ron Miller

Take you right to the one that can. And because health insurance, you don't know how good it is until you have to use it. Okay. And so when you use it and you have a problem, you want to be able to call somebody to fix it. And as you said, the first call resolution is what we strive for and what we do.

00;34;04;04 - 00;34;23;02

Ron Miller

Okay. And so not only are the reps but also the supervisors. So it’s the training. It's the strong focus on coaching from both the supervisor and both the supervisors are world class. So all of the customer service. So there's a standard that's being set in that in that call center there that's just over and over.

00;34;23;04 - 00;34;44;18

Cary Hall

FEP, World Class Call Center, fourth consecutive year. Four years. So this is not just something has happened. This has happened over the last four years. They also have won the J.D. Power Award at least three times that I know. So the point I'm making here, why use that line Main Street, not Wall Street? It's because these people really do care.

00;34;44;20 - 00;35;04;15

Cary Hall

They are your neighbor. They are in church with you. They're at the PTA with you. They're at the soccer field with you. They know who you are and you know who they are. And to me, I would always tell my clients, obviously not federal employees, but I would always tell my clients that, look, here's all the choices, here are the prices, etc..

00;35;04;17 - 00;35;23;18

Cary Hall

I'm going to tell you right now that if you have a problem with this carrier or this carrier, I'm warning you, you're buying price here. You're not buying benefit. And when you have an issue, please don't call me and be upset, because this isn't working, because I'm telling you right now their customer service is not good. And if you have a claims issue, it's going to be a nightmare.

00;35;23;21 - 00;35;42;06

Cary Hall

Lo and behold, you know that happened multiple times. The other thing I would say is, on the other hand, you come over here to Blue Cross. Blue shield. Might not be the cheapest plan available, but I can tell you this when there's an issue, there's somebody there's going to take care of it. Here's the other thing. When there's an issue like this and it can't get resolved, there's somebody like Ron Miller there.

00;35;42;14 - 00;35;48;22

Cary Hall

I had a guy who was our rep. Every time I had an issue. Tom Moppin, remember, Tom.

00;35;48;22 - 00;35;49;07

Ron Miller

Tom Moppin.

00;35;49;07 - 00;36;08;07

Cary Hall

He was my man, my man in Baghdad. When I had a problem, that couldn't get fixed. I'd call Tom. Tom would fix it. Or if it got completely out of hand, I'd call Jenny Housley. Who's the chief revenue officer? So the difference here is you have access to these people and they really do give a damn. So I think that's a big issue.

00;36;08;07 - 00;36;28;03

Ron Miller

Yeah. And and I'm in the agencies like I've, I've had, the federal employee program for 23 years. So when I go into agencies, I go in the health fairs. They've seen me year over year over year over year. So they know that when I tell them I'm not, I'm not telling them something that I don't believe in because I'm coming back next year.

00;36;28;05 - 00;36;31;06

Cary Hall

And and if they didn't write the name right.

00;36;31;09 - 00;36;32;26

Ron Miller

Then I will be back.

00;36;32;29 - 00;36;54;00

Cary Hall

So yeah, it absolutely makes all the difference. I remember during the AFL CIO car show with him, I'm the radio guy, right? I was supposed to be like the town celebrity guy. Everybody talks to Ron. Nobody wanted to see me. So they all know who he is, okay? And that's part of what this is all about visibility, accountability and giving you the service you need. Critical to know.

00;36;54;03 - 00;37;10;22

Cary Hall

The FEP starts November 10th ends December 8th. Short window. The website FEPblue.org, the phone number 1-800 411 BLUE. They do a great job. I urge you, to take the time to see what your benefits are going to look like this year. And I think you'll find that they're going to make a lot of sense.

00;37;10;22 - 00;37;38;03

Cary Hall

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I leave you with this thought from Doctor Martin Luther King. Americans must learn to live together as brothers and sisters, or we will surely perish together as fools. Truer words were never spoken, especially in this time in our country. Have a great day. Thank you for listening to America's Healthcare Advocate. Goodbye, America.

00;37;38;06 - 00;37;40;14

Cary Hall