The following transcript is provided by YouTube. Mistakes are present. To hear the podcast episode, click HERE.
0:08.1
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welcome to Scaling UP! h2o the podcast
where we’re Scaling UP! on knowledge so
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we don’t Scaling UP! our systems
hello Scaling UP! nation Trace Blackmore
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here your host for Scaling UP! nation
I got to tell you if there is one topic
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0:28.0
out there that I just don’t understand
and every time I try to understand it I
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0:33.6
get more and more confused it’s health
insurance and for those small business
0:33.6
0:39.5
owners out there for those people that
are working in a small company you know
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0:44.4
what I’m talking about everybody out
there needs access to health care but
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0:50.8
not everybody out there can afford the
plans that we all want now how do we go
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0:57.1
navigating through that sea of plans and
all the alphabet soup that they use to
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1:02.6
explain plans all these different
acronyms out there it is so confusing
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1:08.4
you almost have to take on a separate
full-time job to be able to understand
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1:13.1
all the plans out there and then even if
you’ve done that you’re still guessing
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1:17.9
that when the end comes and you’ve
picked a plan is that truly the best
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1:24.2
plan for you and your company well folks
I’ve got somebody that has taken all of
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1:29.7
the guesswork out of that they speak
that language and they cross the barrier
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1:36.2
between healthcare insurance and small
business she’s delightful to talk to and
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1:42.5
I know you’re going to get a lot out of
today’s episode that being said for
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1:48.3
those of you out there that are not
owners of your company it’s important
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1:54.2
for you to understand that your employer
wants to take care of you I know you
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1:58.7
work for a high quality individual and a
high quality company and there is
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2:03.9
nothing more that that company would
like to do but take care of you and your
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2:08.9
family there are just so many
constraints out there that don’t allow
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2:14.1
business owners to give the care that
the employees want so I want you to
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2:18.6
understand from their perspective
they’re trying what I’m trying to do in
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2:24.5
this episode is educate both sides of
that fence so we can all learn together
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and hopefully through that we can come
up with solutions together that we can
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all get what we need and want with all
of that said please welcome my guest
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2:42.5
Alison de Polly my lab partner today is
Alison and de Polly and Alison you and I
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2:46.5
are going to be talking about the most
exciting topic out there health
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2:52.3
insurance yes we are
a I’m a small business owner and there
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2:57.4
are a lot of people that listen to
Scaling UP! h2o that our small business
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3:01.6
owners are they work for small
businesses and I will tell you if there
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3:08.2
is any chant that we all have is that it
is so difficult to find good or right
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3:12.6
health care insurance when you’re a
certain size have you found that to be
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3:16.4
true across the board that is true
across the board the smaller you are the
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3:22.1
more challenging it is well I am so
looking forward to talking about this
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issue because it’s an issue that plagues
my company and I know a lot of people
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3:28.7
that I’m friends with it plagues them as
well but before we get in that
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3:32.1
conversation do you mind telling the
Scaling UP! nation a little about
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3:36.4
yourself sure so first it’s a pleasure
to be here today thank you for having me
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3:42.2
I’ve been in some part of the health
insurance or benefits business for a
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3:49.4
very long time much longer than I like
to say both as part of a family benefits
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3:52.9
business we were a boutique firm that
did a lot of self-funding arrangements
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3:57.3
then I moved into some other areas of
the benefits arena I also own an
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4:02.1
enrollment firm so we help get employees
enrolled in all of their benefits and
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4:06.5
now I’ve moved back over the last couple
of years back into the benefits space
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4:12.2
after learning about how many things you
actually can do to help control your
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4:16.1
costs it’s not kind of an all-or-nothing
proposition and that’s where we are
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4:21.4
today well I am looking forward to using
all of the knowledge that you have
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4:26.7
towards this issue because I it’s very
frustrating to me
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4:32.6
I can’t offer the benefits that I want
to offer my employees because of our
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4:37.7
size and then the benefits that we are
able to offer are so incredibly
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4:42.2
expensive and they’re not really that
good so I’m not really sure where to
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4:46.6
start this conversation do we you just
start giving me advice or do you want we
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4:51.5
can we can make it for the innovations
but I gotta tell you it’s an issue and
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4:55.6
then you know we have all this
government getting involved and then are
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4:58.3
they going to take care of it are they
not going to take care of it don’t look
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like they’re doing a very good job so
far so what is the small business owner
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to do I would encourage all small
business owners to think a little bit
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5:15.8
outside the box so we always think of
health care or health as a social issue
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5:20.8
and not a for-profit situation right you
know we think we should go to the doctor
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5:25.7
and care is important and people should
have access to care and I agree with all
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5:31.5
of that but all of us need to make money
right so it is the job of the insurance
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5:35.8
company to make money it is not the job
of the insurance company to control your
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5:41.2
cost and once people understand that
they’re a little freer to think well
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5:48.3
okay how is it that I can control my
cost so with the reform and innovation
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5:55.1
that we’ve seen in the last few years
even small employers can now access cost
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6:00.4
containment tools and that may be as
simple as moving into a level funded
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6:05.2
plan and I’ll tell you what that is in
just a second – moving into something
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6:10.2
like direct primary care which can be
such a benefit to so many companies and
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6:15.1
everything in between so you know the
world is your oyster now in terms of
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6:18.6
what you’re doing with your health
insurance plan you don’t have to just
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stay with the big insurance company and
the further you get away from the big
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6:28.6
insurance company you can contain your
costs the downside to that is when you
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6:32.4
move away from the big insurance company
you move away from the Community Rating
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6:36.0
issues particularly as a small employer
and that’s part of the challenge as a
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6:39.7
small employer your community rated
you’re really you’re the only
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6:44.9
seeing that’s particular to your group
is you know your age mix and your gender
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6:50.4
mix otherwise it’s everybody in your
community that is is rated it the same
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6:56.3
way and that’s why a young healthy group
pays a lot and so does an older
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7:01.4
unhealthy group does that make sense to
you it absolutely does make sense now
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the question I do have is where does
someone get started is it our local
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7:10.7
insurance agent that we have a
relationship with do we then go online I
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mean what do we do where do we start I
would all of the above I would encourage
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you always to start with your the broker
that you work with now they know you
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7:23.5
they know your group you’re probably
satisfied with them as a business owner
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7:27.4
outside of this kind of uncontainable
cost business ask them some questions
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about if there are any alternative plans
if they do level funding if they work
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7:35.8
with any of the health sharing
arrangements if they do any of the
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7:40.2
non-traditional things and if you don’t
get answers that you like go online and
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and see what else you find not everybody
works in the most cost containment areas
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7:51.2
so check around and see what you find
and even if you’re small ten twelve
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7:55.2
fifteen employees there are
opportunities for you to control your
7:55.2
8:00.3
costs and what exactly should we be
looking for what plans are available out
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8:04.7
there what’s within a small companies
reach which what’s in a larger companies
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8:09.0
reach what are all the options out there
so when you have a lot of employees you
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8:14.4
have a much bigger pool to spread your
risk out right so and that’s always been
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8:18.2
the challenge for smaller employers is
that there’s not a lot of risk spreading
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8:22.1
you know it’s your group of your five or
your ten or your twenty and that that’s
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8:28.0
a much smaller risk pool than you know
100 or 500 or 5,000 now there are
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8:32.5
third-party administrators which is
basically the administrative arm that an
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8:38.5
insurance company would normally provide
that will have access to private risk
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pools that you can belong to if you’re a
smaller employer or you can work with at
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8:49.5
EPA that has a level funding option
where to me that’s the best of both
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8:52.3
worlds
it to the employer and to the employees
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8:56.2
it looks just like a
regular insurance plan but it works like
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9:01.8
a self-funded plan and what that means
is there’s a specific deductible that is
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9:05.8
fairly large ten or twenty or forty
thousand dollars which sounds awful it’s
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9:10.6
not give me a second then everything
else is taken care of by the reinsurance
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9:16.8
and the TPA manages that process for the
employer the level funding means that
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9:20.5
the employer pays a set amount every
month because as a small employer you
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9:24.0
can’t pay a low amount one month and a
higher amount the next month as the
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9:28.1
claims come in you pay the same amount
every month and if there’s any premium
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9:32.6
over left over at the end of the year
for the claims you can apply that to
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9:34.7
next year’s claims or you can get that
back
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9:38.9
it helps stabilize the rate increases
and it means that you’re only paying for
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9:43.4
the care that you actually use well that
sounds interesting I’ve never even heard
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9:47.7
about that option how would somebody
find out more about that so I have some
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9:51.1
tools at my website and we’ve created a
landing page for you and I’m sure we’ll
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9:55.8
talk about that at the end for somebody
that is just sitting at their computer
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10:00.2
listening to this Google level funding
health insurance level funding and
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10:04.0
you’ll get some nice primers and
probably directed some companies that do
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10:07.8
that for smaller employers well let’s
talk about another common issue that I
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10:12.6
hear from business owners time and time
again they will offer a benefits package
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10:17.1
to their employees and then the
following year will come up they will
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10:22.4
get this exorbitant rate increase and
then they won’t be able to afford it or
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10:26.6
they can’t afford to pay for the entire
family so they say if you want the rest
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10:30.9
of your family on the plan you’ll have
to pay for them I’ll just pay for you
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10:36.4
but the employee just sees that as the
employer isn’t paying as much as they
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10:41.6
used to for his family how do we have
those conversations with the employees
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10:45.8
so they truly understand what’s going on
and then what can we do year-to-year to
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10:50.2
try to prevent that from happening
there’s a couple of things so first I
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10:55.7
believe in transparency of cost and I
think that a frank conversation about
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11:01.0
what health insurance costs with
employees is important to have you know
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11:06.1
it used to cost 150 dollars on two
hundred dollars two hundred and fifty
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11:09.0
dollars
or health insurance for an employee now
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11:14.4
you’re very fortunate if you can cover
an employee for even a not-so-great plan
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11:20.7
for under 450 or $500 or seven or $800
depending on where you live and that’s
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11:25.5
the employee only never mind the family
that’s a big nut for small employers to
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11:30.4
crack so I think a frank conversation
about it and also a frank conversation
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11:35.8
about what care costs and where people
should be getting their care now when
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11:38.9
you’re in a fully insured arrangement it
almost doesn’t matter because your
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11:43.6
community rated and the the rates
increase average seven to fifteen
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11:48.2
percent year over year health insurance
costs will double if nothing is done in
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11:52.5
the next ten years is that something
that’s sustainable for business no it’s
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11:57.7
not so have a frank conversation about
what health health insurance because
11:57.7
12:02.6
health insurance is not healthcare what
health insurance costs and then seek out
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12:07.5
some alternatives that will allow you to
control some of those costs and that
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12:13.1
could be as simple as adding a 24-hour
concierge to your plan and telehealth or
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12:19.0
a concierge doctor into your plan I know
it sounds crazy but often doing those
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12:24.9
things will pull 80 percent of your
claims out of your plan because 80
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12:28.3
percent of your care is normally
delivered in a primary care setting and
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12:34.2
a concierge doctor is available 24 hours
a day and they can help you with
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12:38.5
medications and getting where you need
to go if you need extra lab work tests
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12:43.0
all of that kind of thing so that’s one
solution it’s just a tool but it is one
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12:45.0
of several tools that’s available for
you
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12:48.2
let’s talk a little bit about that there
are some listeners out there I’m sure
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12:52.9
that I’ve never heard the term concierge
doctor what exactly is that a concierge
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12:58.4
doctor is like an old-time doctor that
saw you you were his patient he knew you
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13:04.0
he knew your family he knew your medical
history he knew how you know your whole
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13:08.4
socio-economic situation social
determinants of health are a big deal
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13:12.8
and made sure that you got the care that
you need and if you needed something
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13:17.1
else he helped you get to the something
else that you need it I know some plans
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13:21.8
have the ability where you go on and
and then you talk with somebody online
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13:25.5
is that what you’re talking about well
personally that’s one of my favorite
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13:29.3
things because I hate to go to the
doctor but that’s not quite what I’m
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13:34.3
talking about so I would encourage the
use of telehealth quite a lot it is a
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13:40.7
cost effective timely efficient way for
people to get immediate information when
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13:44.8
they need it you know if you have I get
a sinus infection every year I can’t
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13:49.0
stand to go to the doctor for that I
called telehealth and I’m like hello I
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13:53.0
have a sinus infection I have this this
this this symptom they’re like oh yes
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13:56.4
you have a sinus infection
let us call in these medications for you
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14:02.5
so that is at its base level incredibly
easy and efficient from a cost
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14:07.2
standpoint if you talk to a doctor you
may see the doctor depending on what
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14:11.7
state you’re in and that will pull the
cost of that claim out of your health
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14:16.8
plan so you’re not penalized for it so
that’s kind of a cost containment on the
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14:20.5
other side of that one I don’t have to
go to the doctor I can call it 2:00 in
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14:25.1
the afternoon or 2:00 in the morning if
I would like to and 2 if I’m a young
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14:29.4
family or I have an unhealthy person in
my household that’s having a situation
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14:33.3
and my child is having you know
projectile vomiting at two o’clock in
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14:36.1
the morning because you know it’s a law
it only happens at 2 o’clock in the
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14:40.3
morning or I have a family member who
may be having a heart attack or a stroke
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14:45.4
but I’m not sure I can call that
telehealth get an immediate answer and
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14:50.8
know if I have to go seek other care or
if I can remain where I am or what I
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14:54.8
need to do if I just need to go see the
doctor in the morning so that allows you
14:54.8
15:00.3
some freedom to get have people get care
when they need it and stay out of the
15:00.3
15:04.2
emergency room which is the most
expensive place to treat people so that
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15:10.1
at its base form is telehealth concierge
or direct primary care is the next
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15:14.3
version of that you do have access to
the doctor 24 hours a day but you can go
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15:18.0
visit him during the day during his
office hours but you can call him at
15:18.0
15:22.4
night or you know however you engage
with your physician and there is a
15:22.4
15:28.6
direct monthly cost for that there’s no
insurance per se involved so like the
15:28.6
15:32.5
old-time doctor that you paid directly
and you get all those benefits of
15:32.5
15:35.3
somebody you have
medical home you have a doctor that
15:35.3
15:39.1
knows who you are in your history and
what medications you take and kind of
15:39.1
15:42.5
what your personal tendencies are and
what your family situation is and
15:42.5
15:47.3
probably sees the rest of your family
members it’s a very nice environment to
15:47.3
15:51.4
have yeah that seems like the way you
want to see a doctor but I’m surprised
15:51.4
15:57.4
you say that can actually lower our our
healthcare plan rates how is that well
15:57.4
16:01.8
because you’re paying the doctor a fee
every month and you know normally that
16:01.8
16:07.6
that cost is $100 or less usually it’s
less in the east on the coast it might
16:07.6
16:13.3
be a little bit more but normally you’re
in the 40 50 $80 range for an employee
16:13.3
16:18.1
to have access had to have a access to a
direct primary care and none of those
16:18.1
16:22.1
claims are going against your health
plan very interesting that’s why you’re
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16:26.9
the expert I’ve also heard of
individuals either joining associations
16:26.9
16:31.5
or a health care sharing plan can you
talk a little bit about those two I
16:31.5
16:37.8
can’t so an association plan would be a
plan that is set up for an association
16:37.8
16:43.9
and usually an insurance company or a
TPA a third party administrator will go
16:43.9
16:48.3
to an association and say we can do this
for all of your members and the members
16:48.3
16:52.4
access the plan the reason you would
want to do that is you’ve got a bigger
16:52.4
16:56.4
pool to spread out the risk there is a
commonality there has to be a
16:56.4
17:00.4
commonality among all the members and
usually they’ll give you some
17:00.4
17:06.2
underwriting concessions for having
access to the whole pool so like I work
17:06.2
17:11.4
with an association or affinity plan
with a marketing association so all of
17:11.4
17:17.6
their members can access this plan and
in return for access to all of the
17:17.6
17:21.5
members the third party administrator
has made some underwriting concessions
17:21.5
17:26.5
in terms of group size so normally their
minimum group size is 10 they’ve gone
17:26.5
17:31.3
down to 3 and they do offer some you
know more favorable rates because it’s a
17:31.3
17:36.6
bigger risk pool so that would be an
association or an affinity plan a health
17:36.6
17:41.7
sharing arrangement is something
completely different and it is much more
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17:46.0
common in the mid
than it is on the coasts so a he’ll
17:46.0
17:53.0
sharing arrangements started out on a
more religious basis and it is a group
17:53.0
17:57.6
of people used to get that through your
church now it’s delivered in some other
17:57.6
18:04.2
ways and you you belong to the pool and
you paid X amount of dollars every month
18:04.2
18:07.9
to the to the health sharing arrangement
and there was an administrator of the
18:07.9
18:13.2
health sharing arrangement a need would
be a medical event as a medical event
18:13.2
18:17.9
happens then you would be told okay work
we’re using this much money to cover the
18:17.9
18:23.2
medical need it is not a compares no
contractual basis no obligation to pay
18:23.2
18:30.6
for care and but the cost generally tend
to be quite low and I I know that sounds
18:30.6
18:36.2
very odd or very disconcerting for some
people I have seen it work beautifully
18:36.2
18:40.4
for many many people well Allison I
think the Scaling UP! nation has a good
18:40.4
18:46.9
idea of what plans are available for
them out there let’s say we go out there
18:46.9
18:52.1
we talk to some people like yourself we
now have an array of plan options right
18:52.1
18:55.5
in front of us how do we go about
deciding which is the right plan for our
18:55.5
19:00.6
company sure you know I think different
companies have different means and so
19:00.6
19:05.5
you really need to be clear on what it
is that you need is a rich plan the most
19:05.5
19:12.0
important thing is ease-of-use the most
important thing is making sure that
19:12.0
19:17.7
people have access to quality care the
most important thing is cost the most
19:17.7
19:23.0
important thing so pick your choice what
is the most important thing that works
19:23.0
19:25.9
for your company and then work from
there
19:25.9
19:34.8
so if you have a particularly a skilled
workforce and you need to be on the top
19:34.8
19:39.6
of your game for employee recruitment
and retention then you want a rich plan
19:39.6
19:44.5
that is cost effective
now when you say rich plan how would you
19:44.5
19:50.5
define that I would define that as a
plan with a reasonable deductible and
19:50.5
19:55.9
choices for how to access care so maybe
you offer a plan you offer a couple of
19:55.9
19:59.2
plans one has a low
deductible one has a higher you make
19:59.2
20:04.6
sure you’ve got good co-pays you make
sure that you’ve got a reasonable
20:04.6
20:10.0
prescription drug benefit so if that’s
what you need then I think more more
20:10.0
20:15.2
it’s more important than anything to get
into a level funded plan maybe in an
20:15.2
20:19.1
association where you have more control
of your risk so that you can offer
20:19.1
20:23.3
richer benefits and have some internal
mechanisms that help control the costs
20:23.3
20:28.2
so one of the things that I would
caution when you’re looking at plans is
20:28.2
20:33.7
there is something called a MEC plan
it’s a minimum essential coverage plan I
20:33.7
20:41.1
see it used a lot with bluer color
occupations and an employer will have to
20:41.1
20:46.2
offer a plan or need to offer something
in order to retain employees and a MEC
20:46.2
20:50.7
plan is not a full-blown health plan it
meets the minimum essential coverage
20:50.7
20:56.4
requirements of the Affordable Care Act
but it doesn’t cover hospitalization
20:56.4
21:00.7
it’s you know if you need chemo therapy
because you’ve got cancer you’re gonna
21:00.7
21:05.6
be footing that bill yourself and I have
never seen it communicated in a way that
21:05.6
21:10.6
employees don’t get hurt so I would
caution you to be careful about a MEC
21:10.6
21:15.7
plan and to be careful about a MEC plan
attached to a health sharing arrangement
21:15.7
21:20.9
there are other ways to take care of the
primary care needs besides a MEC plan
21:20.9
21:25.3
what are some of the most common plans
that you’ve put with employers that say
21:25.3
21:30.5
have ten employees and they all have
pretty much the the same common needs
21:30.5
21:36.3
what would you put a plan like that with
so I really like level funding because
21:36.3
21:43.1
each employer can tweak the plan the way
that they need to and you have you’re
21:43.1
21:49.0
only paying for the care that you need
and you know 80% of the time care is
21:49.0
21:53.0
somebody broke an arm
three people have the flu this one needs
21:53.0
21:58.2
to go get her annual exam this child
fell down and broke his other leg that’s
21:58.2
22:04.7
not expensive care and if you can take
care of that reasonably you don’t have a
22:04.7
22:09.5
long-term problem in managing your plan
and when you’re with an
22:09.5
22:15.3
GPA on level funding you are much more
in control you are not subject to
22:15.3
22:21.3
Community Rating and you can tweak the
plan annually to suit your needs and you
22:21.3
22:24.8
may not tweak your plan for three four
or five years if you’re running well and
22:24.8
22:28.3
that is not something that will happen
if you’re in the fully insured market
22:28.3
22:33.8
are there common benefits that employers
like more than employees and employees
22:33.8
22:37.1
like more than employers because
typically when when we offer health
22:37.1
22:40.7
insurance we want to attract new talent
so what is each side of the equation
22:40.7
22:47.5
looking for I think that it will come
somewhat of a surprise to most employers
22:47.5
22:54.4
to realize that when they offer a 2500
or 3500 or 5,000 dollar deductible or
22:54.4
23:00.8
$6,500 deductible that they’re basically
functionally uninsured our employees
23:00.8
23:06.3
because many hospitals now will not
treat you unless you pay obviously not
23:06.3
23:10.4
in an emergency situation but if you’re
in a non emergent situation and you need
23:10.4
23:14.9
your gallbladder out and you don’t have
$5,000 to cover the deductible most
23:14.9
23:19.4
hospitals nowadays will not let you pay
that off at 50 or $100 a month
23:19.4
23:25.6
so you’re basically functionally
uninsurable and probably need to help
23:25.6
23:31.6
you on your business so to get away from
that do whatever you have to do and that
23:31.6
23:36.9
means controlling your costs I know
that’s a pretty harsh assessment but
23:36.9
23:40.7
that is that is the reality of today so
whatever you can do to keep your
23:40.7
23:47.0
deductible low and you may have a plan
that has a 3,500 or a $5,000 deductible
23:47.0
23:52.9
as an employer you can you can help your
employee pay for that you can there are
23:52.9
23:56.8
some funding mechanisms that you can use
so that you can help an employee offset
23:56.8
24:01.6
that cost I would encourage you to look
at those things for example what are
24:01.6
24:06.3
some of those things so a health
reimbursement arrangement an HRA is
24:06.3
24:10.6
something that you know you can
contribute to and then if somebody needs
24:10.6
24:14.4
to go to the hospital you pay X amount
of the deductible you don’t need to pay
24:14.4
24:18.2
the whole thing you know if the
deductible is $5,000 maybe you pay
24:18.2
24:23.2
$2,500 that that’s one solution another
solution would be
24:23.2
24:27.6
setting up an HSA for each employee and
making a contribution so that that money
24:27.6
24:31.5
will grow over time and then when they
need to go to the hospital they have the
24:31.5
24:36.1
funds there and an employee can
contribute to an HSA themselves it’s not
24:36.1
24:42.4
something you need to manage and that
will help them over time voluntary
24:42.4
24:48.1
benefits are also helpful either on an
employee paid or an employer paid level
24:48.1
24:53.4
to help with that out of pocket so you
can skin that cat in a number of ways I
24:53.4
24:57.5
encourage you to skin the cat you know
it’s very exciting that you have put
24:57.5
25:02.6
together all of these different options
I know myself included when people go
25:02.6
25:07.4
out and they try to find plans on their
own it just seems like it’s this or that
25:07.4
25:11.2
but you have so many options that you
can put together and make a plan work
25:11.2
25:17.2
for that specific company I think that
sounds very exciting can you share some
25:17.2
25:20.7
specific instances where you’ve helped
some companies and what you’ve been able
25:20.7
25:27.3
to do sure so I move a lot of people
into level funding a lot of you know
25:27.3
25:32.8
small micro to small size businesses
into level funding it’s a little scary
25:32.8
25:37.4
at first when they see that their
premium doesn’t increase sometimes it’s
25:37.4
25:40.9
flat sometimes it’s a little less
sometimes it’s a wee bit more year over
25:40.9
25:46.3
a year usually they they’re quite happy
with that the level funding helps make
25:46.3
25:50.1
that easier for small employers you know
when you know what your fixed cost is
25:50.1
25:55.3
every month that’s that’s easier to deal
with than a low and a high and admit and
25:55.3
26:00.7
you know with a random cost monthly and
we’re having conversations now oh what’s
26:00.7
26:06.8
my premium refund this year yeah I’ve
never even heard of such a turn exactly
26:06.8
26:13.5
so and then there are employers who are
starting to use direct primary care or
26:13.5
26:18.0
concierge medicine to help take care of
all of the basic kind of medical needs
26:18.0
26:23.1
that 80% of care that needs to be
delivered and have a high deductible
26:23.1
26:29.0
health plan in place to cover the rest
you can do that too that when
26:29.0
26:33.5
communicated well and like most things
in life communication is key that is
26:33.5
26:38.1
very helpful
and that I have groups that have looked
26:38.1
26:41.8
and I’ve not sold one of these myself
but I have groups that have looked at
26:41.8
26:48.5
health sharing as an alternative with
some sort of direct primary care on the
26:48.5
26:54.7
front end and for an employer that has a
very very lean margin sometimes that is
26:54.7
27:01.1
the perfect alternative Alison you given
us a lot to think about and I gotta tell
27:01.1
27:05.8
you I thought that I could just go
online or talk to my agent and the few
27:05.8
27:09.9
plans that he gave us those were my only
options but you’ve done such a good job
27:09.9
27:15.1
of explaining all the various options
out there so we can mix and match I want
27:15.1
27:20.5
to ask if somebody was just tuning in
right now what’s the one thing you want
27:20.5
27:24.9
to leave the Scaling UP! nation with I
want to leave you with the Yogi Bear ISM
27:24.9
27:30.3
the only way that you are going to
control the cost of health care is to
27:30.3
27:34.4
control the cost of health care so
health insurance is health insurance
27:34.4
27:39.9
right insurance is simply a risk
transfer from one party to another so
27:39.9
27:46.2
there’s no cost containment strategy it
is what it is right up claim comes in it
27:46.2
27:50.4
meets the plan provisions and the
insurance company pays it and that’s all
27:50.4
27:56.1
there is to it we are never going to get
control of the cost of health care in
27:56.1
28:02.5
our country if we don’t control the cost
of care so we need to be talking with
28:02.5
28:08.4
doctors and hospitals about what care
actually costs how we can pay for it and
28:08.4
28:14.4
move into that direction so that we can
all have a sustainable healthcare system
28:14.4
28:18.8
what we have now is not sustainable so
we all need to take a more proactive
28:18.8
28:23.2
approach to our own health care
absolutely well I know you mentioned at
28:23.2
28:27.2
the top of the show that you put some
items together for the Scaling UP! nation
28:27.2
28:31.1
if they wanted to find out more about
some of the items that you mentioned on
28:31.1
28:36.8
today’s show how can they go find that
absolutely so if they go to Allison to
28:36.8
28:42.9
Polycom have forward-slash Scaling UP!
we’ve created a special landing page
28:42.9
28:47.7
just for your listeners I have an e-book
there that will help people get started
28:47.7
28:50.7
it’s it’s
a good resource for questions to ask and
28:50.7
28:54.6
sort of how the process works it’s the
process that I use with my clients
28:54.6
29:00.1
there’s also a video there that talks a
little bit about how different kinds of
29:00.1
29:04.2
tools and strategies work and why you
want to use them or don’t want to use
29:04.2
29:09.0
them and then if you want to grab
fifteen minutes on my calendar I’m happy
29:09.0
29:13.9
to talk to anybody and help give them
some questions or some alternatives and
29:13.9
29:18.5
a place to start well excellent you have
given the nation so much to think about
29:18.5
29:24.5
I want to thank you for coming on
Scaling UP! h2o and sharing all the great
29:24.5
29:28.1
information you have about health
insurance it was my pleasure thank you
29:28.1
29:34.7
for having me Scaling UP! nation I know
that health insurance is not the sexiest
29:34.7
29:40.8
of topics but it is something that we
all want and I’m gonna tell you it’s
29:40.8
29:47.0
something that we all don’t understand I
hope for the people that are listening
29:47.0
29:52.1
out there you understand that because of
the exorbitant rate increases out there
29:52.1
29:57.6
it’s not that your employer wants to
provide anything less for you out there
29:57.6
30:03.0
it’s just they simply can’t afford it
because of these rate increases one of
30:03.0
30:08.0
the benefits about having Allyson on the
show is I’m hoping that the Scaling UP!
30:08.0
30:12.8
nation can now take matters into their
own hands and instead of conforming to
30:12.8
30:18.8
just one plan we can pick and choose
from various options to make the right
30:18.8
30:23.1
plan for our company to make sure that
we have the right options for us and our
30:23.1
30:28.8
employees and then our employees out
there understand that we are trying to
30:28.8
30:35.2
do the best by them folks I’m gonna have
all of this on my show notes page alison
30:35.2
30:39.7
has a great website there is a
downloadable on her website that
30:39.7
30:43.9
explains everything that she talked
about during today’s interview I
30:43.9
30:48.5
encourage you to go to my show notes
page and link to that and download that
30:48.5
30:54.2
I know that’s going to get you closer to
the options that you are looking for
30:54.2
30:59.9
nation thanks so much for listening
thanks for the listener that rode in
30:59.9
31:04.8
actually several listeners that wrote in
and said hey we have a problem with
31:04.8
31:09.0
health insurance I know it’s not a water
treatment topic but is there any way you
31:09.0
31:16.1
can explore what we can do to offer
better benefits to our company employees
31:16.1
31:21.0
so that’s where this topic came from if
it wasn’t for you out there in the
31:21.0
31:26.0
Scaling UP! nation I would not have
sought out Allison and Allison is
31:26.0
31:31.4
fantastic and that’s because you and the
Scaling UP! nation gave me the charge to
31:31.4
31:36.5
find an expert out there to answer those
questions so please keep those questions
31:36.5
31:42.6
coming what do you want to hear on
Scaling UP! h2o what guests do you want
31:42.6
31:46.4
me to interview and what questions do
you have that you want to hear on a
31:46.4
31:52.1
future episode folks I love bringing
this show to you I hope you have a great
31:52.1
31:57.6
week and I’ll talk to you next time on
Scaling UP! h2o