Speaker 1: With the inquirer. Your benefits plans are coming up here,
Speaker 1: people with Medicare and stuff, and I don't know what
Speaker 1: I should do about that because I'm sixty eight years old.
Speaker 1: You know what, Let's let's get our guests on this
Speaker 1: is cool to have. I can actually get a free
Speaker 1: consultant here. But what we're talking about here when you
Speaker 1: go in it is that time of year when you
Speaker 1: you know, have to go back in and do your
Speaker 1: insurance work. Insurance YEP, and medicare as a matter of fact,
Speaker 1: that we're talking about pretty healthy jump in price here
Speaker 1: to discuss daniel leboard lebroad from Healthcare Benefits. He's our
Speaker 1: healthcare benefits expert. And daniel what are we looking at here?
Speaker 2: You know, I think we're in for a shot this year.
Speaker 2: We were kind of in our industry were.
Speaker 3: Kind of warned about it earlier in the year that
Speaker 3: we're see big increases. But I'll tell you, you know, we position.
Speaker 2: Clients typically to say, hey, you're gonna have to look
Speaker 2: at an eight to ten percent each year. You kind
Speaker 2: of budget for that, and our goal is to always,
Speaker 2: you know, hopefully get that down further.
Speaker 3: I'll bringing an option that lower.
Speaker 2: That, but right now across the US, we're seeing I
Speaker 2: mean ten is on the low side. We're seeing twenty
Speaker 2: and thirty percent increases, which is unheard of.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 2: And the youse don't even have to do with, you know,
Speaker 2: any particular reason. It's just it's across the board, particularly
Speaker 2: the small employers, those with under fifty employees who are
Speaker 2: the hardest hit. They're gonna get destroyed this year. And
Speaker 2: that hurts employees as well because they got to pick
Speaker 2: up a portion or all of that increase as well.
Speaker 1: So, Daniel, let me ask, and I think everybody's asking
Speaker 1: the same question in their brain right now, is how
Speaker 1: come on both sides of the aisle. Every year, every politician,
Speaker 1: it seems like, running on we're going to get healthcare
Speaker 1: prices under control, We're going to lower them this, that
Speaker 1: and the other, and now stuff like this happens, and
Speaker 1: it looks like, as you just said, you're we're telling
Speaker 1: people to build in that cost for basically the rest.
Speaker 4: Of your life.
Speaker 1: Why can't this be controlled.
Speaker 2: The only it can be controlled? And that's the problem,
Speaker 2: The issue, the biggest issue we have right now is
Speaker 2: the system is controlled by really two parties. You're controlling
Speaker 2: it's controlled by the larger healthcare systems. You're you know,
Speaker 2: in Dallas we've got big Textans Health and Presbyterian and Baylor,
Speaker 2: Scott and White. Across the nation, you've got very large
Speaker 2: healthcare systems and they work. You know, their primary payer
Speaker 2: are the insurance companies. In my opinion, the two of
Speaker 2: them are in collusion. You know, they're they're battling and
Speaker 2: working on contracts to get paid by the insurance companies.
Speaker 3: Thescurance companies are trying to pay them. But overall the
Speaker 3: two of them are.
Speaker 2: All they worry about is profit, and they have to
Speaker 2: answer their boarder directors, and so there's a misaligned incentive
Speaker 2: when it comes to the employers and the and the
Speaker 2: public because we just want good healthcare and a reasonable rate.
Speaker 2: But they're trying to but they're having an answer. They're
Speaker 2: having answer shareholders, and they have to make profit. And
Speaker 2: you know, it just doesn't work. And that's why rates
Speaker 2: cup every year because they everyone has to give themselves
Speaker 2: a ten percent raise every year. They have to go
Speaker 2: to the board and say, hey, how do we make
Speaker 2: more money? Well, we got to raise rates, how do
Speaker 2: you that's it?
Speaker 3: You raise race.
Speaker 2: You have to do that, you have to pay providers.
Speaker 2: It's just this back and forth between the two of them. Meanwhile,
Speaker 2: we're sitting back here going we're footing the bill. So
Speaker 2: there are ways, there are ways, however, to stop that,
Speaker 2: and we're doing it at our company and a lot
Speaker 2: of broken around the country.
Speaker 3: But I'll let you kind of ask the next question.
Speaker 3: I'll get into that.
Speaker 5: Well, that was going to be my next question was
Speaker 5: how do you break up? How do you break up
Speaker 5: that party in exactly? How do you get more competition
Speaker 5: in there?
Speaker 2: And yeah, so it's not even competition. So it's comes
Speaker 2: down to contract. So the largest payer of healthcare in
Speaker 2: the United States and Medicare, they could everything is based
Speaker 2: off of them.
Speaker 3: So here's a good example and a way to understand.
Speaker 2: How healthcare works with the health insurance company, the health care,
Speaker 2: the health systems. If I get a h you said
Speaker 2: you're sixty eight, I think ed right, you know, on
Speaker 2: a day over forty, just so you know, So if
Speaker 2: you go and get a procedure done and Medicare pays
Speaker 2: that health system one thousand dollars for it, right, that's
Speaker 2: the basis of all of all negotiation of all contracts.
Speaker 2: Medicare is a basis. So Medicare pays that provider one
Speaker 2: thousand dollars. Done, the health system says, hey, signa, we're
Speaker 2: going to bill you six hundred percent Medicare. So they
Speaker 2: bill signa six thousand dollars for that procedure, right, six times.
Speaker 2: Now Sigma though says, hey, wait a minute, we have
Speaker 2: a contract with you. We're going to go ahead and
Speaker 2: we're going to We're gonna give you a fifty percent discount.
Speaker 2: What happens then it goes down to three thousand. That
Speaker 2: is still three hundred percent Medicare. We are paying three
Speaker 2: times what that true rate of the procedure is. And
Speaker 2: that's the problem with the system. The two of them
Speaker 2: are overpaying. We're overpaying for care that we shouldn't be
Speaker 2: We should be doing the same, and the public should
Speaker 2: be paying the same amount of Medicare, or what we
Speaker 2: call reference face pricing.
Speaker 3: We pay a little bit more.
Speaker 2: We say, okay, Medicare doesn't make it really profitable for
Speaker 2: healthcare systems. I mean there might be a couple of
Speaker 2: percentage points with a profit. We say, hey, we're going
Speaker 2: to pay your fair. Reason about let's call it one
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty five one hundred and fifty percent of medicare.
Speaker 2: The healthcare systems make money. We pay a lot less
Speaker 2: for the healthcare we're getting. And that's how you keep control.
Speaker 2: That's how you controlled the cost of health care by
Speaker 2: reducing the amount we're paying for claims.
Speaker 3: And in that case, everyone wins.
Speaker 2: The healthcare systems get paid, the employees get their health coverage,
Speaker 2: and our rates stay down.
Speaker 3: The only one not happy about it is the insurance company.
Speaker 1: Daniel Lebrod is our guest. He is the CEO of
Speaker 1: Ovation Health and Life Services. And so daniel who who
Speaker 1: needs to make this change? Can we as people? I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously we're the ones that are taking it up the
Speaker 1: you know, and what can we do about it? Politicians
Speaker 1: aren't doing anything about it? How can we change this?
Speaker 2: So we're changing this. What we say is and I
Speaker 2: have a mastermind group. We talk about this a lot.
Speaker 2: We're changing one employer at a time. In my opinion, honestly,
Speaker 2: it starts with the employers. The employers have to be
Speaker 2: fed up and they are getting set up because they
Speaker 2: can't afford it.
Speaker 3: They can't afford to offer benefits.
Speaker 2: The employers need to first of all, know there are
Speaker 2: options and ways to do things, and these are things.
Speaker 2: Number one, you need to go self funded, and we
Speaker 2: can do self funding down to the smallest employer of
Speaker 2: two people all the way up to thousand thousand. The
Speaker 2: biggest companies in the nation use self funding as a
Speaker 2: mechanism to control costs. You need to be working with
Speaker 2: a consultant or a broker that embraces level funded self funding,
Speaker 2: captives alternative funding situations. And some people think, well, that's new,
Speaker 2: I've never heard of it. Well, first of all, it's
Speaker 2: been around forever, and the ACA actually made it more
Speaker 2: viable to do it for smaller groups. But actually, now
Speaker 2: sixty four percent I believe the number is about sixty
Speaker 2: four percent of all US employers are doing some sort
Speaker 2: of self funding health plan. But that's still a lot
Speaker 2: of those are the big employers. But still everyone is
Speaker 2: starting to embrace that because of realizing it's the only
Speaker 2: way to make change.
Speaker 5: So my open enrollment's coming up in my company, whatever
Speaker 5: they offer me, that's that's what I got. Or is
Speaker 5: there a way to even is there an even little
Speaker 5: tricks of the trade to kind of, you know, nibble
Speaker 5: around and save yourself a few bucks.
Speaker 2: You know, if you're getting through your employer, it really
Speaker 2: has to go into the employees complaining to the employer, like,
Speaker 2: we can't afford this, we need we need to look
Speaker 2: at I heard about these alternative strategies which are becoming
Speaker 2: the mainstream now. So you just say, hey, why are
Speaker 2: we why are we fully insured? Why aren't we looking
Speaker 2: at these other things, these other options? Have you talked
Speaker 2: to our consultant ever broker about that. Unfortunately, the employees
Speaker 2: don't know what they don't know, and they're just taking
Speaker 2: what the employer gives them, and they don't have the
Speaker 2: power to make necessarily make that change. I know in Texas,
Speaker 2: if you're out in the you say, well, maybe I
Speaker 2: can go to the individual market under you know, healthcare
Speaker 2: dot gov and get a policy. Well, Texas, all that's
Speaker 2: available is HMO with and nobody likes it, you know,
Speaker 2: and so everyone is kind of stuck in. And even
Speaker 2: those rates are terrible for the most part, they're going
Speaker 2: up every year.
Speaker 3: It does start, in my.
Speaker 2: Opinion, it does start with the employer, but the employer
Speaker 2: is not going to be making changes until either it
Speaker 2: hurts their pocketbook or the employees complain enough that I
Speaker 2: just can't do this. I can't afford this, And so
Speaker 2: it is it's got to be there's got to be
Speaker 2: that pain to make that move.
Speaker 3: And I think this year is gonna be the year
Speaker 3: of pain.
Speaker 1: Daniel Lebron is our guest from Ovation Health and Life
Speaker 1: and Daniel talk about that as I As I said,
Speaker 1: I'm not on medicare yet, but definitely thinking about it.
Speaker 1: What should I get a consultant? Because I hear so
Speaker 1: many people say, hey, talk to consultant, They'll tell you
Speaker 1: what to do in the plans, blah blah blah. Where
Speaker 1: should I just go home with these government websites and
Speaker 1: look it over. What's the best option?
Speaker 2: So as you come about Medicare, Medicare is really confusing.
Speaker 2: We have we actually, you know, I have an in
Speaker 2: house specialists for that. We help people get a Medicare
Speaker 2: because it has so many options, you know, and you
Speaker 2: see people we have someone on our on our staff
Speaker 2: that turned sixty five last year.
Speaker 3: Or in March, and you know they helped with it.
Speaker 2: She's like, oh my god, I turned sixty four and
Speaker 2: a half. I started getting My mailbox is full of
Speaker 2: stuff on medicare, and I'm so confused, So I think
Speaker 2: you need There's a lot of options out. There's Medicare supplements,
Speaker 2: there's Medicare advantage plans. I personally like Medicare advantage plans.
Speaker 3: I think they're they.
Speaker 2: Give you the best coverage at the lowest cost. And
Speaker 2: basically your your Medicare is paying a health insurance company
Speaker 2: to pull you off of the Medicare books. Basically you
Speaker 2: get better coverage through a private through a private insurer,
Speaker 2: and it helps Medicare because now that the claims go
Speaker 2: to the insured, not to Medicare, which helps to help
Speaker 2: the Medicare system.
Speaker 3: Fine.
Speaker 2: Everything the financial decisions though, you have to look at
Speaker 2: it and say, what's the coverage of those, what's the
Speaker 2: cost going to be, and what is my best what's
Speaker 2: best for me financially, And that's everything.
Speaker 3: We have to be asked what HSA's earlier, and I'm like,
Speaker 3: I'm not a big fan.
Speaker 2: Of HSA's any longer, but they have their purpose for
Speaker 2: some people. You have to wait it out financially for yourself,
Speaker 2: your family and what is best for you. And that's
Speaker 2: where you definitely need whether it's a medicure consultant or
Speaker 2: your employee benefits consultant, at your at your employer.
Speaker 3: Somebody needs to be able to guide you.
Speaker 2: Along that pathway, and you should be getting that kind
Speaker 2: of service from your broker, consultant partner.
Speaker 5: Anyways, you know, it's says she said about the HSA.
Speaker 5: I just started doing one a couple of years ago,
Speaker 5: and I like it a lot. It's maybe it's just
Speaker 5: a mind thing where I'm like, Okay, there's a bill
Speaker 5: that comes in as my kid went to the doctor,
Speaker 5: and it's seventy five bucks. I'm like, okay, well I
Speaker 5: didn't I didn't budget for that this month. Well okay,
Speaker 5: no worries because I had enough in my HSA to
Speaker 5: cover it. And you know, so it obviously still comes
Speaker 5: out of your paycheck. But I don't know, I've kind
Speaker 5: of come to like that. Why don't Why aren't you
Speaker 5: a big fan?
Speaker 2: It's in very So let's go back to an HCA's
Speaker 2: came out originally, when they came out years ago, it
Speaker 2: was it was the whole idea was that there was
Speaker 2: a big cost difference between an HSA plan and say
Speaker 2: a copay plan, So.
Speaker 3: I could have my fifteen hundred dollars double copay plan.
Speaker 2: It's five hundred dollars and my HSA plan is three
Speaker 2: hundred dollars. Awesome, I say two hundred dollars a month,
Speaker 2: I put it in an HSA account. Now it's twenty
Speaker 2: four hundred dollars a year in that HSA account. I'm
Speaker 2: saving money and I still own the cash, and I
Speaker 2: only use it if I really need to. Makes total
Speaker 2: financial sense. I've had h ANDSA plans. The problem nowadays
Speaker 2: is the HSA premiums have caught up to the copay plans,
Speaker 2: and so now employers put that in and the employee says, well.
Speaker 3: I can't afford it. He said, I can't afford.
Speaker 2: A doctor business this month, I have nothing, And employees
Speaker 2: are not putting money into an HSA account any longer.
Speaker 2: And so what ends up happening is the employee says, well, basically,
Speaker 2: I have no coverage on my health plan, so I'm
Speaker 2: just not going.
Speaker 3: To go to the doctor.
Speaker 2: And they're so they're getting crappy your coverage for the
Speaker 2: same price you go. Now I have other other clients
Speaker 2: that say, hey, I don't use it. If I do,
Speaker 2: I can afford a doctor visit, and I want to
Speaker 2: use that agency to funnel, you know, eight thousand dollars
Speaker 2: a year for my family tax free. That's where we
Speaker 2: see most people doing it, is they're using it as
Speaker 2: a tax free you know, put money away tax free,
Speaker 2: and that makes financial sense.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, daniel Lebroad we could talk about this forever,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure we want to talk to you again.
Speaker 3: Good stuff.
Speaker 1: People want to find out more about what it is
Speaker 1: you do there at ovation Life. Where can they go?
Speaker 2: Uh? You dan Lebroad on LinkedIn great way to connect
Speaker 2: with me, and then you can go to ovationlife dot
Speaker 2: com and connect with us.
Speaker 3: There as well.
Speaker 1: Daniel thanks so much, man, Hey, thank you. Take care,
Speaker 1: take care. And uh, it's also confusing. That's the reason
Speaker 1: I brought it up because obviously all my friends are
Speaker 1: about my age and everybody's is always talked about medicare
Speaker 1: and trying to get on that, but even healthcare. I'm oh,
Speaker 1: I'm I've had a healthcare system, you know, a plan
Speaker 1: working at every job I've had, and every one of
Speaker 1: those things, I was like, uh, just do what I
Speaker 1: did last year.
Speaker 3: That's what I do a lot.
Speaker 1: I mean, frankly, you know what everybody does.
Speaker 5: Frankly, take right, Frankly, you take it for granted, Oh, absolutely,
Speaker 5: Like yeah, it's I mean, I'm saying we shouldn't should
Speaker 5: certainly I shouldn't.
Speaker 1: You know, the order are pretty important. It is yes.
Speaker 1: With that, we check in with traffic and weather. What
Speaker 1: is going on?
Speaker 4: Do you see Health Traffic Center Mammograms Save Lives called
Speaker 4: five one three five feet four pink. Schedule your annual
Speaker 4: mammogram with do you see Health Sexpert team five one
Speaker 4: three five eight four pink. Seventy five southbound Goldberths to
Speaker 4: Paddic a little heavy and southbound seventy five is songing
Speaker 4: through the work on Reggan Highway down to Norwood lad
Speaker 4: So planning a bit of a delay. Now went and
Speaker 4: wrote a Dutch comedy. We have police activity report a
Speaker 4: good idea if you can just avoid that area. Went
Speaker 4: to northbound approaching Dutch Colony as an accident and cruiser
Speaker 4: there also breakdown on seventy five northbound the on ramp
Speaker 4: from Donaldson as a breakdown on the entrance ramp and
Speaker 4: clean up is underway. We're seeing two seventy five northbound
Speaker 4: something between two seventy five and twelfth Street. It's about
Speaker 4: a five minute drive.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 4: I'm Rick Shrimp Produced Radio seven hundred W DLW.
Speaker 1: The forecast from a seven hundred WLW weather center forward
Speaker 1: tonight partly cloudy and then clear towards morning. The low
Speaker 1: of thirty seven for tomorrow sunshine and the high of
Speaker 1: fifty seven. We're talking about a frost advisory for tomorrow
Speaker 1: night on end of Friday morning. We'll talk about that tomorrow,
Speaker 1: but right now it is fifty four degrees seven hundred.
Speaker 4: W l W.
Speaker 3: All right, mister Pennay, I'm going to show you some images,
Speaker 3: and you tell me, what do you see?
Speaker 4: Looks like a butterfly listening to Scott's Loan show.
Speaker 3: In this one, I see a rocket ship. A rocket ship, yeah,
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