EP 339: Rethinking Healthcare Power: What Happens When Patients Negotiate

What makes Katherine Clark with Frederick Insurance Brokers a good neighbor?

What if the fastest way to lower your medical bills is to stop leading with your insurance card? We sit down with Katherine Clark of Frederick Insurance Brokers to unpack the simple, legal strategies that flip the power dynamic in your favor—without sacrificing care. Katherine’s approach is practical and repeatable: ask for self-pay pricing even if you’re insured, use price transparency laws to compare hospitals, and bring market rates from tools like MD Save to the negotiating table. She explains how to file your own claims so cash-paid services still count toward your deductible, and why calm, specific questions at the ER can turn a $39,000 estimate into a reasonable, itemized plan you actually control.

We explore how a family-run brokerage partners with individuals, self-employed professionals, families, and small groups to choose the right coverage—on or off the ACA Marketplace. Katherine breaks down the real differences between plans, from deductibles and networks to formulary pitfalls, and shows how a lean monthly premium paired with smart self-pay choices can beat a pricey plan that still leaves you exposed. She also shares clear scripts for front-desk conversations, tips for comparing CPT-coded prices, and a checklist for getting diagnoses and treatment plans before you sign.

Along the way, you’ll hear candid stories: a surgical quote dropped from $23,000 to around $11,000 using MD Save as a benchmark, an MRI reduced to a few hundred dollars for a high-deductible patient, and an ER visit that ended with the right care at a fraction of the initial sticker shock. If you want high-value healthcare, better coverage decisions, and fewer billing surprises, this conversation gives you the tools and the confidence to ask for what you need.

Subscribe for more local stories from operators who measure what matters. If this conversation helped you rethink your healthcare choices, share it with a friend who needs it and leave a quick review so more neighbors can find smart, fair care.

To learn more about Frederick Insurance Brokers go to:
 🌐https://fredrickinsurancebrokers.com/

Frederick Insurance Brokers
📞972-375-0507

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place

(00:02):
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

SPEAKER_02 (00:10):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of an insurancebroker?
Well, one may be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Katherine Clark, with FrederickInsurance Brokers.
Catherine, how are you today?
Hey, I'm great.

SPEAKER_01 (00:26):
Sophia, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_02 (00:28):
I'm also great.
Now we are excited to learn allabout you and your business.
Can you start off by telling ourlisteners just a little bit
about your company?

SPEAKER_01 (00:36):
Well, Frederick Insurance Brokers is a
family-owned business.
I work the business with both ofmy sons, one full-time and one
part-time.
I have been in the businesssince 2007.
So this was before we hadAffordable Care Act and
otherwise known as theMarketplace.
And what we do is just we prideourselves in being a partner

(01:00):
with our clients, whetherthey're an individual or a
family or a small business, toreally guide them to know what's
out there and you know help themin their specific situation.
So there are there are lots,it's quite a lot to navigate,
and of course, there are a lotof changes.
So it helps to have a broker,even if it's just to validate

(01:22):
that you have a good plan.

SPEAKER_02 (01:24):
Most definitely.
Now, how did you all originallyget started with this business
idea?

SPEAKER_01 (01:31):
Well, interestingly enough, I can't say that I have
a warm and fuzzy story about it,but maybe an interesting one.
I uh had moved here fromMaryland, was married.
Anyway, I found myself singlewith a three-year-old and a
newborn, and I was looking for anew career and uh wanted
something that had someflexibility.
Then ended up in this business,but honestly, it was like divine

(01:54):
intervention, and um, it wasn'talways easy because you know
back then the business was verydifferent than it is now, and it
was more male-dominated, if youwill.
And if you don't know the ropes,you can get taken advantage of.
And so I was always like alittle skeptical, but finally at

(02:16):
one point my son joined me, andthat kind of helped me solidify
that I was going to remain inthe business, and I made that
determination at that point Iwas going to be the best there
is at it.
So I think I've accomplishedthat.
People have to check out myGoogle reviews.
So that I don't consider myselfyour normal broker.

(02:37):
I'm more, you know, I'm not anorder taker, let's put it that
way.
Like I said in the beginning,I'm we kind of partner up and
just really try to look out forour clients' best interest.

SPEAKER_02 (02:50):
Well, that is amazing.
Now, being in your industry,what is the most common myth or
misconception you typically comeacross?

SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Oh my gosh, Sophia, there are so many.
So I'll think of a couple thatkind of come to mind.
Um, one that's like a pet peevefor me is, you know, we're all
so used to just handing over ourinsurance card.
Um, when we go to the provider,they're like, oh, that's the
first question they ask.

(03:20):
But what I like for people toknow is that it's nobody's
business whether or not you haveinsurance.
Okay.
So you're the one that pays forit.
So you're in charge of it.
Literally, you can even fileyour own claims.
People don't realize that,right?
Um, so when some you don't haveto turn it over, is my point.

(03:42):
You can say, What's yourself-paid price?
You can say, I don't haveinsurance.
Um, and you know, because mostof us know that if we don't have
insurance, we get a better deal.
So if you say, Hey, I don't haveinsurance, it's like I said,
it's not really any of theirbusiness.
And um sometimes what theprovider will say is, well, if

(04:02):
you have insurance, you can't doself-pay.
Well, that's not true either.
Okay.
So I just um it's just a way toleverage.
So you don't have if you have ahigh deductible, um, an example
might be uh I work with a lot ofteachers and they have high
deductible plans.
One of them might need an MRIand they're they're stressed out

(04:23):
because they think they have topay$2,500 because their
deductible is$5,000.
They haven't met it.
The truth is you can get an MRIdone for like$400 or less.
So I always tell them, like, goin, do the self-pay, pay for it,
file your own claim, let it go,you know, apply it towards your

(04:43):
deductible.
So there's a those types ofthings that people don't know.
So that's one myth, I guess youcould say.
Another one um is thateverything is negotiable in
life, you know, we all knowthat.
But we get there's certainindustries where we just sort of
go along with whatever theattorney tells you, even though

(05:06):
you're paying the attorney,right?
And this it goes the same thingfor your medical provider.
And um so just know thateverything is negotiable.
There's actually a law that wasput in place, I believe it was
January of 2021, that whereproviders have to be uh
transparent with their pricing.

(05:27):
And literally you can go up anddown, you know, there's an area
where I live, there's four orfive hospitals up and down the
main road, and you can go toeach one and get different
pricing.
So I have some resources that Iuse.
The one I use the most is calledMD Save M, like medical doctor.
I'll give you like a reallyquick example so that you
understand how this works.

(05:48):
I had a person who had a brokenankle and he needed a plate, and
he calls me a plate in hisankle.
So he calls me from the doctor'soffice and he says, Hey, they
want$23,000 for this.
I looked it up on MD Save and Isaid, Hey, it's an$11,000
surgery.
That's what in his area, thatwas the going rate, because

(06:08):
it'll show you regional andnational.
So he turned around basicallyand said to the doctor what I
told him to say.
And the doctor literally, theyliterally said, We'll do the MD
Safe price.
So if you have knowledge,they're not going to take
advantage of you, right?
So that's those are kind of twothat come to mind.

(06:28):
Um the other, the other thingthat I would I think is a really
good information for people tohave is that when you go into
say an emergency room and youknow, don't get freaked out,
like they have a legalobligation to diagnose you.
Okay, so I had a couple with achild, a two-year-old that had a

(06:51):
swollen knee and he couldn'twalk and he it was painful, and
he went to an emergency room atone of the hospitals, and he
calls me and they he told methey want$39,000.
And I'm like, Because, in myopinion, they prey on your
emotions.
And so I explained to him, hey,you have a legal right to a

(07:13):
diagnosis and um and a treatmentplan, and they'll give you the
price, and then you can say,okay, or you can leave, right?
And in this particular case, heended up spending$2,000.
And so what I said to him was,like, look, your child's leg is
not broken, we know that, right?
So the first thing they'reprobably gonna do is an MRI, you

(07:34):
know.
And so we kind of had thatdiscussion, but but so when you
when people go into anysituation, don't sign anything.
Don't sign what if he had signedand said, okay, I'll pay$39,000,
then he's kind of stuck, right?
Right.
So just like a couple thingsthat come to my mind, the things
that I've learned since you know2007.

(07:55):
And um, I have thoseconversations with people every
day, and I you know, teach myclients like, don't don't accept
just what they say as gospel.
Ask questions, and and everytime because if you don't,
they're just gonna bill youwhatever, you know.
So those are the kind of thoseare just the type that's just a

(08:18):
few because there's a lot.
I work with people, like even ifI have people call me even that
don't have a policy with me,because I'm sort of known for
being like an advocate, and Ikind of say, well, here's what
you need to do.
So those are a couple, a couplethings that I would say.
Um, and uh I guess the anotherreally big thing is that there

(08:41):
are plans outside of AffordableCare Act.
There are PPO plans availableoutside of the marketplace, and
a lot of people don't know that,especially younger people
because they've only beenaround, right?
Since they haven't been around along time.

SPEAKER_02 (08:57):
So wow.
Well, thank you for sharing thatwith us, Kathy.
Now we are almost out of timetoday, but before we go, let's
switch ears for a second.
Um, we know marketing is theheart of every business.
Who are your target clients orcustomers, and how do you
currently attract them?

SPEAKER_01 (09:14):
I work with uh individuals, specifically
self-employed.
They need a lot of help,families and small groups, you
know, like under 15 people,small groups.
My marketing is primarilythrough um, you know, my Google
reviews.
People see and learn about methere, and really referral
because I've been doing this forso long.

(09:36):
You know, I also have a lot ofpeople who refer me from their P
and their their whoever they gettheir auto insurance from.
So those are my primary sources.
There's lots of them, butthey're the primary ones.

SPEAKER_02 (09:48):
Now, Catherine, have you ever thought of having your
own podcast before?

SPEAKER_01 (09:53):
I have, but you know, a long time ago, but you
know, I don't know if I'm like,I don't know about being on
camera and social media and allof that, if it would really make
a difference or not.
So it's it's sort of in the backof my mind because I do feel
like I'm a little bit differentthan the average person.

(10:13):
It's just seems uh like quitethe undertaking.

SPEAKER_02 (10:18):
Well, Catherine, what our listeners really want
to know today is where can theygo to learn more about Frederick
Insurance Brokers?

SPEAKER_01 (10:26):
Well, obviously, you can go to the website, Frederick
Insurance Brokers.
We do have a LinkedIn and an uhInstagram and a Facebook
presence.
Um, the phone number you cantext or email from the website,
even set up an appointment.
So that's probably the bestplace to go to Frederick
Insurance Brokers.com.
And just remember that Frederickdoesn't have an E in the middle.

SPEAKER_02 (10:50):
Well, Catherine, I really appreciate you being on
the show today, and we wish youand your business the best
moving forward.
Thank you.
Appreciate it, Sophia.

SPEAKER_01 (10:58):
You have a great day.

SPEAKER_00 (11:00):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to GNP Frisco dot com.
That's GNP Frisco dot com orcall four six nine two two two
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