Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hi's Ryan Thomas. You with John Rollan of Cover SINCEY.
Welcome to another edition of Rethink Healthcare Together John and
the team at Cover Since you can find you better
medical insurance with better coverage for less money. That's the
bottom line. The bottom line is the bottom line, and
they work with hundreds of insurance companies. They have access
to thousands of insurance policies allowing them to put together
(00:25):
a package of insurance to provide you with dollar one coverage,
catastrophic coveries. They do medical, they do dental, they do
it all and it doesn't cost you anything to initiate
the conversation. It doesn't cost you anything to get insured
through cover SINCEY and the team sticks with you while
you're working with them, so in case you have an
insurance claim problem or something like that, no, you don't
have to stay two hours on the phone with the
(00:46):
insurance company to figure things out. They'll iron it out
for you. It's one of the wonderful perks of working
with Cover Sincy. But it's well worth a phone call
and the time spent to initiate the conversation. They'll get
right back with you. So you can reach them at
Cover since or call them at five one three eight
hundred call that's five one three eight hundred two two
five five. And I don't care what state you're in.
(01:07):
If you listen to this program in Hawaii even they
can help you out. All fifty states. They can do this,
so it's not just locally here in the city Cincinnati.
Welcome back, John Rohlman. It's always good talking with you
on a Sunday morning.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Well YouTube, Brian, hoping you're having a good weekend.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
I am all right today, uh calling all gig workers, freelancers,
independent contractors, and people between jobs. We've got a new
topic to talk about.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Well, I mean this is you know, something that we've
hitting on a lot, you know with our shows. You know,
just looking at those individuals that are kind of in transition, right.
You know, we see so many people that call in
that you know, are looking at saying, hey, I'm I'm
I'm retiring early. You know, I'm maybe my late fifties,
early sixties. You know, I'm looking at Cobra for an option.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
As my neighbors.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
You help them out, yep, So you're looking at covir Nancy,
yeah or yeah, great clients. You know, we were able
to help them out fantastic big time. Yeah. You know,
they're just a lot of people are in these really
good situations. When they retire, you know, income kind of
goes down, and you know, it really kind of opens
up the playbook for us to be able to like
(02:17):
just look at so many options, and you know, just
the fact that we work with so many different carriers
and have so many different techniques and ways that we
can you know, lack of a better analogy, skin a cat.
You know, it's just one of those things that we
really just try to, you know, hone in on that
unique situation and see what works out the best for them.
It's not you know, it's always funny when people call
(02:37):
in and they're going, well, I think I'm paying a
lot for insurance, and I go, you know, well, well
what are you paying? Like, I don't want to tell you,
because like you're just going to try to sell me
the most expensive you know, I'm just like, well, that's
not really how we operate, because at the end of
the day, I want to make sure that we're doing
the right thing for you right where we're going to
put you in a better situation. And you know, if
you're paying very little I don't want to recommend something
(02:58):
that doesn't really make sense your situation. So we're not
even here to like overcharge you. I mean, you know,
we've talked so many times about how much money we
save clients. I mean, I can talk about even this
past week that where we've saved you know, a couple
of clients like five or six hundred bucks a month. Yeah,
you know what they're doing. You're talking about you know,
six seven thousand dollars a year in premium savings and
and and the lot of cases way better coverage. So
(03:20):
it's you know, that's really how we operate. And you know,
so many people are you know, I feel like in
this day and age, looking for exits out of their
nine to five job situation. You know. So we're getting
so many people that are going, hey, I'm thinking about
going self employed. You know, the only reason I'm working
is for benefits. And listen, at the end of the day,
(03:41):
it's it's great to receive benefits from your employer. You know.
I feel like, even as an employer, we provide benefits
for our employees. But don't let that be the determining
factor for you know, number one. You know, people are
typically making more money when they go self employed. Right, yeah,
and in happiness. Right. I mean, I love being a
business owner. I love doing what we do. I can't
(04:03):
imagine working for someone else. They probably wouldn't want me to.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Don't get me started, man, don't get me started.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
But it's you know, and I think so many people
get scared of that situation and they and they don't
know what it looks like. And they they did make
those decisions where Brian, they just go, I can't do it.
I can't lose these benefits. And you know, call us
and we can have that conversation. We can literally show
you what it looks like. And you'd be surprised how
(04:29):
many people. I mean, I would say nine out of
ten times ago I did not realize I can get
that good of coverage at that price. Right, I'm gonna
do this in like the next month or two. I'm
literally good at putting my paperwork in and I'm doing
what I wanted to do.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
And that's try to regular emphasize on the morning show.
It's like just a few minutes of your time, you
initiate the conversation with you guys, just ask the question,
let them provide you with an option or at least
tell you that you're in the best possible place you
can be, and then I'll give you some relief knowing
that you're I mean, but you know, when you consider
the money that you can possibly say, it's like and
no obligations, Like why wouldn't you at least ask? Yeah,
(05:07):
just ask?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
And then and so many people even make a decision
to go self employed or or like oh, yeah, I'm
a freelancer and I can't get benefits and I don't
have a lot of money, and I'm trying to start
my business. I get it. I mean, as a business owner,
it's like, you know, I'm always looking at the financial side, right, Oh,
can I afford to do this? Can I can I
do more marketing here? Right? And you start making those decisions,
and you know, the worst decision to make is like, well,
(05:30):
I'm gonna go without you know, I'm gonna that. You
can't do that because it means one one bad slip,
one illness that creeps up, I mean yeah, and then
that sets you back decades of your life. I can't
I can't even imagine someone deciding at my age. I'm
in my forties, you know, making decision to go, well,
I'm gonna go self employed now, but I'm gonna gamble
(05:50):
for a year or two with no health insurance for
my family because I don't think I can afford it.
I mean, the guys, there's so many options that we
can do. I mean, even for those people that are
self employ I mean it's like, you know, you have
that first year. I mean, you can get tax credits.
I mean, you'd be surprised how many people we actually
set up on like zero premium plans that first year
because you know, they're they're putting so much of an
(06:12):
investment and they're not really going to be showing a
massive profit that first year. And it's just setting yourself
up the right way, and then you know, as your
business grows, you would just adjust your plans. I mean
it's not I'm not putting you in concrete.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Right, No. Yeah, there's a lot of flexibility and a
lot of flexibility.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I mean there's so many clients that we've even helped
on a on a short term basis, like the first
six months, and then it's like, hey, we're to revisits
this in six months unless we completely readjust what you're doing,
Like great, because I just I need to more money
into my business right now, and I just I need
to make sure nothing major can bankrupt me. And that's like,
that's great, that's a great plan. And then as we
grow your business, we'll grow your portfolio of healthcare and
(06:49):
get it better and better. And then you know, and
I mean, Brian, these these type of clients have been
with me for decades, you know, because they I've walked
them through that process in those steps.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
All Right, Well, what's change here in twenty twenty five
in terms of subsidy rules and things like that, Because
you've mentioned these before, and I know the insurance landscape
does change. It is a heavily regulated environment, so you're
gonna have to expect these kind of things. So what's
going on at this moment in time?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Okay, So one of the biggest things that most people
may or may not be aware of is especially with
tax credits. Right, So, what we're talking about is the
money that's paid by the government to help reduce the
cost of your health insurance on marketplace plans, Obamacare, ACA,
whatever you want to call it. Right. So, during COVID,
there was a bill sign was the COVID relief Bill,
(07:37):
you know, which helped you know, a lot of people
during that weren't working, you know that stay at home
and all that type of stuff. Right, But one of
the things that it did is it took the cap
off of what we call the tax credits scenario. So
give you an example. So let's say you and your
wife a lot of health insurance policy through the marketplace,
(07:57):
and you made less than sixty four grand, and now
we're talking about five six years ago, right, you will
qualify for a tax credit pretty sizable. You know, especially
at your ages, you might be getting six seven, eight
hundred bucks a month off of your health insurance at
that point. Well, if you file your taxes at the
end of the year and you made sixty five thousand,
that was the hard ceiling. So sixty four was the ceiling.
(08:19):
So anything under sixty four you got a tax credit.
At sixty four thousand and one dollar, that six hundred
dollars a month went completely away.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
See the fact that they didn't scale that is just crazy. Well,
they no incentive to make more money and everyone, while
some people are lucky enough that you might get a bonus,
and he ended up getting a bonus in the calendar year,
and yeah, credit disappears.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Like what I had to climb one time literally is like,
oh my my aunt passed away and left me ten
thousand dollars in an annuity. And I was like, oh
my god, Like, you do realize that that ten grand
that you're claiming this year, your health insurance just went
up one thousand bucks a month. So like that ten
grand you made you the government back twelve grand. That's
(09:00):
crazy because of the tax credit. So that was the
hard ceiling that we had before the COVID relief bill.
So the bill took the cap away, right, so it
made an escalating reduction in what they were giving you.
So so now we're helping clients that are, you know,
getting tax credits and sizable ones that might make seventy
eighty ninety hundred grand. You know, we're helping families. I
(09:21):
mean just the other day we help the family transition out.
They were making almost one hundred and fifty thousand dollars
for they have family of six, so they actually got
a huge tax credit. Well here's the problem. Look at
the administration we have in right now. Look at the
fact that they're they're trying to save money, right and
they're cutting everything. So that bill is.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Up for its second beautiful bill.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yeah, so it got signed again, I guess what two
and a half years ago, so they kept that going,
the escalating reduction that the hard cap was gone, but
now the hard cap can potentially come back at the
end of this year. And from all my sources telling me,
I'm talking about people that are very high up that
I know this on the insurance company side, and they're like,
(10:03):
the likelihood that this gets signed is less than ten percent.
So you know, we're talking about almost a ninety percent
certainty that those tax credits go away. So how does
that going to affect us? Right? You're talking about four
to six million people right now are qualifying for that
extra tax credit scenario, and at the end of this
year that could, with almost a ninety percent certainty complete
(10:26):
go away.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
So they're gonna have to rethink their medical insurrty.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
They're gonna have to rethink it. And you're talking about
huge premiums. I mean, I'm talking about people that are
probably making six or seven eight hundred bucks a month
off of their insurance. We're talking about people getting six
seven eight grand a year off of their health insurance
that are now going to lose that and now going
to be paying full price for a marketplace plan where
they can't even go outside of a fifty mile radius
(10:50):
of their house and have coverage.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
You know.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
I mean that's a huge problem. So, you know, we're
starting to get some people to really kind of understand this,
and they're like, listen, I'm I'm in that's an area, right,
they're calling it and going, hey, yeah, you know, I
make ninety grand a year, I'm getting six hundred bucks
a month off my health insurance. He goes, you know,
that's probably gonna go away at the end of this year.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I was like great.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
I was like, what's your health situation? Why I'm really healthy?
I said, now is the time to get off. Now's
the time to go on a private plan that you
don't have to worry about your income. Go make as
much as you want because your premiums are not going
to be influenced by that. But if you have develop
a condition in the meantime and you don't come off
like you might be stuck there. And I can't imagine
people paying. I mean, I look at my family. I mean,
(11:30):
if we had gotten stuck there, I mean, the cheapest
plan for my family was almost twenty two hundred bucks
a month. I don't pay anywhere near that on a
private plan. You know, Now, if I was getting huge
tax credits and paying five hundred bucks a month for that,
I might roll the dice, but not now, not knowing
that that's going to go away, and that's going to
affect so many people. So it's so imperative if you're
(11:50):
in that situation, You're like, hey, I really need to
kind of check if my situation might change at the
end of this year, give us a call. It might
be more benefit. She'll free to move now, pay a
little bit more, then get whacked paying a tremendous amount
at the end of this year.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
That sounds advice right there, It really is. I'm just
surprised that's going away. You know, Trump's all about keeping
taxes low, and of course this is a mechanism to
allow you to keep more money. Now, granted it's propped
up by federal government, so I mean, I see the
reason there might be a change on.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
This, but I can't imagine how much the federal government's
paying for this. Yeah, I know, I know, I mean,
and it's probably one of those things they're going to
Earmark and go like, this is costing us billions a year,
you know. I mean I look at I look, Brian,
I look at the clients that we have on them,
and I mean, I know it's in the millions, just
the clients that we represent.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
And then you're talking about all the people that are
out there. There's six million people. Even if they got
a dollar, that's a sizeable amount. So and you know
the nice thing here too, with twenty twenty five and
a lot of the insurance companies know this, Brian. So
what they're doing is developing better plans. They're developing more
(13:04):
competitive plans. We have so many carriers right now that
are competing against each other. I get I get phone
calls all the time from different marketing guys with different
insurance compan to go, hey, you're writing some other company.
Why they Why are they better than us? They're talking
to us because they want to know why are we
writing other things than them? And they're like, okay, well
if we did this, what would you write more with us?
(13:25):
I'm like, well, if you did this, this, and this,
you would be more competitive. And they're deviliding it. I
have no three or four carriers right now that are
coming out with better products than I've ever seen here
within the next quarter about that. And it's just it's
get paid.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
A consulting service to give them advice. I should you
should side? I should side, I know.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
But at the end of the day, but the day, Brian,
I mean, I just want better products for my clients.
You know, I want to be competitive of what's out there.
I want to make sure that we're always having the
best things. And you know they are asking us, you know,
because we're the ones I guess you know, in the
trenches right all day long, knowing what clients want and
what they need.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Well, because you specialize in this and you're you're always
opening eyes with your methodology and how you go about
insuring people. And I know you've mentioned many times other
people in the insurance business who are working for just
an individual carrier don't even understand your methodology or how
it works, Like how can you do this against because
(14:23):
you're independent? Oh yeah, I mean you're you're a broker,
You're working for your client. You have like the fiduciary
obligation I like to bring up, you're sitting on the
same hide of table as a client. Across the table
are all of these hundreds of insurance companies and now
they are competing against each other to get you to
write their policies. So clearly there's incentive for them to
revise their policies to make them more attractive and therefore
(14:44):
more marketable.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Oh yeah, and it's affects their bottom line too. You know,
at the end of the day, they want they want
to provide the best products. They want to be completely competitive,
and that's it. Just it makes it fun. You know,
I've been doing this so long, i mean over two decades,
you know, in this market, and it's just it's just
so phenomenal to see the changes and some of the
rapid changes that we're just doing tonight is just unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Well, what are the uh one of the things that
people should think about avoiding?
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Yeah, I mean, like number one we prefaced right now.
I mean, might want to avoid the ACA subsidies if
you're a higher income earner what you just mentioned. Yeah, absolutely,
that's that's one of the biggest Can head have those conversations.
I'm pretty certain it probably is. You know, the other
things that you want to really kind of understand is
(15:35):
you know, you could be very careful in the private
insurance market too. There are a lot of programs out
there and I know, big competitors that we go against
that sell a lot of smoke and mirrors, you know,
and it's something that you know, I I represent agents,
hundreds of agents all throughout the United States that work
under me, not just here in the in the Cincinnati area.
(15:55):
But you know, it's we train them properly and let
them understand the products that are out there. You know,
if you're going out there and selling products that are
inferior and they're out there, you know, or like my
subsidized plant, you know, my indentity policies. You know, if
you're out there just selling that product and a client
doesn't have a catastrophic component and they go and have
a heart attack, they can walk away with two hundred
thousand dollars bill. And most people don't understand that because
(16:16):
they get wowed by these things, going, oh, you have
a zero deductible and this and this and this works.
I mean it's you know, you can go anywhere you want,
and you know, they just kind of stress on the
access and the zero deductible part and They don't really
tell you the plan pays three hundred bucks a day
to you go in the hospital. I mean those are
out there, Brian, and those are the biggest competitors. So
you have to kind of be really careful on the
private insurance side to go with somebody that's completely reputable
(16:38):
and really kind of understand, like and have that question, Hey,
what does it look look when I have a two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars bill, I'm in the hospital
five days, how does this plan pay out? Those are
real questions you need to ask because that's the scenarios
that at the end of the day, I care more
about covering than anything else.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Well, excuse me, I mean that's kind of the point
of of you in your existence. Why would I and
I know a decent amount about medical insurance. Well, I
learned a lot from you talking over the years, but
you know, at least I have some understanding. I did
work for an insurance a medical insurance company for eight years,
so I get a lot of this. But the average person,
(17:18):
I mean, you we talked about employers, they don't know
anything about it. You know, some guy comes in and says, here,
I'm with big you know, giant insurance company. I can
provide all your employees, here's this one size fits all
Thing're like, fine, I'll sign up for it. You'll just
put it off their plate. But that's the point of
you being out there. You know all this, and you
know to anticipate the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
bills scenario and how to protect your client from that.
(17:39):
Why would anybody want to go out and do the
research themselves?
Speaker 2 (17:42):
I mean, and it's but it's usually somebody that has
a license that goes I can help you, and they're like, oh,
you're a license agent. You're gonna do the best thing
for me, And they don't really understand that they might
not be doing the rest thing for you. Because I
mean again, I approach everybody on the health insurance side,
and most people that we actually end up talking to
you kind of have like a first or second grade
level knowledge of health insurance exactly. You know, they think, oh,
(18:03):
I have health insurance, I'm completely cover for everything. Well,
there's no magic bullet, there's no perfect scenario. Every single
time that you're not gonna be paying anything. You know,
it's always making sure that those are our addressed. But Brian,
one of the biggest things that we do in our
office is, you know, I completely tell my guys, like listen,
just because somebody in three minutes in the conversation says, oh,
I'll just sign me up. I'm like, no, no, no, We're
(18:25):
gonna do our due diligence and kind of explain everything
because I want them to know, like, hey, here's the pros.
But every package you put together, no matter what, there's holes.
I mean, we talked about how we try to cover
as many of those holes as possible, but there's always
gonna be some hole somewhere. Right, there's no perfect, perfect plan.
And if somebody doesn't understand that, I mean, then they're
(18:47):
in a bad situation.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Right exactly. Well, and you know this, this conversation is
leading itself to something that I would never ever ever recommend.
And I have to bite my tongue because we do
have a sponsor that is a share ministry. They aren't
insurance policy. You never hear them say that. You've even
pointed that out. And I'm keen to listen to the
verbiage that they use and the soothing voice and talk
(19:09):
of the Bible and the giving and the sharing and
you know, go ahead and have a whack out at
their john because I wouldn't get one on one of
these programs with I mean, because you're not going to
get covered necessarily. That's the point. They don't have to
pay anything.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
They don't. I mean, that's the biggest thing I got
into this business, you know, because I got a license
and I can't sell health insurance or life insurance anything
that we do without a license, right, And some of
these share plans you don't even have to have one.
And you know it's I remember the first one that
we look we looked at and we look at them
all the time because there's has to be options, right,
(19:48):
And you know, one of the ones, like their whole
premise was like, well keep we'll pray for you. I'm like,
that's great, I mean, if that's what you're looking for.
But at the end of the day, I'm like, I
care about the financial security side, you know what I mean,
Like I I want to make sure that that's the
whole thing with insurance contract. So I have a contract,
I signed it. I'm paying you premium and you're guaranteeing
me in this contract that you'll pay in these scenarios, right,
(20:10):
it's you know, that's the the contract, right and give
me something. I'll give you something.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
You can go into court and soe then I can
see faith.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Bad faith, right, But you can on these shareplans because
they even say when you sign them, is that this
is not a contract, you know, this is.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
I just can't believe these things actually exist under that
scenario because people think they're actually going to get their
claims covered well, and it sounds so altruistic and it's
I mean, puppy dogs and rainbows and you know, and
they're like, uh no, sorry, you got that two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars hospital bill, but we're not gonna.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Pay well, I mean, in those in those situation. I mean, again,
let's preface this. I mean, I know a lot of
these programs that have paid major claims, and some of
them have, you know, and but I also know there
are some that one completely bankrupt and left all their clients,
you know, because then I can't see you know, I
guess I don't even know. I can and say their clients, right,
their patrons, you know, holding the bag, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
And they'll pray for them.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Yeah. Yeah, I understand that, but again financial security and that.
You know, it's funny when we have these conversations with
people are like, well, yeah, I went in for a
doctor vision, they paid for it. I'm like, of course,
they're gonna pay your hundred dollar doctor bill. You know,
there's probably enough money in there. Can they Can they
pay your twenty thousand dollars bag chema treatment? You know,
is the chem of is it? The chemo therapist is
gonna take a good faith estimate that they're gonna get paid.
(21:29):
They're go don't with that money up front, you know,
on their plans, and so a lot of them make
you pay up front and then they may reimburse you.
And that's that's an operative word may may absolutely. Another
thing to kind of reward avoid two right now is
these short term medical plans. They're only good for four
year four months right now. There was a big step
back under the last administration, and right now we're hoping
(21:53):
that they come back to the two to three year options.
We we could lock these things in for like three years,
which I was comfortable with, but the four month is
not a good option. We talk to somebody here like
two weeks ago and they're like, oh yeah, every four months,
I just keep rewriting the plan because it's really cheap.
I'm like, did you understand doesn't cover pre existing conditions? Right,
and losing a short term coverage doesn't constitute loss of coverage,
which I cannot put you on a marketplace plan if
(22:15):
you got diagnosed with cancer. So if you signed up
with a plan today, right, we're in June, and then
in four months from now, in October, your coverage is ending.
But in September you got diagnosed with cancer, there is
nothing I can do from you for you between October
and January while you're undergoing chemotherapy. So like, don't do
these plans right now. If you're looking for a long
(22:36):
term strategy, it's something to completely avoid. A lot of
agents sell these things all the time. I run into
them constantly. This is not a good scenario for you
if you're needing any type of long term coverage. You know,
if you're going from one job to the next and
need a month or two coverage, short term is great. Oh,
just going outside of that, I don't put any clients
in them, okay, and I wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
So in that one scenario where you know you are
going to be covered by.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Yes, I'm getting another job or I'm literally going on
Medicare next month. I need one month of coverage, get
a short term plan. Perfect. That's what they're designed to do.
Other than that, don't do it. And the other thing too,
is Cobra. I'll be very opt me up. I'm very honest.
I can't think of more than maybe three or four
people in the last two years that we advise to
(23:24):
stay on Cobra. It's extremely expensive, right, and I think
the scenarios for all those individuals was just basically they
had a lot of medical issues and they already met
their deductibles for the year. I'm like, it doesn't make
sense to move you the SAVI you five six hundred
bucks a month when you got to go pay another
seven or eight grand on what you're currently doing. Let's
just stay where you're at. Let's relook at this at
(23:45):
the end of the year. Other than that, everybody we've
taken off, and I'm telling you it's funny. I talk
to my sales staff and like, oh, we love when
people call them with Cobra. I was like, of course,
because they're all paying like fifteen hundred and two thousand.
I mean, it's like it's fantastic. We come and go like, hey,
I'm kind of you. I think you're a thousand bucks
a month.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
I think that was Tommy Nancy scenario A Cobra. They're
just like, we can't out of it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Cobra is not a good option. It's not I mean,
and it's just if you're even if you're in that situation,
just give us a call. I mean, it's it is
one of the easiest scenarios for us to help someone.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
All right, What are some of the common mistakes that
people make in connection with this, uh with insurance?
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Number one, delaying coverage. You know, I hear so many
people like in that transitions point, just delaying coverage. I'll
go without a month or two. And I can't tell
you how many people I've heard that just oh, I
went without coverage for a month and then I went
to the hospital that month. I just I don't know
why that happened. It is it is, It is so obvious.
The other thing, too, is listen, do not pick health
(24:48):
insurance based upon price. That is not a good scenario.
You know, I get so many times with people calling
I just want the cheapest thing. Yeah, I'm okay, Like
you know, I have a bicycle plan, Like you're gonna
hate it because you're not gonna be able to get anywhere.
And if it rains, like you're soaked, Like it doesn't
make sense, right, I mean, do not shop based upon premium. Yes,
(25:11):
give us a budget because I want to try to
make sure that I'm within a budget for you. But
you have to look at both things. And we always
talk about the true cost of healthcare, right it's you're
out of pocket expenses plus your premium. And I've seen
plans out there, I kid you not, Brian. They have
these twenty five thousand dollars reductibles in the private plan,
I mean, and that makes I mean, and they're out
there and people don't even know they're in them, you know,
(25:33):
and they're just you have to kind of understand where
you're at. And at the end of the day, the
biggest mistake people can really make is not just on price,
but get hooped into like some of those the zero
like I keep saying, like, oh, the zero reductible plans
and stuff like that. Like we hear these agents out
there selling these type of plans all the time. And
these are the things that are really going to leave
(25:54):
you bankrupt, because at the end of the day, it's
a top and coverage. It makes the most sense. And
I I won't even any agent that we wrap, even
my independent agents that worked for me. I mean, if
they're not providing top end coverage for a client, like
they're no longer working with us.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
The top end meaning the big, the catastrophic confy, the
emergency room and hospitalization kind of stuff. Yeah, everybody can
maybe manage the out of pocket the nine grand like
a Refordable Care Act. It's the two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars claim you just mentioned that people can, So
you must get coverage for that kind of exposure.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Yeah. We had a we had a we had a
group we were working with the other day and we
found out they were on one of those type of plans, right,
And they said, oh, I went and had an emergency
room claim. I don't think it was like a kidney
stone or something like that. I was like twenty two
thousand dollars. So she told me her plan paid three grand,
and I'm like, oh my god. And I'm like, well,
you know, we were looking at one of those newer
plans that we have that has a two hundred and
(26:48):
fifty dollars adultable and I go, well, if if if
you're if you're on this planet, with the out of
pocket total with a surgeon, I think that would have
been a twelve hundred and fifty dollars. She goes, well,
I don't know if they could afford that. I was like,
what do you mean because it has a thousand dollars
cope for surgery or whatever it was. And she goes,
I don't know if they My employees couldn't afford that set.
But you just told me you had a kidney stone
and that was twenty one thousand, and then they paid
(27:10):
three grands, so you you were out eighteen grand? How
did you afford that one?
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Right?
Speaker 2 (27:15):
And she goes, well, I can make payments on that.
It's like you can make payments on the twelve hundred
exactly exactly. I mean like it's just sometimes when people
hear those terms, they just don't understand, and it's just
like it's almost a lot of times we're just like
approaching them almost like their financial planner, going and this
is how it works, and this is the breakdown. I
like almost like an excel for them to kind of
(27:37):
make it make sense. But it's like, my god, like
whoever sold in that plan? I mean, I don't know
how that agent puts their head on their pillow at night. No.
But the worst part of has most of these people
don't know. You know, there's so many these new agents.
We hear them all the time coming out of college
and stuff like that. These these agencies will pick them
up and have them start selling, and they turn around
and like six months later they're they're calling us going
(27:58):
like I can't work here. I just realize what we're
actually selling, you know, because we were sold a bill
of false bill of goods, you know, and like so
we're out there presenting this thinking that, you know, this
is actually really good coverage. But you know, these guys
are so new in the industry. They don't know what
a hospital bill looks like. They don't know that a
bed in the hospital is twenty two hundred bucks a day,
not to mention the tile and all on the breeding
(28:20):
treatment and the person that walks in and here's your
MRI for twelve grand. You know, like they don't know
what these claims really are and they're just told one thing.
And that's why it's so imperative to be very very
careful when dealing with an agent that works with one
insurance company, because they're going to be told like, this
is what you sell. And that's been Brian, it's been.
It's been that way for the twenty years I've been
(28:41):
in business. I've seen these all the time and it's
not changing. It's just different wolves in different sheep folds.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Amen to that. It's Coversinc. Dot com form online. You
can fill out, get the process started right back you
or call them at five one three eight hundred two
two five five it's five one three eight hundred call.
This has been another edition of Rethink Healthcare together with
John Roman and the team can Cover since
Hi's Ryan Thomas. You with John Rollan of Cover SINCEY.
Welcome to another edition of Rethink Healthcare Together John and
the team at Cover Since you can find you better
medical insurance with better coverage for less money. That's the
bottom line. The bottom line is the bottom line, and
they work with hundreds of insurance companies. They have access
to thousands of insurance policies allowing them to put together
(00:25):
a package of insurance to provide you with dollar one coverage,
catastrophic coveries. They do medical, they do dental, they do
it all and it doesn't cost you anything to initiate
the conversation. It doesn't cost you anything to get insured
through cover SINCEY and the team sticks with you while
you're working with them, so in case you have an
insurance claim problem or something like that, no, you don't
have to stay two hours on the phone with the
(00:46):
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for you. It's one of the wonderful perks of working
with Cover Sincy. But it's well worth a phone call
and the time spent to initiate the conversation. They'll get
right back with you. So you can reach them at
Cover since or call them at five one three eight
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five five. And I don't care what state you're in.
(01:07):
If you listen to this program in Hawaii even they
can help you out. All fifty states. They can do this,
so it's not just locally here in the city Cincinnati.
Welcome back, John Rohlman. It's always good talking with you
on a Sunday morning.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Well YouTube, Brian, hoping you're having a good weekend.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
I am all right today, uh calling all gig workers, freelancers,
independent contractors, and people between jobs. We've got a new
topic to talk about.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Well, I mean this is you know, something that we've
hitting on a lot, you know with our shows. You know,
just looking at those individuals that are kind of in transition, right.
You know, we see so many people that call in
that you know, are looking at saying, hey, I'm I'm
I'm retiring early. You know, I'm maybe my late fifties,
early sixties. You know, I'm looking at Cobra for an option.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
As my neighbors.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
You help them out, yep, So you're looking at covir Nancy,
yeah or yeah, great clients. You know, we were able
to help them out fantastic big time. Yeah. You know,
they're just a lot of people are in these really
good situations. When they retire, you know, income kind of
goes down, and you know, it really kind of opens
up the playbook for us to be able to like
(02:17):
just look at so many options, and you know, just
the fact that we work with so many different carriers
and have so many different techniques and ways that we
can you know, lack of a better analogy, skin a cat.
You know, it's just one of those things that we
really just try to, you know, hone in on that
unique situation and see what works out the best for them.
It's not you know, it's always funny when people call
(02:37):
in and they're going, well, I think I'm paying a
lot for insurance, and I go, you know, well, well
what are you paying? Like, I don't want to tell you,
because like you're just going to try to sell me
the most expensive you know, I'm just like, well, that's
not really how we operate, because at the end of
the day, I want to make sure that we're doing
the right thing for you right where we're going to
put you in a better situation. And you know, if
you're paying very little I don't want to recommend something
(02:58):
that doesn't really make sense your situation. So we're not
even here to like overcharge you. I mean, you know,
we've talked so many times about how much money we
save clients. I mean, I can talk about even this
past week that where we've saved you know, a couple
of clients like five or six hundred bucks a month. Yeah,
you know what they're doing. You're talking about you know,
six seven thousand dollars a year in premium savings and
and and the lot of cases way better coverage. So
(03:20):
it's you know, that's really how we operate. And you know,
so many people are you know, I feel like in
this day and age, looking for exits out of their
nine to five job situation. You know. So we're getting
so many people that are going, hey, I'm thinking about
going self employed. You know, the only reason I'm working
is for benefits. And listen, at the end of the day,
(03:41):
it's it's great to receive benefits from your employer. You know.
I feel like, even as an employer, we provide benefits
for our employees. But don't let that be the determining
factor for you know, number one. You know, people are
typically making more money when they go self employed. Right, yeah,
and in happiness. Right. I mean, I love being a
business owner. I love doing what we do. I can't
(04:03):
imagine working for someone else. They probably wouldn't want me to.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Don't get me started, man, don't get me started.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
But it's you know, and I think so many people
get scared of that situation and they and they don't
know what it looks like. And they they did make
those decisions where Brian, they just go, I can't do it.
I can't lose these benefits. And you know, call us
and we can have that conversation. We can literally show
you what it looks like. And you'd be surprised how
(04:29):
many people. I mean, I would say nine out of
ten times ago I did not realize I can get
that good of coverage at that price. Right, I'm gonna
do this in like the next month or two. I'm
literally good at putting my paperwork in and I'm doing
what I wanted to do.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
And that's try to regular emphasize on the morning show.
It's like just a few minutes of your time, you
initiate the conversation with you guys, just ask the question,
let them provide you with an option or at least
tell you that you're in the best possible place you
can be, and then I'll give you some relief knowing
that you're I mean, but you know, when you consider
the money that you can possibly say, it's like and
no obligations, Like why wouldn't you at least ask? Yeah,
(05:07):
just ask?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
And then and so many people even make a decision
to go self employed or or like oh, yeah, I'm
a freelancer and I can't get benefits and I don't
have a lot of money, and I'm trying to start
my business. I get it. I mean, as a business owner,
it's like, you know, I'm always looking at the financial side, right, Oh,
can I afford to do this? Can I can I
do more marketing here? Right? And you start making those decisions,
and you know, the worst decision to make is like, well,
(05:30):
I'm gonna go without you know, I'm gonna that. You
can't do that because it means one one bad slip,
one illness that creeps up, I mean yeah, and then
that sets you back decades of your life. I can't
I can't even imagine someone deciding at my age. I'm
in my forties, you know, making decision to go, well,
I'm gonna go self employed now, but I'm gonna gamble
(05:50):
for a year or two with no health insurance for
my family because I don't think I can afford it.
I mean, the guys, there's so many options that we
can do. I mean, even for those people that are
self employ I mean it's like, you know, you have
that first year. I mean, you can get tax credits.
I mean, you'd be surprised how many people we actually
set up on like zero premium plans that first year
because you know, they're they're putting so much of an
(06:12):
investment and they're not really going to be showing a
massive profit that first year. And it's just setting yourself
up the right way, and then you know, as your
business grows, you would just adjust your plans. I mean
it's not I'm not putting you in concrete.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Right, No. Yeah, there's a lot of flexibility and a
lot of flexibility.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I mean there's so many clients that we've even helped
on a on a short term basis, like the first
six months, and then it's like, hey, we're to revisits
this in six months unless we completely readjust what you're doing,
Like great, because I just I need to more money
into my business right now, and I just I need
to make sure nothing major can bankrupt me. And that's like,
that's great, that's a great plan. And then as we
grow your business, we'll grow your portfolio of healthcare and
(06:49):
get it better and better. And then you know, and
I mean, Brian, these these type of clients have been
with me for decades, you know, because they I've walked
them through that process in those steps.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
All Right, Well, what's change here in twenty twenty five
in terms of subsidy rules and things like that, Because
you've mentioned these before, and I know the insurance landscape
does change. It is a heavily regulated environment, so you're
gonna have to expect these kind of things. So what's
going on at this moment in time?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Okay, So one of the biggest things that most people
may or may not be aware of is especially with
tax credits. Right, So, what we're talking about is the
money that's paid by the government to help reduce the
cost of your health insurance on marketplace plans, Obamacare, ACA,
whatever you want to call it. Right. So, during COVID,
there was a bill sign was the COVID relief Bill,
(07:37):
you know, which helped you know, a lot of people
during that weren't working, you know that stay at home
and all that type of stuff. Right, But one of
the things that it did is it took the cap
off of what we call the tax credits scenario. So
give you an example. So let's say you and your
wife a lot of health insurance policy through the marketplace,
(07:57):
and you made less than sixty four grand, and now
we're talking about five six years ago, right, you will
qualify for a tax credit pretty sizable. You know, especially
at your ages, you might be getting six seven, eight
hundred bucks a month off of your health insurance at
that point. Well, if you file your taxes at the
end of the year and you made sixty five thousand,
that was the hard ceiling. So sixty four was the ceiling.
(08:19):
So anything under sixty four you got a tax credit.
At sixty four thousand and one dollar, that six hundred
dollars a month went completely away.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
See the fact that they didn't scale that is just crazy. Well,
they no incentive to make more money and everyone, while
some people are lucky enough that you might get a bonus,
and he ended up getting a bonus in the calendar year,
and yeah, credit disappears.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Like what I had to climb one time literally is like,
oh my my aunt passed away and left me ten
thousand dollars in an annuity. And I was like, oh
my god, Like, you do realize that that ten grand
that you're claiming this year, your health insurance just went
up one thousand bucks a month. So like that ten
grand you made you the government back twelve grand. That's
(09:00):
crazy because of the tax credit. So that was the
hard ceiling that we had before the COVID relief bill.
So the bill took the cap away, right, so it
made an escalating reduction in what they were giving you.
So so now we're helping clients that are, you know,
getting tax credits and sizable ones that might make seventy
eighty ninety hundred grand. You know, we're helping families. I
(09:21):
mean just the other day we help the family transition out.
They were making almost one hundred and fifty thousand dollars
for they have family of six, so they actually got
a huge tax credit. Well here's the problem. Look at
the administration we have in right now. Look at the
fact that they're they're trying to save money, right and
they're cutting everything. So that bill is.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Up for its second beautiful bill.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yeah, so it got signed again, I guess what two
and a half years ago, so they kept that going,
the escalating reduction that the hard cap was gone, but
now the hard cap can potentially come back at the
end of this year. And from all my sources telling me,
I'm talking about people that are very high up that
I know this on the insurance company side, and they're like,
(10:03):
the likelihood that this gets signed is less than ten percent.
So you know, we're talking about almost a ninety percent
certainty that those tax credits go away. So how does
that going to affect us? Right? You're talking about four
to six million people right now are qualifying for that
extra tax credit scenario, and at the end of this
year that could, with almost a ninety percent certainty complete
(10:26):
go away.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
So they're gonna have to rethink their medical insurrty.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
They're gonna have to rethink it. And you're talking about
huge premiums. I mean, I'm talking about people that are
probably making six or seven eight hundred bucks a month
off of their insurance. We're talking about people getting six
seven eight grand a year off of their health insurance
that are now going to lose that and now going
to be paying full price for a marketplace plan where
they can't even go outside of a fifty mile radius
(10:50):
of their house and have coverage.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
You know.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
I mean that's a huge problem. So, you know, we're
starting to get some people to really kind of understand this,
and they're like, listen, I'm I'm in that's an area, right,
they're calling it and going, hey, yeah, you know, I
make ninety grand a year, I'm getting six hundred bucks
a month off my health insurance. He goes, you know,
that's probably gonna go away at the end of this year.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I was like great.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
I was like, what's your health situation? Why I'm really healthy?
I said, now is the time to get off. Now's
the time to go on a private plan that you
don't have to worry about your income. Go make as
much as you want because your premiums are not going
to be influenced by that. But if you have develop
a condition in the meantime and you don't come off
like you might be stuck there. And I can't imagine
people paying. I mean, I look at my family. I mean,
(11:30):
if we had gotten stuck there, I mean, the cheapest
plan for my family was almost twenty two hundred bucks
a month. I don't pay anywhere near that on a
private plan. You know, Now, if I was getting huge
tax credits and paying five hundred bucks a month for that,
I might roll the dice, but not now, not knowing
that that's going to go away, and that's going to
affect so many people. So it's so imperative if you're
(11:50):
in that situation, You're like, hey, I really need to
kind of check if my situation might change at the
end of this year, give us a call. It might
be more benefit. She'll free to move now, pay a
little bit more, then get whacked paying a tremendous amount
at the end of this year.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
That sounds advice right there, It really is. I'm just
surprised that's going away. You know, Trump's all about keeping
taxes low, and of course this is a mechanism to
allow you to keep more money. Now, granted it's propped
up by federal government, so I mean, I see the
reason there might be a change on.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
This, but I can't imagine how much the federal government's
paying for this. Yeah, I know, I know, I mean,
and it's probably one of those things they're going to
Earmark and go like, this is costing us billions a year,
you know. I mean I look at I look, Brian,
I look at the clients that we have on them,
and I mean, I know it's in the millions, just
the clients that we represent.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
And then you're talking about all the people that are
out there. There's six million people. Even if they got
a dollar, that's a sizeable amount. So and you know
the nice thing here too, with twenty twenty five and
a lot of the insurance companies know this, Brian. So
what they're doing is developing better plans. They're developing more
(13:04):
competitive plans. We have so many carriers right now that
are competing against each other. I get I get phone
calls all the time from different marketing guys with different
insurance compan to go, hey, you're writing some other company.
Why they Why are they better than us? They're talking
to us because they want to know why are we
writing other things than them? And they're like, okay, well
if we did this, what would you write more with us?
(13:25):
I'm like, well, if you did this, this, and this,
you would be more competitive. And they're deviliding it. I
have no three or four carriers right now that are
coming out with better products than I've ever seen here
within the next quarter about that. And it's just it's
get paid.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
A consulting service to give them advice. I should you
should side? I should side, I know.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
But at the end of the day, but the day, Brian,
I mean, I just want better products for my clients.
You know, I want to be competitive of what's out there.
I want to make sure that we're always having the
best things. And you know they are asking us, you know,
because we're the ones I guess you know, in the
trenches right all day long, knowing what clients want and
what they need.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Well, because you specialize in this and you're you're always
opening eyes with your methodology and how you go about
insuring people. And I know you've mentioned many times other
people in the insurance business who are working for just
an individual carrier don't even understand your methodology or how
it works, Like how can you do this against because
(14:23):
you're independent? Oh yeah, I mean you're you're a broker,
You're working for your client. You have like the fiduciary
obligation I like to bring up, you're sitting on the
same hide of table as a client. Across the table
are all of these hundreds of insurance companies and now
they are competing against each other to get you to
write their policies. So clearly there's incentive for them to
revise their policies to make them more attractive and therefore
(14:44):
more marketable.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Oh yeah, and it's affects their bottom line too. You know,
at the end of the day, they want they want
to provide the best products. They want to be completely competitive,
and that's it. Just it makes it fun. You know,
I've been doing this so long, i mean over two decades,
you know, in this market, and it's just it's just
so phenomenal to see the changes and some of the
rapid changes that we're just doing tonight is just unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Well, what are the uh one of the things that
people should think about avoiding?
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Yeah, I mean, like number one we prefaced right now.
I mean, might want to avoid the ACA subsidies if
you're a higher income earner what you just mentioned. Yeah, absolutely,
that's that's one of the biggest Can head have those conversations.
I'm pretty certain it probably is. You know, the other
things that you want to really kind of understand is
(15:35):
you know, you could be very careful in the private
insurance market too. There are a lot of programs out
there and I know, big competitors that we go against
that sell a lot of smoke and mirrors, you know,
and it's something that you know, I I represent agents,
hundreds of agents all throughout the United States that work
under me, not just here in the in the Cincinnati area.
(15:55):
But you know, it's we train them properly and let
them understand the products that are out there. You know,
if you're going out there and selling products that are
inferior and they're out there, you know, or like my
subsidized plant, you know, my indentity policies. You know, if
you're out there just selling that product and a client
doesn't have a catastrophic component and they go and have
a heart attack, they can walk away with two hundred
thousand dollars bill. And most people don't understand that because
(16:16):
they get wowed by these things, going, oh, you have
a zero deductible and this and this and this works.
I mean it's you know, you can go anywhere you want,
and you know, they just kind of stress on the
access and the zero deductible part and They don't really
tell you the plan pays three hundred bucks a day
to you go in the hospital. I mean those are
out there, Brian, and those are the biggest competitors. So
you have to kind of be really careful on the
private insurance side to go with somebody that's completely reputable
(16:38):
and really kind of understand, like and have that question, Hey,
what does it look look when I have a two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars bill, I'm in the hospital
five days, how does this plan pay out? Those are
real questions you need to ask because that's the scenarios
that at the end of the day, I care more
about covering than anything else.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Well, excuse me, I mean that's kind of the point
of of you in your existence. Why would I and
I know a decent amount about medical insurance. Well, I
learned a lot from you talking over the years, but
you know, at least I have some understanding. I did
work for an insurance a medical insurance company for eight years,
so I get a lot of this. But the average person,
(17:18):
I mean, you we talked about employers, they don't know
anything about it. You know, some guy comes in and says, here,
I'm with big you know, giant insurance company. I can
provide all your employees, here's this one size fits all
Thing're like, fine, I'll sign up for it. You'll just
put it off their plate. But that's the point of
you being out there. You know all this, and you
know to anticipate the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
bills scenario and how to protect your client from that.
(17:39):
Why would anybody want to go out and do the
research themselves?
Speaker 2 (17:42):
I mean, and it's but it's usually somebody that has
a license that goes I can help you, and they're like, oh,
you're a license agent. You're gonna do the best thing
for me, And they don't really understand that they might
not be doing the rest thing for you. Because I
mean again, I approach everybody on the health insurance side,
and most people that we actually end up talking to
you kind of have like a first or second grade
level knowledge of health insurance exactly. You know, they think, oh,
(18:03):
I have health insurance, I'm completely cover for everything. Well,
there's no magic bullet, there's no perfect scenario. Every single
time that you're not gonna be paying anything. You know,
it's always making sure that those are our addressed. But Brian,
one of the biggest things that we do in our
office is, you know, I completely tell my guys, like listen,
just because somebody in three minutes in the conversation says, oh,
I'll just sign me up. I'm like, no, no, no, We're
(18:25):
gonna do our due diligence and kind of explain everything
because I want them to know, like, hey, here's the pros.
But every package you put together, no matter what, there's holes.
I mean, we talked about how we try to cover
as many of those holes as possible, but there's always
gonna be some hole somewhere. Right, there's no perfect, perfect plan.
And if somebody doesn't understand that, I mean, then they're
(18:47):
in a bad situation.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Right exactly. Well, and you know this, this conversation is
leading itself to something that I would never ever ever recommend.
And I have to bite my tongue because we do
have a sponsor that is a share ministry. They aren't
insurance policy. You never hear them say that. You've even
pointed that out. And I'm keen to listen to the
verbiage that they use and the soothing voice and talk
(19:09):
of the Bible and the giving and the sharing and
you know, go ahead and have a whack out at
their john because I wouldn't get one on one of
these programs with I mean, because you're not going to
get covered necessarily. That's the point. They don't have to
pay anything.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
They don't. I mean, that's the biggest thing I got
into this business, you know, because I got a license
and I can't sell health insurance or life insurance anything
that we do without a license, right, And some of
these share plans you don't even have to have one.
And you know it's I remember the first one that
we look we looked at and we look at them
all the time because there's has to be options, right,
(19:48):
And you know, one of the ones, like their whole
premise was like, well keep we'll pray for you. I'm like,
that's great, I mean, if that's what you're looking for.
But at the end of the day, I'm like, I
care about the financial security side, you know what I mean,
Like I I want to make sure that that's the
whole thing with insurance contract. So I have a contract,
I signed it. I'm paying you premium and you're guaranteeing
me in this contract that you'll pay in these scenarios, right,
(20:10):
it's you know, that's the the contract, right and give
me something. I'll give you something.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
You can go into court and soe then I can
see faith.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Bad faith, right, But you can on these shareplans because
they even say when you sign them, is that this
is not a contract, you know, this is.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
I just can't believe these things actually exist under that
scenario because people think they're actually going to get their
claims covered well, and it sounds so altruistic and it's
I mean, puppy dogs and rainbows and you know, and
they're like, uh no, sorry, you got that two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars hospital bill, but we're not gonna.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Pay well, I mean, in those in those situation. I mean, again,
let's preface this. I mean, I know a lot of
these programs that have paid major claims, and some of
them have, you know, and but I also know there
are some that one completely bankrupt and left all their clients,
you know, because then I can't see you know, I
guess I don't even know. I can and say their clients, right,
their patrons, you know, holding the bag, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
And they'll pray for them.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Yeah. Yeah, I understand that, but again financial security and that.
You know, it's funny when we have these conversations with
people are like, well, yeah, I went in for a
doctor vision, they paid for it. I'm like, of course,
they're gonna pay your hundred dollar doctor bill. You know,
there's probably enough money in there. Can they Can they
pay your twenty thousand dollars bag chema treatment? You know,
is the chem of is it? The chemo therapist is
gonna take a good faith estimate that they're gonna get paid.
(21:29):
They're go don't with that money up front, you know,
on their plans, and so a lot of them make
you pay up front and then they may reimburse you.
And that's that's an operative word may may absolutely. Another
thing to kind of reward avoid two right now is
these short term medical plans. They're only good for four
year four months right now. There was a big step
back under the last administration, and right now we're hoping
(21:53):
that they come back to the two to three year options.
We we could lock these things in for like three years,
which I was comfortable with, but the four month is
not a good option. We talk to somebody here like
two weeks ago and they're like, oh yeah, every four months,
I just keep rewriting the plan because it's really cheap.
I'm like, did you understand doesn't cover pre existing conditions? Right,
and losing a short term coverage doesn't constitute loss of coverage,
which I cannot put you on a marketplace plan if
(22:15):
you got diagnosed with cancer. So if you signed up
with a plan today, right, we're in June, and then
in four months from now, in October, your coverage is ending.
But in September you got diagnosed with cancer, there is
nothing I can do from you for you between October
and January while you're undergoing chemotherapy. So like, don't do
these plans right now. If you're looking for a long
(22:36):
term strategy, it's something to completely avoid. A lot of
agents sell these things all the time. I run into
them constantly. This is not a good scenario for you
if you're needing any type of long term coverage. You know,
if you're going from one job to the next and
need a month or two coverage, short term is great. Oh,
just going outside of that, I don't put any clients
in them, okay, and I wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
So in that one scenario where you know you are
going to be covered by.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Yes, I'm getting another job or I'm literally going on
Medicare next month. I need one month of coverage, get
a short term plan. Perfect. That's what they're designed to do.
Other than that, don't do it. And the other thing too,
is Cobra. I'll be very opt me up. I'm very honest.
I can't think of more than maybe three or four
people in the last two years that we advise to
(23:24):
stay on Cobra. It's extremely expensive, right, and I think
the scenarios for all those individuals was just basically they
had a lot of medical issues and they already met
their deductibles for the year. I'm like, it doesn't make
sense to move you the SAVI you five six hundred
bucks a month when you got to go pay another
seven or eight grand on what you're currently doing. Let's
just stay where you're at. Let's relook at this at
(23:45):
the end of the year. Other than that, everybody we've
taken off, and I'm telling you it's funny. I talk
to my sales staff and like, oh, we love when
people call them with Cobra. I was like, of course,
because they're all paying like fifteen hundred and two thousand.
I mean, it's like it's fantastic. We come and go like, hey,
I'm kind of you. I think you're a thousand bucks
a month.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
I think that was Tommy Nancy scenario A Cobra. They're
just like, we can't out of it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Cobra is not a good option. It's not I mean,
and it's just if you're even if you're in that situation,
just give us a call. I mean, it's it is
one of the easiest scenarios for us to help someone.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
All right, What are some of the common mistakes that
people make in connection with this, uh with insurance?
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Number one, delaying coverage. You know, I hear so many
people like in that transitions point, just delaying coverage. I'll
go without a month or two. And I can't tell
you how many people I've heard that just oh, I
went without coverage for a month and then I went
to the hospital that month. I just I don't know
why that happened. It is it is, It is so obvious.
The other thing, too, is listen, do not pick health
(24:48):
insurance based upon price. That is not a good scenario.
You know, I get so many times with people calling
I just want the cheapest thing. Yeah, I'm okay, Like
you know, I have a bicycle plan, Like you're gonna
hate it because you're not gonna be able to get anywhere.
And if it rains, like you're soaked, Like it doesn't
make sense, right, I mean, do not shop based upon premium. Yes,
(25:11):
give us a budget because I want to try to
make sure that I'm within a budget for you. But
you have to look at both things. And we always
talk about the true cost of healthcare, right it's you're
out of pocket expenses plus your premium. And I've seen
plans out there, I kid you not, Brian. They have
these twenty five thousand dollars reductibles in the private plan,
I mean, and that makes I mean, and they're out
there and people don't even know they're in them, you know,
(25:33):
and they're just you have to kind of understand where
you're at. And at the end of the day, the
biggest mistake people can really make is not just on price,
but get hooped into like some of those the zero
like I keep saying, like, oh, the zero reductible plans
and stuff like that. Like we hear these agents out
there selling these type of plans all the time. And
these are the things that are really going to leave
(25:54):
you bankrupt, because at the end of the day, it's
a top and coverage. It makes the most sense. And
I I won't even any agent that we wrap, even
my independent agents that worked for me. I mean, if
they're not providing top end coverage for a client, like
they're no longer working with us.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
The top end meaning the big, the catastrophic confy, the
emergency room and hospitalization kind of stuff. Yeah, everybody can
maybe manage the out of pocket the nine grand like
a Refordable Care Act. It's the two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars claim you just mentioned that people can, So
you must get coverage for that kind of exposure.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Yeah. We had a we had a we had a
group we were working with the other day and we
found out they were on one of those type of plans, right,
And they said, oh, I went and had an emergency
room claim. I don't think it was like a kidney
stone or something like that. I was like twenty two
thousand dollars. So she told me her plan paid three grand,
and I'm like, oh my god. And I'm like, well,
you know, we were looking at one of those newer
plans that we have that has a two hundred and
(26:48):
fifty dollars adultable and I go, well, if if if
you're if you're on this planet, with the out of
pocket total with a surgeon, I think that would have
been a twelve hundred and fifty dollars. She goes, well,
I don't know if they could afford that. I was like,
what do you mean because it has a thousand dollars
cope for surgery or whatever it was. And she goes,
I don't know if they My employees couldn't afford that set.
But you just told me you had a kidney stone
and that was twenty one thousand, and then they paid
(27:10):
three grands, so you you were out eighteen grand? How
did you afford that one?
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Right?
Speaker 2 (27:15):
And she goes, well, I can make payments on that.
It's like you can make payments on the twelve hundred
exactly exactly. I mean like it's just sometimes when people
hear those terms, they just don't understand, and it's just
like it's almost a lot of times we're just like
approaching them almost like their financial planner, going and this
is how it works, and this is the breakdown. I
like almost like an excel for them to kind of
(27:37):
make it make sense. But it's like, my god, like
whoever sold in that plan? I mean, I don't know
how that agent puts their head on their pillow at night. No.
But the worst part of has most of these people
don't know. You know, there's so many these new agents.
We hear them all the time coming out of college
and stuff like that. These these agencies will pick them
up and have them start selling, and they turn around
and like six months later they're they're calling us going
(27:58):
like I can't work here. I just realize what we're
actually selling, you know, because we were sold a bill
of false bill of goods, you know, and like so
we're out there presenting this thinking that, you know, this
is actually really good coverage. But you know, these guys
are so new in the industry. They don't know what
a hospital bill looks like. They don't know that a
bed in the hospital is twenty two hundred bucks a day,
not to mention the tile and all on the breeding
(28:20):
treatment and the person that walks in and here's your
MRI for twelve grand. You know, like they don't know
what these claims really are and they're just told one thing.
And that's why it's so imperative to be very very
careful when dealing with an agent that works with one
insurance company, because they're going to be told like, this
is what you sell. And that's been Brian, it's been.
It's been that way for the twenty years I've been
(28:41):
in business. I've seen these all the time and it's
not changing. It's just different wolves in different sheep folds.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Amen to that. It's Coversinc. Dot com form online. You
can fill out, get the process started right back you
or call them at five one three eight hundred two
two five five it's five one three eight hundred call.
This has been another edition of Rethink Healthcare together with
John Roman and the team can Cover since
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