How Medicaid recipients who are losing coverage can obtain an ACA policy and Cover the Premium

Show Transcript:

00;00;01;14 - 00;00;05;20

Announcer

And now America's Healthcare Advocate, Cary Hall.

00;00;05;22 - 00;00;23;10

Cary Hall

Hello America. Welcome to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting coast to coast across the USA. My producer today, Mr. Shaun Floyd. I'm your host, Cary Hall. This is your show, America. Thank you for making this one of the most listened to talk shows throughout the United States. You know, our podcast and YouTube is just kind of exploding.

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Cary Hall

We had 257,000 views on YouTube and something like 52,000 download on our podcast platform. So I'm going to tell you the names of these. So there's 15 of them now. So Spotify, SoundCloud, RSS podcast, Overcast, Rumble. Stitcher Tune In, Pandora, Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Amazon Music, Google, Audacy and YouTube. So we really appreciate this that all of you are watching these and going up on the podcast platforms.

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Cary Hall

Obviously all of you listening on radio around the country. We greatly appreciate you. That's what we've been doing for 17 years on the AM and FM stations across the country. But this is a new thing for us. We've all been at it for about a year. And it's really quite remarkable. We actually had a client walk into a prospective customers office in Ankara, Turkey, and they had our podcast up on the computer screen, and they ask D.J. Schmidt from Neuro 20.

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Cary Hall

Is that you on the podcast? And it was our show. So we know people are paying attention. We really appreciate it. Thank you for watching, listening and downloading and doing all the things that you're doing. All right. If you are looking for Medicare coverage or ACA, if you're chronologically challenged and you need Medicare, you can call the lovely Joyce Thompson or Carolee Steele at RPS Benefits by Design.

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Cary Hall

877 385 2224. Anywhere in the country. They are happy to help you if you're in Phoenix or New Mexico or Nashville or right here in the Kansas City Metro or Saint Louis, wherever you may be, down in Cape Girardeau, give them a call. They can write a policy, They can help you. They can evaluate what you've got. You know, open enrollment is not that far away.

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Cary Hall

If you want to take a look at that and have somebody just give you an idea of what you've got and what could work, what might be better. They're happy to do it. 877 385 2224. The website RPS Benefits by Design inc dot com. Also if you're looking for group health insurance employer sponsored health care, there are myriad of plans available at RPS Benefits by Design.

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Cary Hall

Just call Maria Ahlers. She'll be happy to help you. When you call up, ask for her. 877 385 2224 or once again the website would be RPS Benefits by Design inc dot com. You can go up there and fill out a form and send it to and they'll be happy to share it with you. All right. In studio with me from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City.

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Cary Hall

We are happy to have them back. Barron Roberts and Ryan Roth, Welcome back, guys. Thanks. Thanks for having us. Can you just hear right why not so long ago and you're back again? So we're happy to have you guys. We've got some very interesting topics that we're going to talk about. And one of them which we'll get into in the third segment, is important for a lot of folks around the country.

00;03;11;19 - 00;03;39;17

Cary Hall

5 million of you are losing your Medicaid coverage because of changes in the omnibus funding bill that went through Congress and Senate and President Biden signed. There are a lot of changes. There were you know, Medicaid was opened up during COVID and a lot of people were able to sign up or they're taking that away now. But what you don't know is about a million and a half of you are going to qualify for an ACA medicare excuse me, an ACA, Obamacare, individual or family health insurance policy.

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Cary Hall

It's known by a lot of different names. We're going to talk about that today. And what you need to understand, there is a lot of folks who are going to qualify for that are going to have premiums that are going to be zero. They're going to be very, very small or nonexistent based on the subsidies they're going to get from the government.

00;03;56;09 - 00;04;10;19

Cary Hall

So we're going to talk about that because there are a lot of you out there that are qualifying. We think it's a message you need to know. We have two experts here today and they're going to Barron and Ryan are going to talk about it and explain what's available and what you can do. So we thought that might be helpful to a lot of folks.

00;04;10;26 - 00;04;30;29

Cary Hall

We're also going to talk about some of the things today, and let's just start off with that. So let's chat a little bit about, you know, the stability of carriers. You know, we just had Humana pull out of the market. Okay. I know a lot of people are nervous. They are like, well, who's going to be next? You know, what's going on in the marketplace?

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Cary Hall

How long is BlueCross been in business in Kansas City, Barron?

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Barron Roberts

Over 85 years.

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Cary Hall

85 years. So it's been a while, right? Or as the young people say, it's been a minute. Yeah, it's been a while. So, you know, Blue KC has always been a very stable Carey has been the premier carrier in the Kansas City metro and the 37 is a 37 or 36 counties.

00;04;52;07 - 00;04;52;26

Barron Roberts

32.

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Cary Hall

Okay. 32. I was I exaggerated by four, I'm sorry, in 32 counties, you know, in and around the metro. And there are no plans to go anywhere. I correct. Let's get that on the air.

00;05;03;00 - 00;05;04;14

Barron Roberts

Correct. We're here to stay.

00;05;04;16 - 00;05;15;11

Cary Hall

And I mentioned that that Medicare Ryan is around the corner. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City will be back in the Medicare market again this year.

00;05;15;14 - 00;05;23;15

Ryan Roth

That is absolutely correct. Yes. We're excited about the offerings we have going into 2024, and we'll get more into that as we go throughout the segment.

00;05;23;20 - 00;05;42;17

Cary Hall

Yeah, it's going to be pretty remarkable and I think you're going to be pretty happy with that. And we're going to dispel a lot of concern. People have. They've seen that, you know, the discussion about the cuts from CMS in Medicare. We're going to talk about that. I think you're going to be surprised that the effect is going to be minimal at most, and we'll chat about that as well.

00;05;42;19 - 00;06;00;04

Cary Hall

But let's go back to the stability issue. You know, there are two things that I think people today have a difficult time with. Number one, things like, you know, Humana pulled out of the market. They're not going to do group health insurance anymore. They're going to they're going to really focus on Medicare. That's where they're at. That's that's going to be their market share.

00;06;00;12 - 00;06;18;24

Cary Hall

What they're going to do, we don't know what the other carriers are going to do. I haven't heard a lot coming out of them as well. But stability is important, especially to people. I'm going back to Medicare again. For those of us that are chronologically challenged, is that like to say we don't like change? Okay, so Barron, let's just talk about that.

00;06;18;24 - 00;06;22;24

Cary Hall

You know, we're not expecting change from Blue Cross of Kansas City, are we?

00;06;22;29 - 00;06;46;24

Barron Roberts

We're not looking at any large changes, Cary. Most importantly, we highlight and want to focus on stability by keeping plans very close to what we have today. And then I will add that we did host about 50 or so of our local brokers in a house, gather their feedback and incorporated a lot of those changes into the plans that we're offering for 2024 in a very positive way.

00;06;46;26 - 00;07;00;16

Cary Hall

You know, that's interesting, Ryan, because I don't know anybody else that's doing that. I mean, I certainly haven't heard about it. I haven't heard that United is doing it or Aetna is doing it or Humana or anybody else. But how important is that broker feedback?

00;07;00;18 - 00;07;16;22

Ryan Roth

Oh, it's incredibly important. They represent many, many of the members that we work with at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. So it's important to get that feedback so we know what it is that the market is looking for and then we're solving for that to deliver the products that they're asking for.

00;07;16;26 - 00;07;34;22

Cary Hall

So so Barron, basically what you're saying is if the if 50 brokers sit down with you guys and say, you know what, you need to add a bigger dental benefit or you need to change the the out-of-pocket max, or you need, you're going to take that into consideration and go back to your friends and underwriting. You're supposed to smile when they say that.

00;07;34;25 - 00;07;42;13

Cary Hall

Okay. And see, we need to make these changes. Okay. And but that input goes to the top.

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Barron Roberts

Absolutely. One of the advantages of being a local carrier is that we have local decision making. And so when we hosted those brokers, we brought them on site downtown right across the street from Union Station and gathered all their feedback. And our leaders sat in in those meetings.

00;07;57;19 - 00;08;16;11

Cary Hall

See, and that's important because I had a conversation with the president of one of the one of the national plans here a couple months ago. And their feedback to me was, we'd like to do this, this and this and this, but we can't make any decisions until corporate makes the decision. In other words, they don't have the ability.

00;08;16;11 - 00;08;33;22

Cary Hall

This is something I always thought was interesting about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. You've always had the ability to be fast on your feet. You've always had the ability to adapt, improvise and do the things that needed to be done. And that's not the big carriers have problems with that. They're kind of like, you know, a brontosaurus out there.

00;08;33;22 - 00;08;45;11

Cary Hall

They're trying to figure it out. Okay? And they just don't quite they're not quite nimble enough a lot of times to make the kind of changes that's very different here. Wouldn't you agree?

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Barron Roberts

Yeah, Yeah. You know, a lot of the feedback that we get from our broker partners is that we're local. We listen, we act quickly and behind the scenes where we're working as quickly as we can and keep up with all the requests. But that that is a huge benefit for us.

00;08;58;10 - 00;09;11;03

Cary Hall

Yeah, you know, it's interesting because you're working behind the scenes to keep up the request. The fact that you're actually taking the request, Ryan is a little different than what we're seeing with some of the other carriers from. Right?

00;09;11;06 - 00;09;24;13

Ryan Roth

That is right. We want to deliver on what is the need in the market. So we're really trying to stay in touch with that and come out with solutions that help them in the areas where they have the need.

00;09;24;16 - 00;09;41;03

Cary Hall

Indeed they are. When we come back from the break, we're going to talk about customer service. This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I have a saying that I use these days and that is the word service has gone out of customer service. When we come back, we're going to talk about that and we're going to ask why that's different at BlueKC.

00;09;41;04 - 00;09;52;27

Cary Hall

Stay tuned. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting here on the HIA Radio Network. Coast to coast across the U.S. We've got more. We'll be right back. Stay tuned.

00;09;52;29 - 00;10;26;05

Steve Kuker

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00;10;26;07 - 00;10;54;04

Steve Kuker

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00;10;54;06 - 00;11;17;22

Cary Hall

Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting. Coast to coast across the USA. My producer Mr. Shaun Floyd. I'm your host Cary Hall in studio with me, Barron Roberts and Ryan Roth of BlueKC, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. We're kind of talking about a range of topics here today. We just talked a little bit about what, you know, what's going on with stability in the marketplace and some of the carriers that seem to be moving around, pulling out.

00;11;17;22 - 00;11;33;07

Cary Hall

We're not quite sure what's going on with them. And we talked about Blue Cross being here for 85 years where, you know, we've we're going to talk now about customer service and why that's important. But before I do that, you know, when we get to this third segment, which is going to be really important, we're going to be talking to people out there on Medicaid.

00;11;33;14 - 00;11;51;22

Cary Hall

If you know somebody on Medicaid, you got a family member on Medicaid or it's you, you're really going to want to stay tuned and listen to this. But if you want information, there is a program at Blue Cross specifically designed to help people that are coming off Medicaid. How do you find out about your go to blue? KC for Yukon?

00;11;51;22 - 00;12;15;04

Cary Hall

BlueKC For You dot com. The phone number 833 264 1596. Just call them. They'll walk you through the process, explain the subsidy to you and tell you what you could get. It's actually better insurance than what you had on Medicaid. So just wanted to make sure you knew that. All right. So I led out by saying customer service.

00;12;15;06 - 00;12;31;01

Cary Hall

The word service has gone out of customer service. And I don't care who you use what you may call about, I forget what it was last week. I was trying to get through to a customer. Oh, I know what it was. It was my hearing. It. I was. I, I was trying to get through to the people that phone.

00;12;31;03 - 00;12;51;06

Cary Hall

I went through at least 45 minutes of trying to get on their website. I couldn't even do a chat. There was no phone number to call. That was no customer service. These hearing aids cost like $5,000 for two units. Okay, Only have one because I'm deaf in one ear, so I don't need to. But having said that, I was like, seriously, they're selling a product and there's no customer service.

00;12;51;10 - 00;13;10;13

Cary Hall

There is nobody you can talk to. There are 29 categories of things you can click on, but that was going to help me with what I needed to know. Okay. So it kind of drives me nuts because we see more and more and more of that where companies are just pulling back from customer service. That's not the case that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City.

00;13;10;15 - 00;13;24;21

Cary Hall

We're going to talk about that. But before we do that, I have to tell you a story. So yesterday, my wife tells me, Cary, you've been getting these calls. This woman named Ashley at Blue Cross. You need to call her, but she's calling my cell phone. I said, okay, I'll call her. So I call. Ashley answers the phone.

00;13;24;22 - 00;13;41;23

Cary Hall

She doesn't know me that we do radio or any of this stuff. I said, Hi, I'm Cary Hall. I'm calling. She said, Oh, Mr. Hall. Well, we just wanted to tell you that we had deducted two payments on your dental plan instead of one because of the date you have the ETF. But if you want to change that, we can change that.

00;13;41;23 - 00;13;56;03

Cary Hall

If you want a refund that we get and we're happy to do whatever you need. We just wanted to make sure you knew about it. I'm like, Well, first of all, don't worry about it. And secondly, yes, we'll move the date so we don't have an issue with it. But she was extremely pleasant, more than willing to help me.

00;13;56;03 - 00;14;13;00

Cary Hall

And they reached out to me. They didn't wait for me to find out. When I go look at the bank statement, hey, why did I get charged twice for one month? You know, the point was, I talked to a human being. I didn't go through 15 voice prompts to get signed. That's not the first time I've had issues with claims that were They've been quoted wrong by the hospital.

00;14;13;00 - 00;14;35;13

Cary Hall

Whatever my wife has. And you always are able to get somebody. You just won the J.D. Power award, Bryan, this is the third time you've done it. Okay. You want it. I don't know how many categories. When Gratia was here and she talked about it and that show got a lot of listeners. It's amazing to talk a little bit about that because this is, I think, the single biggest difference between you and the national carriers.

00;14;35;16 - 00;14;58;08

Ryan Roth

Yes, absolutely. We're very excited about our J.D. Power Award win this year. And really, it comes down to that we pride ourselves in customer service. It is a big focus of ours to provide a high level of service to the community. And really I think that's important for a couple of reasons. First of all, we're there when the customers need them.

00;14;58;11 - 00;15;23;03

Ryan Roth

When I say that everybody is here local, the customer service team, the leadership team, all throughout the organization were here in Kansas City. So we're in the same time zone that that's important. We're here when you need us. Secondly, I would say that we understand what you need in the market since we are here local. When you reference a hospital, we know about that hospital and where it's located.

00;15;23;03 - 00;15;30;25

Ryan Roth

If you reference a certain part in town where you might need something done, we know where you're talking about and can make a good, you.

00;15;30;25 - 00;15;34;03

Cary Hall

Know, where the hospitals are north deliver you don't ask what river.

00;15;34;06 - 00;15;37;01

Ryan Roth

Which is not our third river.

00;15;37;04 - 00;16;01;17

Cary Hall

Yeah you know and I think that's critical J.D. Power Award was for customer service, but there were five categories underneath that where you guys won awards. And then when gracious and I cannot remember what it was, there were two other companies that had awarded Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City Customer Service. And here's the thing that I always find interesting is you actually get to talk to somebody.

00;16;02;05 - 00;16;15;11

Cary Hall

You don't go to voicemail. And yes, it is. In the same times that I called the company a week or so ago and they were on the East Coast and I called 3:00. They were closed again. Hey, that doesn't do you a lot of good, right?

00;16;15;14 - 00;16;23;15

Barron Roberts

When you have an issue and you need something solved, calling somewhere outside the area or outside the country is is not an ideal situation.

00;16;23;16 - 00;16;50;16

Cary Hall

Oh, and by the way, there are companies in the health insurance industry that have call centers in India and have call centers in Mexico. It's not real hard to figure out when you make that call and you're trying to understand what they're saying. So having it here and having people here that again, understand the marketplace, understand the needs, know a North Kansas City hospital from an Overland Park regional, you know, know what people's needs are.

00;16;50;22 - 00;17;07;17

Cary Hall

You know, if you're looking for an orthopedic surgeon, you know, if you're here in Kansas City and you're Blue Cross, you know who Dickson Lee is? The largest orthopedic surgical group in the city. What they do. Yeah. I mean, those are things that are important to people when they have a problem and when they have a problem, they want somebody to help them, right?

00;17;07;23 - 00;17;27;24

Ryan Roth

Absolutely. And I'll even take it a step further. We go beyond just customer service for the member. It's important to us that we deliver on service from the beginning of the process. I'll call it presale all the way through post-sale and service for the life of coverage. So that applies to the member and it applies to the broker too.

00;17;27;29 - 00;17;37;24

Ryan Roth

We have dedicated teams to support our members. We have a dedicated teams to support our brokers in. That's very important to us that they have those resources they need.

00;17;37;26 - 00;17;57;09

Cary Hall

Yeah, because the nightmare for a broker after 26 years of doing this and they don't do it actively like I used to anymore, but the nightmare for the broker is when the person calls because they're angry they couldn't get a prescription filled or couldn't get pre certified for a surgery, whatever the case may be. And they get 15 voice prompts from the carrier and nobody wants to talk to them.

00;17;57;11 - 00;18;18;03

Cary Hall

And I used to have a commercial that I said, you can call the one 800. I don't give a damn number or you me because yeah, you're shaking your head. But let me tell you something. Try some of these companies and see what you get. Barron I mean, it's so clear that there's it's what it is. It's cost cutting they don't want to pay to have You're sitting there, you're shaking your head, right?

00;18;18;07 - 00;18;36;10

Cary Hall

They don't want to pay to have people sitting there answering those phones, taking care of those problems. And yeah, it looks good on the bottom line, but it doesn't look good when it comes to customer retention. It doesn't look good when the brokers are out trying to promote that product and they know that they're going to be able to get the kind of customer service they need to Blue Cross, but maybe not so much.

00;18;36;13 - 00;18;38;25

Cary Hall

One of the other carriers. That's the difference, right?

00;18;39;01 - 00;19;03;06

Ryan Roth

It is. It is. And and while cost is important there there's nobody that will say it's not that's very important. We focus on that. But it's also important to have a good experience as you're dealing with insurance. Insurance can be complicated. There's lots of things that can go sideways in insurance. And we want to make sure you have the resources there for you when something is not.

00;19;03;06 - 00;19;08;05

Ryan Roth

If it's going to go wrong, occasionally it will go wrong. And we're there to help you walk you through that journey.

00;19;08;05 - 00;19;23;09

Cary Hall

Yeah, I always used to tell them it's not a question of if you're going to have a problem, you're going to have a problem whether it's going to be a provider problem or a prescription drug problem or a coding problem. It happens, period. Okay. So do you want somebody is going to be there, take care of it, or do you want to play roulette?

00;19;23;09 - 00;19;37;11

Cary Hall

And that's a big difference. We're going to come back in this next segment. If you're if you're on Medicaid, you want to watch this podcast, you want to listen to the radio show, this is going to be really important to you. We're going to tell you how to get coverage that you probably didn't even know you could get.

00;19;37;18 - 00;19;48;28

Cary Hall

Stay tuned. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting here on the HIA Radio Network Coast to coast across the USA. We'll be right back.

00;19;49;00 - 00;20;02;25

Cary Hall

Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting coast to coast across USA. Here on the HIA Radio Network, you can find out more about us by going to the website America's Healthcare Advocate or one of those 15 platforms.

00;20;02;25 - 00;20;24;21

Cary Hall

14 Podcast one YouTube. If you want to watch the show, listen to the show. They're all videoed now. They're all put up there. Our producer, Dave Thiessen, man behind the camera, does a fantastic job of putting all this together. And Shawn Floyd, my producer here in the Audacy Studios, does a great job on the radio side. So if you want any information, go to the website of America's Healthcare Advocate dot com.

00;20;24;23 - 00;20;47;12

Cary Hall

In studio with me, Barron Roberts, Ryan Roth from BlueKC, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. Now, this is a segment we're going to talk about Medicaid. We're also going to talk about Medicare and some of the roll out this year for for Medicare Advantage. But I want to give this out, this website out. Again, if you're out there, maybe you're is in Bethany or maybe maybe you're up in Trenton or maybe you're here in Kansas City and your Medicaid recipient.

00;20;47;12 - 00;21;10;29

Cary Hall

There are huge number of Medicaid people out in the rural communities. Go to the website BlueKC for you dot com. Go to the website. The Medicaid information is up there. Learn what you can get, and you'd be surprised. It's going to be a zero premium or very small premium depending on the subsidy. They will calculate that you don't have to do anything.

00;21;11;04 - 00;21;34;27

Cary Hall

All you have to do is reach out and ask for help. Phone number 833 264 1596. Give them a call. Let them help you. All right. Let's go right to this. So I said in the opening segment, 5 million people are going being kicked off of Medicaid. That's it. Okay. Of that, one and a half million will qualify for ACA.

00;21;34;29 - 00;21;51;13

Cary Hall

Of that one and a half million, I'm going to guess that 90% haven't got a clue that they qualify for it because nobody is talking about this. It's not in the media anywhere. I don't see any any advocacy for this, any place other than you guys coming on here. And we're talking about it. We're putting up on the podcast platforms.

00;21;51;19 - 00;21;56;29

Cary Hall

We're going to put it out there. But so let's just talk about what's available to start, Barron.

00;21;57;02 - 00;22;24;22

Barron Roberts

Yes Cary, so we've got 11 ACA plans available for people. As far as resources go, you hit the nail on the head there, BlueKC for you dot com or our phone number. You mentioned we we do see a big opportunity here for folks that are losing their Medicaid coverage. We do see there being between six and 9000 people just in the state of Missouri losing Medicaid coverage every single month.

00;22;24;24 - 00;22;27;16

Cary Hall

So we run it one more time. How many?

00;22;27;17 - 00;22;30;06

Barron Roberts

6 to 9000 a month. A month?

00;22;30;13 - 00;22;37;06

Cary Hall

That's pretty serious, folks. 6 to 9000 people we haven't even talked about Kansas yet. So let's keep going. Yeah.

00;22;37;08 - 00;22;58;22

Barron Roberts

Yeah. So we do see a lot of disruption there. And what we are anticipating is, folks, that as you mentioned, there's not a lot of communication going out to the states, sending information. The the Medicaid TPA’s (Third Party Administrator) are sending information. But it's, you know, typically by snail mail, it's very difficult to get a hold of some folks these days with mail.

00;22;58;24 - 00;23;05;20

Barron Roberts

And we anticipate most of these people will find out when they're in the E.R. or when they go pick up their prescriptions.

00;23;05;23 - 00;23;22;27

Cary Hall

And that's the scary part. What Barron just said is the part that is the scariest part. You're not most people aren't even going to know or they get that thing in the mail and they think it's junk mail and they throw it in the trash. You don't pay attention and then you show up and you need care in the hospital because I'm sorry, we're not accepting your card because it's expired.

00;23;22;29 - 00;23;38;12

Cary Hall

You don't no longer have coverage you didn't even know, right? Yeah. You're not being communicated. Well, I mean, there's been a lot of discussion about this behind the scenes. CMS and other people, the responsibilities that fall on the states. A lot of the states, they just aren't doing a good job.

00;23;38;15 - 00;23;59;09

Barron Roberts

Well, it's a it's a big undertaking in a very short runway that they're working with as well. So I know that they've been working really hard to get, you know, file feeds updated and stuff like that to be able to communicate with the TPAs and handle the Medicaid for them. But, you know, it's a mass communication campaign and there's a lot of effort going into it right now.

00;23;59;11 - 00;24;26;06

Cary Hall

So, Ryan, talk a little bit about and this is so. All right, I'm hearing this, okay, I've got a medicaid plan. I make $60,000 a year. I'm a single mom. I got two kids. Talk about what typically that mom would qualify for. We need to get into the numbers in detail. But how that mom would qualify for an ACA, Obamacare, our individual health insurance plan, family plan for her and for her kids.

00;24;26;09 - 00;24;52;16

Ryan Roth

Yeah. So if you go to Blue KC for you dot com or call us at our 800 number, we will walk you through a calculator that shows you what subsidies are available for you. What plans are the best fit for you regardless of your income level. The scenario you get get gave somebody making less, somebody making more. We'll walk you through it and detail your specific situation and help you determine the plan that's right for you.

00;24;52;18 - 00;24;59;29

Cary Hall

But the subsidies, especially if you're under $100,000 a year, they're going to be significant.

00;25;00;03 - 00;25;12;15

Barron Roberts

Yeah, we anticipate, just given the consideration that someone has qualified for Medicaid previously and is losing Medicaid coverage, we do expect there to be substantial subsidies to help offset those premium dollars.

00;25;12;15 - 00;25;35;02

Cary Hall

And some of them are even going to qualify for lower deductibles, aren't they, as as a result of depending on their situation. Isn't that correct? No, I was I thought there was another plan out there where they would it's like kind of on top of the ACA plan if they're coming off this Medicaid that they make, there may be a situation where they.

00;25;35;04 - 00;25;48;13

Ryan Roth

It's very possible. We don't want to get into details for somebody that might be in accurate. But but if people do want to reach out to us, we'll walk them through and detail all their options, compare it to what they had so that they understand what they're getting.

00;25;48;14 - 00;26;04;06

Cary Hall

So so this is really reason I did this today, that I wanted these guys in here for this show. This was the primary reason I wanted to do this today, because this is a huge problem. And you heard Ben describe it. Yeah, the states have tried to communicate, but they're not doing a great job. And that third party administrators are handling this.

00;26;04;06 - 00;26;24;14

Cary Hall

They aren't doing a great job either. And unfortunately, a lot of you, you're going to find out about it. Just like Baron said, when you walk into the urgent care, the E.R. to get your prescription drugs and you say, I'm sorry, I've got coverage, there's a simple, simple way to find out and get help. Okay. That phone number is 833 264 1596. 32 counties.

00;26;24;14 - 00;26;48;00

Cary Hall

They get it right this time, sir. Okay. 32 counties in and around Kansas City. That, by the way, we talked about Missouri, Wyandotte and Johnson County. Okay. If you're a medicaid recipient, either one of those areas and you need help to figure out how you're going to get coverage, call that number 833 264 1596 or go to the website BlueKCforyou.com.

00;26;48;03 - 00;27;07;06

Cary Hall

It's up there. Okay. You can go see everything you heard Ryan say. Just call them. They'll be happy to talk to you that they'll still walk you through it. You don't have to do anything. They'll walk you through the whole process. So I just think it's really important that people get this. And like I said, I think 90% of the people haven't got a clue that they can qualify for the ACA.

00;27;07;06 - 00;27;10;14

Cary Hall

I don't think that's being communicated to them.

00;27;10;17 - 00;27;29;02

Ryan Roth

I'll take this one. Yeah, it's it's not even on a lot of people's radars. They're going to be surprised when they get the letter in the mail or when they go to the doctor and realize they don't have that coverage anymore. And it's not something that people tend to be really informed on. You buy it and you set it to the side and think it's going to pay.

00;27;29;05 - 00;27;43;19

Ryan Roth

And then when it goes away, it can be a shocker. So it is important that they get ahead of it if they can. So if they get the notice, please reach out to us. So that we can get ahead of it before you do need some sort of service that is critically important.

00;27;43;22 - 00;28;02;12

Cary Hall

So that he just said something really important that you didn't get the letter or you haven't heard about this or it hasn't happened, call. They'll tell you. They can tell you if you're on the list, give them a call. Eight, three, three, two, six, four, 1596. Let's switch gears a minute and talk a little bit about rollout and what's going on there.

00;28;02;14 - 00;28;07;18

Cary Hall

This is for Medicare Advantage. So we're changing topics, folks. Stay with the program as well.

00;28;07;20 - 00;28;28;25

Ryan Roth

Our rollout meetings, if we're to are we talking about rollout meetings? We are for Medicare Advantage, individual ACA and small groups. So within it, we'll have meetings that cover all. So our rollout meetings begin August 31st is our first meeting, and that's a broker specific roll out meeting. So a brokers are invited to those meeting.

00;28;28;25 - 00;28;30;12

Cary Hall

And where is that one going to be held, the.

00;28;30;12 - 00;28;33;12

Ryan Roth

One on August 31st. Barron Do you recall off the top of your head and.

00;28;33;12 - 00;28;36;15

Barron Roberts

Get them all memorized? Pinstripes and Overland Park Oh, pinstripes.

00;28;36;15 - 00;28;41;02

Cary Hall

Okay, I've been there, yes. And then can go bowling and learn something. Okay.

00;28;41;02 - 00;28;57;23

Ryan Roth

At 10:00 we will cover Medicare Advantage updates, bring everybody up to speed on what will be offered in 2024. At 11:00, we cover individual ACA updates and then at one 1:00 we cover everything small group updates.

00;28;57;23 - 00;29;16;10

Cary Hall

So you can do So If you're only a medicare broker, all you do is Medicare Advantage, Medicare supplement. You can go to that one segment. That's right. If you're a broker that does ACA but you don't do Medicare, then you can go to that segment. If you're a broker that does all three, you've got 3 hours to learn everything that you've got that's pretty in-depth.

00;29;16;10 - 00;29;19;19

Cary Hall

You have not done it like this before. This is really great. Yeah.

00;29;19;21 - 00;29;22;02

Ryan Roth

We have in different versions, right?

00;29;22;02 - 00;29;24;04

Cary Hall

But that's not all we try.

00;29;24;10 - 00;29;27;02

Ryan Roth

We've learned over time how to consolidate those things.

00;29;27;02 - 00;29;28;22

Cary Hall

Or to get.

00;29;28;25 - 00;29;39;21

Ryan Roth

It right. So we're trying to get that education out there for the broker community. So we have sent out invitations to brokers and we're asking that you do RSVP. So we have a proper.

00;29;39;21 - 00;29;40;27

Cary Hall

Limited number of seats.

00;29;40;27 - 00;29;54;04

Ryan Roth

That's right. In no know who is coming. And if you haven't haven't received it or have lost that, you can also call us at the 800 number Cary mentioned earlier and we will get you on the reservation list.

00;29;54;04 - 00;29;56;17

Cary Hall

What's the other date? Is there another date besides.

00;29;56;17 - 00;30;02;05

Ryan Roth

Those August 31st, September 5th and September 7th?

00;30;02;07 - 00;30;13;01

Barron Roberts

So September 5th is Union Station in the boardroom, same time schedule of same topics. And then September 7th, is it the view at Briarcliff Up, up in. Oh, yeah. Parkville.

00;30;13;06 - 00;30;30;13

Cary Hall

Right. When we come back from the break, we're going to talk about another event on September 14th. This is kind of the Super Bowl of broker events that Blue Cross and Blue Shield is going to be putting on September 14th. Stay tuned. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting here on the HRA audio Network Coast to coast across the USA.

00;30;30;13 - 00;30;52;12

Cary Hall

We'll be right back. Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting coast to coast across the fruited the plain here on the HIA radio network, my producer, Mr. Shawn Floyd, is the man behind the microphones making sure this all works. The man behind the camera, Dave Thiessen, are in studio with me, Barron Roberts, Ryan Roth from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City.

00;30;52;12 - 00;31;17;12

Cary Hall

We're talking about all things BlueKC. We've covered Medicaid. We've talked about a little bit about Medicare Advantage, what's going on with the brokers out there. We've talked about customer service and some of the other issues. So the folks know Blue KC have been here for 85 years, not going anywhere. Neither of the plans. Okay. And I'm going to go back in this segment now before I do that again, I'm going to give out this phone number 833 264 1596.

00;31;17;14 - 00;31;37;20

Cary Hall

If you're one of those people out there that may lose that Medicaid coverage, you need to call them or go to the website BlueKC for You dot com. All right. So there's one more event after the three that we talked about. So we got August 31st, September 5th and September 7th. Okay. Those are the multiple topic events.

00;31;37;23 - 00;31;49;18

Cary Hall

Then we've got the Super Bowl event. Okay, I'm going to name this. Okay. This is going to be held in the Overland Park Convention Center, and that's going to be on September 14th. Okay, Barron let's hear about it.

00;31;49;18 - 00;32;25;15

Barron Roberts

Yeah. So we're really excited about this event. This is the first event of this type that we're we're rolling out. That event will be really centered on bringing our broker partners in for our Medicare Advantage and ACA. And it will allow them the opportunity to meet and discuss with our vendors that operate behind the scenes for our Medicare Advantage and ACA products how they work, how they operate, what are the things that go on behind the scenes so that our broker partners can really explain all the different things that occur to the members that they're working with?

00;32;25;18 - 00;32;46;25

Cary Hall

That's going to be pretty exciting. I mean, I know you're listening to this people to go, What is it like? How could that be exciting, the fact that they're going to get to learn all of this information? And here's why that's important, because when they talk to you, you're the client, okay? They're going to know, okay, this is this is this is where you can go to get your glasses.

00;32;46;27 - 00;33;03;24

Cary Hall

This is where you can go for hearing aids. This is where you can go for physical. You all all of these things are going to be there. So the brokers will have insight to that. That's pretty important. Okay. If when you're making a decision, you know, what are the networks like? Who's going to be covered, all the rest of it.

00;33;04;01 - 00;33;05;01

Barron Roberts

Yeah, absolutely.

00;33;05;01 - 00;33;09;15

Cary Hall

So So September 14th at the Overland Park Convention Center, RSVP.

00;33;09;17 - 00;33;17;01

Barron Roberts

Yes. Yes. So we spent an hour appealing to our broker partners. If they didn't get that link, as you mentioned, call that number and get on the list.

00;33;17;01 - 00;33;34;13

Cary Hall

And that number is the 833 264 1596. If you call that number, you can definitely get on the list. You know, your broker out there or you're an agent out there, you really do need to go to everyone. You need to go to one of the three that are the multi topic ones and you definitely need to go to one on the 14th if you're involved in Medicare Advantage.

00;33;34;13 - 00;34;02;05

Cary Hall

So I think that's pretty, pretty important for folks. So let's talk a little bit about, you know, we're going to be in the Medicare Advantage space next year, right? Absolutely. Okay. So we probably can't get dollar detail, but there is a lot of panic. Okay. When the media was talking about multiple cuts are coming to Medicare Advantage plans because CMS is reducing reimbursement and the newspaper articles in the media were, you know, all about this.

00;34;02;08 - 00;34;17;01

Cary Hall

The story in the media was there's going to be a 3% cut that's been pushed back down to 1% over three years. How is that going to affect Blue Cross in terms of what you're going to roll out for in May next year? What are you anticipating? I know you can't talk specifics, but because you can't talk about it until we get to open enrollment.

00;34;17;01 - 00;34;18;23

Cary Hall

But what are you anticipating?

00;34;18;26 - 00;34;33;28

Barron Roberts

Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, with that news and on the legislation, all the changes that are coming, we we thought it was very important to remain stable and I'll have that word again. Stable stabilization. Yeah. An affordable, stable product that's out there for people.

00;34;34;01 - 00;34;51;09

Cary Hall

So there are not going to be any giant shocks. Ryan coming out of Blue Cross. And I'm doing this because, you know, seasoned citizens pay attention to this stuff, okay? Those of us that are chronologically challenged, as I like to say, and you know, one person talks to another day, you heard about the cuts and you know, what's going to happen to our Medicare.

00;34;51;10 - 00;35;02;13

Cary Hall

I've already gotten phone calls from people about this, literally. I've gotten phone calls from people that are worried about what's going to happen. I think it's important to understand you're not looking at substantial changes in Blue Cross and Blue Shield of this year.

00;35;02;19 - 00;35;12;02

Ryan Roth

That is correct. There will not be substantial changes. We worked very hard, as Barron's referenced, to keep the portfolio stable, deliver the benefits people are used to.

00;35;12;09 - 00;35;36;25

Cary Hall

Yeah. And that you know that that goes back to this conversation about you know first of all we've got people right here in studio okay they don't have to go to corporate you know in Minneapolis or in in Memphis, Tennessee, or someplace else to get an answer to this. Okay. They're right here. And Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the word stable is going to continue to produce the Medicare Advantage product this year.

00;35;36;25 - 00;35;49;28

Cary Hall

The Medicare part, they're not anticipating changes to this that are going to impact people in any significant way. So I think you're going to be pleased with what you see when the products roll out. When when will we start seeing products roll out? What's the date?

00;35;50;00 - 00;36;08;24

Barron Roberts

Yep. So as far as for the for our broker partners, we have our roll out events will be sharing some some benefits then and then as far as for the members, the earliest we can release product details is October 1st. So right about that time it's a good time to give us a call, ask us questions about the products and you'll find out then.

00;36;08;26 - 00;36;24;10

Cary Hall

Yeah, and you can do that. You know, you can do that now. You can give them a call and get on the list and they will call you. Or you can go to your broker, do the same thing, get on the list, and they'll be happy to call you and advise you of, you know, as soon as we know, we're going to get right back to you.

00;36;24;10 - 00;36;37;03

Cary Hall

So you're not waiting and worrying. You know, how is this going to affect me? What's it going to affect, you know, etc., etc.. Last topic before we close it out today, Network Strength, What's the network going to look like this year? Are there any substantial changes to the network?

00;36;37;03 - 00;36;38;29

Barron Roberts

Yep, no substantial changes to our network.

00;36;39;02 - 00;37;03;26

Cary Hall

Okay, so that's important. Let's talk about who's in the network on the Medicare side this year we've got KU Medical Center. Yep, we've got St Luke's in there. Yep. And is HCA in there this year? Yep. Okay. So those that's it right there. Okay. Those are the three major players you've got KU, If you don't recognize HCA, that would be Overland Park Regional, that would be Research Medical Center, Menorah, etc., etc..

00;37;04;01 - 00;37;24;26

Cary Hall

You all know St Luke's North South, the East west, etc. and KU Medical you know, now part of Olathe and all the rest of it. So basically you've got blanket access in all networks across the Metro in and around the Metro for coverage. If you're on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, boy, that was a lot of information that they guys can like drink it out of a firehose in here today.

00;37;24;26 - 00;37;49;10

Cary Hall

But I think we got we got we disseminated a lot of good information out to folks out there. Once again, any questions? Medicaid, whether it's you know, you're worried about Medicare, whatever, 833 264 1596 that is the phone number. They are happy to chat with you and help you in any way that they can. And I really do urge you, if you're on that and one of those Medicaid plans, take the time to make that phone call.

00;37;49;13 - 00;38;04;23

Cary Hall

You heard Barron say to her. Ryan said, Don't wait till you walk into the E.R. The urgent care with your child and you've got a major problem and you find out you don't have care. And now you got to figure out how you're going to pay for it, because even if you didn't get the letter, okay, get on the phone and give them a call.

00;38;04;23 - 00;38;28;26

Cary Hall

833 264 1596. The website BlueKC for you dot com Thanks again guys for having us And now I leave you with this thought ladies and from Dr. Martin Luther King Americans must learn to live together as brothers and sisters or we will surely perish together as fools. Truer words were never spoken. Thank you for listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting coast to coast across USA.

00;38;28;26 - 00;38;29;26

Cary Hall

We'll see you next week.

00;38;29;26 - 00;38;31;03

Ryan Roth

Goodbye, America.