Play full audio podcast (above) or find it by clicking from the list below:

Spotify

iHeart

Spreaker

Soundcloud

TuneIn

Amazon

RSS

Pandora

Google

Overcast

Pocket Casts

Apple

YouTube Podcasts

Or search for "America's Healthcare Advocate" on your favorite podcast platform.

Transcript of episode 2033

00;00;01;14 - 00;00;05;16

Announcer

And now America's Healthcare Advocate, Cary Hall.

00;00;05;19 - 00;00;28;15

Cary Hall

Hello, America. Welcome to America's Healthcare Advocates show broadcasting coast to coast across the USA. Our producer, Mr. Dave Thiessen, behind the cameras, the man who records all these shows, posts all the podcast platforms, and also all of our YouTube. Darren Wilhite is our audio producer from the good folks at Audacy, here in our flagship studio here at 980AM. 98.1FM KMBZ.

00;00;28;21 - 00;00;50;02

Cary Hall

We're happy to be with you today. Want to give a shout out to KVBR AM 1340 and FM 95.1 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Got a couple of, emails from folks up there and just want to say hello to them. And we're happy to be on there. We've been up there for some time. So KVBR AM 1340 FM 95.1.

00;00;50;02 - 00;01;11;10

Cary Hall

We're on there on Saturday mornings. So thank you all and happy to hear from you. All right. So joining me in studio today it is our annual FEP show. What is that FEP. FEP is our Federal Employee show that we do every year where we explain to all of the federal employees, postal workers, federal employees, etc. what are your options?

00;01;11;10 - 00;01;23;12

Cary Hall

What is Blue Cross offering you this year and what does it look like? And how can you get more information about how all of that works? Well, joining me in studio, as he always does, is Ron Miller from Blue Cross. Welcome.

00;01;23;19 - 00;01;26;09

Ron Miller

Thank you, Cary. It’s always a pleasure to be here.

00;01;26;09 - 00;01;27;01

Cary Hall

Here we are again.

00;01;27;03 - 00;01;27;16

Ron Miller

Yes.

00;01;27;16 - 00;01;37;06

Cary Hall

Another year we've been doing this I can't I think Ron brought this in here. Ron Rowe started this I don't know how what ten years ago we so yeah. And here we are doing it again.

00;01;37;06 - 00;01;42;19

Ron Miller

So yeah. Yeah. I've had, been lucky enough to have the federal employees for 20 years.

00;01;42;22 - 00;01;43;14

Cary Hall

Been that long.

00;01;43;14 - 00;01;47;05

Ron Miller

So. Yes, 29 at Blue Cross in 20 years.

00;01;47;08 - 00;01;47;22

Cary Hall

That's pretty amazing.

00;01;47;23 - 00;01;48;17

Ron Miller

Working with the federal employees.

00;01;48;22 - 00;02;06;01

Cary Hall

Federal employees and the unions. And he's a man who is well received by both. I can tell you that because I've I've been to multiple functions with him and, I think a lot of them think he's a federal employee or a union member, so. So let's just talk about, you know, why should federal employees, they've got choices.

00;02;06;03 - 00;02;10;02

Cary Hall

But why the Blue Cross Blue Shield plan? Let's talk a little bit about that.

00;02;10;08 - 00;02;35;01

Ron Miller

Yeah. You know, Cary, Blue Cross and Blue Shield as far as being in the federal employee program has been in for 60 years. We've been there since they conceived the idea of the federal employees. We have over 64%, federal employees throughout the United States here locally, we have somewhere around 58% of all the members of their families and members who choose Blue Cross.

00;02;35;04 - 00;02;55;22

Ron Miller

So it's really an honor that people are trusting Blue Cross and Blue Shield. We've been here. We've done it. And they trust us with their health insurance as they go through stuff. So it's just one of those things that, you know, it's just we've got really good products that we offer. People have trusted Blue Cross and Blue Shield throughout the years, and it's just been a really good marriage for both of us.

00;02;55;25 - 00;03;15;04

Cary Hall

Yeah. You know, the other thing is, and I think this is important, especially for the federal employees to know when they when they call for help, when they when they pick up that phone and they've got a call and they need customer service help. They're talking to people right down here on Main Street. I mean, they're not you're not going to a call center in New York City, okay?

00;03;15;04 - 00;03;29;07

Cary Hall

Or or or Columbus, Ohio or someplace where when you ask him the question, can you tell me what hospitals are in the network north of the river? And then the customer service rep says, what river? You're probably not in Kansas City, right? Ron.

00;03;29;08 - 00;03;57;25

Ron Miller

That is correct in that. And that's a great point, is that we are here locally. All of our customer service reps live here in the Kansas City metro area. They know the area that they are serving. They know the information that you're asking them, their world class customer service. Our customer service unit is has won again the Nasdaq award for, high quality customer service FEP has done this for the fourth consecutive year, more even than our regular lines of business.

00;03;57;25 - 00;04;00;19

Ron Miller

So FEP has the best customer service. Absolutely.

00;04;00;20 - 00;04;15;11

Cary Hall

I know that because you've won the J.D. Power Award on the standard customer service folks about I think it's four times now. Yeah. And so this this particular award is specifically for the federal employees. So talk about that because I didn't even know that existed.

00;04;15;11 - 00;04;40;22

Ron Miller

Yeah. No, it is it's an award that they look at all the different call centers and whether or not the members that call are satisfied or not, and they must receive an 85% satisfactory rate on all those calls in 2022. We had 100% board. I'm sorry. In 2023, 2024, we had 100% of our customer service staff who was able to meet that standard.

00;04;40;25 - 00;04;57;23

Cary Hall

That's impressive. I can't take it. You know, I always say in today's world, the word service has gone out of customer service. If you doubt that, pick up the phone and call AT&T someday, okay? Right. And if you go and sit on the phone for an hour, trying to get to somebody is actually going to help you. Okay.

00;04;57;26 - 00;05;19;18

Cary Hall

You know, so this is a this is a big thing, people. This is really important to understand. You will have an issue. It'll be a claims problem. It will be a provider problem. It'll be I don't know where to go. Whatever. That's the difference right there. When you're calling these folks 85%, 100% of your folks made the grade, made the grade.

00;05;19;18 - 00;05;33;28

Ron Miller

And the thing about it is, as you said, you're going to have an issue with your insurance. Something's going to come up that you're going to need. An answer never fails. It never fails. And it's one thing to tell people, hey, we have great benefits. But what happens when I have an issue and when you have an issue?

00;05;33;29 - 00;05;50;05

Ron Miller

When I'm out in the field, people say, oh my gosh, customer service reps are fantastic. I talked to Jameka yesterday. She answered all my questions. I mean, it's just it's good to hear, like, you know, that when you go out in the field, people are going to be appreciative and happy of the customer service that they're getting.

00;05;50;06 - 00;05;52;17

Cary Hall

And the other thing is one call resolution.

00;05;52;17 - 00;05;53;22

Ron Miller

One call resolution.

00;05;53;22 - 00;06;06;19

Cary Hall

And that's a big deal because you're not you're not being told a whole, hold on, you need to we're going to transfer you or you need to call back in 15 minutes or you're smiling, you're laughing, but you know that that's exactly what goes on.

00;06;06;22 - 00;06;07;15

Ron Miller

That is exactly it.

00;06;07;15 - 00;06;09;14

Cary Hall

One call resolution is a big deal.

00;06;09;17 - 00;06;20;02

Ron Miller

It's a big deal to call in. Have your question, have your question answered and go about your day and know, okay, I got this off my plate. I don't have to worry about it tomorrow, the next day and the next day after that.

00;06;20;08 - 00;06;36;20

Cary Hall

Yeah. And and it and it's great to know you've got some place to go when you need help. But that's really what it amounts to. And that's the beauty of the customer service program at Blue Cross Blue Shield. So 99% of the people that sign up with Blue Cross stay on Blue Cross. That's a pretty impressive number, Ron.

00;06;36;20 - 00;06;49;29

Ron Miller

Yes, we've had a retention rate. Between 99.1% to 99.4% in the last four years. So people have chosen Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and they've stayed with Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

00;06;50;05 - 00;06;55;28

Cary Hall

And that's a really big deal, because if they don't like you, they certainly have options to switch.

00;06;55;29 - 00;07;03;22

Ron Miller

They have plenty of options they have over it. Just in Kansas City alone, they have about 12 different offer of, options to choose from.

00;07;03;24 - 00;07;06;26

Cary Hall

I didn't even know there were 12 term carriers offering plans out there.

00;07;06;26 - 00;07;22;16

Ron Miller

There are a lot of yes, there are a lot of carriers out there. But what we can say is, what we know is that we are at all the health fairs where at all the agencies, people know who Blue Cross is. They know me that people joke like, Ron, you're still working here. When are you going to retire?

00;07;22;17 - 00;07;39;25

Cary Hall

I I've gone to enough car shows with you. The unions put on to know, you know they know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah they know you're there. They know your part. That's whole that's all part of this customer service thing. And being able to interact with people and let them know that you're there when they need help.

00;07;39;25 - 00;07;41;05

Ron Miller

Right, it’s a huge deal.

00;07;41;07 - 00;08;03;16

Cary Hall

Talk a little bit about provider network because you've got, a really broad provider network here in town and in not not just here. Let's, let's get up around, you know, Bethany and let's, you know, Cameron and Harrisonville and Clinton and all the other areas, you know, that that where there are federal employees living, how how is the network set up and how is that working?

00;08;03;16 - 00;08;04;07

Cary Hall

Ron. Yeah.

00;08;04;07 - 00;08;34;12

Ron Miller

So, I mean, we use our largest network that we have, Blue at Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Preferred Care Blue Network. It's our largest PPO network. That network includes about 95 to 96% of the doctors. And hospitals are in the Kansas City metro area. So you're going to have to try to find doctors and hospitals that are not in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield network, and that is really a huge thing, is to be able to know when you whip out that Blue Cross and Blue Shield card provider's going to say, oh, okay, yeah, we take Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

00;08;34;14 - 00;08;39;19

Ron Miller

It's not, oh, what is this? Well, who who is this?

00;08;39;22 - 00;08;41;00

Cary Hall

Yeah.

00;08;41;03 - 00;08;45;23

Ron Miller

You know, we didn't have to put our name on a stadium for people to know who. Blue Cross and Blue shield.

00;08;45;25 - 00;09;01;14

Cary Hall

That's a good point. Yeah, there are some people that are wondering whether or not that name is still going to stay on that stadium. At least that's the rumor that I'm hearing. We'll see. No, you did not have to put a name on the stadium. By the way, who paid for that? Yeah, I mean, yeah, that that was a lot of money.

00;09;01;14 - 00;09;10;23

Cary Hall

Somebody paid for it. If they if the only way those folks are making money is by, you know, selling their health insurance program to federal employees. Ever tell me that money must have come out of somewhere?

00;09;10;23 - 00;09;11;15

Ron Miller

It's somewhere.

00;09;11;15 - 00;09;12;07

Cary Hall

Yeah. There you go.

00;09;12;09 - 00;09;14;15

Ron Miller

They've been in the news for some reason. For something else.

00;09;14;22 - 00;09;40;12

Cary Hall

Certainly has more than one occasion. So if you want information, if you're a federal employee, you can call 1-800-411-BLUE. That is the phone number. If you want to go online, visit fepfepblue.org. That's the that's the website. If you have questions you want information. But once again if you just want to talk to somebody 1-800-411-BLUE.

00;09;40;13 - 00;09;54;14

Cary Hall

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

00;09;54;17 - 00;10;24;18

Steve Kuker

The golden rule. Treat others as you want to be treated. I'm Steve Kuker and this is one of the founding principles of my firm, senior Care Consulting. Since 2002, our value statement has included. Honor our mother and father. Respect our elders. Care for those in need. And treat your family as our own. We've been honored to help hundreds of families make one of the most difficult decisions they could ever make.

00;10;24;21 - 00;10;59;26

Steve Kuker

Serving them in their greatest time of need. If you're looking for someone who can provide you experienced and objective guidance when searching for a senior care community, reach out today and discover the services of Senior Care consulting at 913-945-2800. Know your options and choose with care at SeniorCareConsulting.com.

00;10;59;29 - 00;11;21;01

Cary Hall

Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting coast to coast across the USA here on the HIA Radio Network. You can find out more about us by going to the website AmericasHealthcareAdvocate.com. AmericasHealthcareAdvocate.com. We record all these shows we post them. And that's at Mr. Thiessen does back here behind all these cameras.

00;11;21;04 - 00;11;45;11

Cary Hall

And so they are all posted on the, YouTube channel. America's Healthcare Advocates are also posted on 15 podcast channels. So it doesn't matter. Pick a podcast channel. We're probably on it. Everything from Rumble to Spotify to iHeart Radio to Audacy. We're on all of them. Okay, so here's why I'm telling you all this. Maybe your husband is the federal employee or your wife.

00;11;45;14 - 00;12;04;11

Cary Hall

Okay, when you heard the broadcast, well, tell them to go up and listen to the show where Ron explains the FEP program for federal employees. And then in the in the third segment, we're going to talk about the postal employees because they now have their own separate deal. So we'll do that. But both of these are being explained now.

00;12;04;11 - 00;12;10;07

Cary Hall

So you can understand there. And by the way, the open enrollment period for FEP is November 11th to December 9th.

00;12;10;08 - 00;12;11;25

Ron Miller

November 11th to December 9th.

00;12;11;25 - 00;12;13;24

Cary Hall

Is it's the same for the postal people. It is.

00;12;13;24 - 00;12;14;25

Ron Miller

The same for the postal people.

00;12;15;02 - 00;12;23;12

Cary Hall

So that's important. Open enrollment starts November 11th and rolls through December 9th. So that you've got a short window that's less than 30 days.

00;12;23;13 - 00;12;42;24

Ron Miller

So you can always go out to, fepblue.org and look at all the changes on all the different plans. It's a great place that you can go out, look at the different plans. It has a little comparison out there. So you can even do a side by side comparison of all three of the plans as well. So it very helpful.

00;12;42;27 - 00;12;59;10

Ron Miller

And if you get home, a lot of times you look at stuff and you're like, hey, I would like to talk this over with my wife or my husband. I want to talk to my wife. I'm talking for the husband. You can always call the 1-800-411-BLUE number that is open until 8 p.m. central time.

00;12;59;10 - 00;13;00;21

Cary Hall

Are you sure it's up to you? Yes.

00;13;00;23 - 00;13;04;20

Ron Miller

Like at night, 8:00 at night. So. So you really have a pretty.

00;13;04;20 - 00;13;12;19

Cary Hall

Amazing customer service, pal. Yes, because most customer service centers cut off around 6:00 in the evening. You guys are going to 8:00 at night.

00;13;12;19 - 00;13;21;02

Ron Miller

8:00 at night. So really gives their employees a chance to really digest everything. If they get home and have questions, they have that time to do that.

00;13;21;02 - 00;13;39;21

Cary Hall

Okay. That phone number once again is 1-800-411-BLUE 1-800-411-BLUE. The website f e p fepblue.org app blue Dawgs the website. If you just want to go up and look at the comparisons all the plans. So let's talk a little bit about, the Teladoc piece on here because, you know, here's the thing.

00;13;39;21 - 00;13;56;20

Cary Hall

You know, mommy comes home from work at 530, 6:00 the evening Johnny just got home football practice. He's got pinkeye. She has to pack him up, put him in a car, drive him to urgent care, sit there for 30 minutes to an hour waiting to see somebody. Then she sees the doctor. Then she gets a prescription. Then she goes home.

00;13;56;25 - 00;14;13;13

Cary Hall

It's 8:00 at night now. 830 at night. If you use the Teladoc, Johnny gets on the computer screen, they up comes Teladoc. Doctor looks at Johnny, goes, that's conjunctivitis. Prescribes a prescription drug that takes 15 minutes. Talk about why this is a good idea.

00;14;13;13 - 00;14;33;21

Ron Miller

Well, you know, and it always goes it goes back to Covid. Like during Covid, you couldn't get into a doctor's office and people got comfortable using the doc. Yeah. Finally, people like, okay, let's start trying this new Teladoc service where I can look at somebody on the screen, talk to me about what I have going on, and like you said, they can give you a prescription.

00;14;33;24 - 00;14;47;13

Ron Miller

What's new in 2025, Carrie, is that all the Teladoc telehealth services are free for our members. So if you want to use the Teladoc, if you want to use until all services, there's no co-pay associated with that.

00;14;47;15 - 00;14;58;24

Cary Hall

So how about that? So instead of the copay, you're going to pay an urgent care or the co-pay you're going to pay at your primary care doctor. If you use the Teladoc it's free. So now you just save money on top of it being convenient.

00;14;58;24 - 00;15;21;20

Ron Miller

So the question would be, Carrie, what what do I get? Services. They have the general general medical services that you just talked about. They have the mental health consultants. They also have dermatology services as well as nutritional counseling and global care if you're overseas. So it covers the whole gamut of things that you may have in the evening that you can use for Teladoc without a copay.

00;15;21;25 - 00;15;40;11

Cary Hall

That's a big deal. Okay. And the global Teladoc is also a big deal, because if you're out of the country, you get sick, you're on vacation in Italy or London or whatever the case may be. You can you can go to this site and get care and know you're getting the same care you would get back here in the United States.

00;15;40;13 - 00;16;04;13

Ron Miller

That that is a true story. And just because compounding or compounding on what Carrie is saying is that not only can you do the Teladoc, but Blue Cross and Blue Shield is worldwide, so that Blue Cross and Blue Shield card, you can take it to any doctor if you're in Italy and you can get service as well. Sometimes you go overseas and they're like, well, credit card does better than any insurance card.

00;16;04;18 - 00;16;08;27

Ron Miller

They will reimburse you for the cost that you did overseas.

00;16;08;27 - 00;16;29;23

Cary Hall

So that's pretty cool. I did not know that. So if you incur a medical claim overseas and you pay for it out of your pocket, then Blue Cross Blue Shield will reimburse you for that. You know, I know that, you're always trying to get people to pay attention to their, preventative care. And I also know that you're you're trying to get people to do, surveys on their health.

00;16;29;25 - 00;16;36;28

Cary Hall

So talk a little bit about that. And they actually get paid for doing this little survey on their health. So talk about that. Would you run.

00;16;37;05 - 00;16;56;07

Ron Miller

So we have what's called a blue health assessment. So if you're on the standard option or the basic option you can go out, do a blue health assessment, answer a few questions. A lot of times people say, well, I don't know what my blood pressure is. I don't know what all my numbers are. Well, if you don't know what all the numbers are, you can say, I don't know and keep going.

00;16;56;13 - 00;17;05;06

Ron Miller

But what you can do is you can go back out there, you can put that information in there. You don't have to do that to get this $50. So you get $50.

00;17;05;06 - 00;17;07;18

Cary Hall

Oh, you don't have to do that. You don't do that, okay?

00;17;07;18 - 00;17;25;25

Ron Miller

You don't have to do it now. But here's the good thing about doing it and you know it. As you get older, it's good to be able to track of where I was in 2024 compared to where I was in 2021, and if you put that in there every year, then you have a kind of a barometer of where you've been over the last 3 or 4 years, and it's just a great tool to kind of keep.

00;17;26;00 - 00;17;48;26

Ron Miller

And that's why we call it my your blue health assessment. So it really keeps you that, you know, or how you're doing with your health care over, over time. So you go out there on the blue health assessment. You do it, you're going to get a $50 debit card that you can use towards, expenses, pharmacy expenses, co-pays, dental expenses, any of those expenses, you can use that $50.

00;17;48;26 - 00;17;51;28

Cary Hall

And all the prevented is covered. There's no deductible, no coinsurance.

00;17;51;29 - 00;17;54;23

Ron Miller

No deductible, or no assurance on all the preventative stuff.

00;17;54;23 - 00;18;04;11

Cary Hall

That's that's, pretty remarkable. I do know now that you've also got, dermatology care and more by phone or video. So let's talk about that because that's new. That's different.

00;18;04;11 - 00;18;33;05

Ron Miller

Yeah. So we added we added on. So they added on the mental health consultants as well as a dermatologist services. You know, it's mental health was very important for all of us. You know, keeping our mental health in good shape and being able to have somebody to talk to. We've definitely thought that adding that to the Teladoc's services, what was good and and as well as a dermatology, I mean, used to when Teladoc first started the telehealth services versus start, it was just general medical care.

00;18;33;10 - 00;18;40;07

Ron Miller

And now they have expanded it on to, as you said, the mental health, the dermatology, as well as the nutritional counseling.

00;18;40;10 - 00;18;59;22

Cary Hall

You know, that's pretty broad in terms of services offered on the mental health thing. Here's a piece, you know, if you're having problems or your child is having problems or your spouse, whatever the case may be, the ability to pick up that phone or go online and do this in the privacy of your home is probably a little bit better than trying to go to an office and do it in front of a psychologist or a counselor.

00;18;59;27 - 00;19;26;16

Cary Hall

You might find that beneficial if you want more information on the on the plans and how you can enroll. If you're a federal employee. 1-800-411-BLUE 1-800-411-BLUE. The website fepblue.org, fepblue.org. Stay tuned. We'll be right back after the break. We're going to go postal after we come back from the break.

00;19;26;19 - 00;19;45;27

Cary Hall

Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting coast to coast across the USA. Here on the HIA Radio Network. You can find out more about us by going to the website AmericasHealthcareAdvocate.com. You have a question? Send me an email. Like those folks up in Minneapolis did, I'm happy to help you any time I can.

00;19;46;00 - 00;20;04;15

Cary Hall

Again, the website AmericasHealthcareAdvocate.com also in studio with me today, Ron Miller from Blue Cross Blue Shield. This is our annual FEP show. We're talking to all the federal employees. We're also going to be talking to the postal employees this year because their deal is a little bit different. And they kind of broke away from the total FEP.

00;20;04;15 - 00;20;26;13

Cary Hall

So we're going to address that in this segment. But if you want information 1-800-411-BLUE, that is the phone number to call. If you want somebody to guide you, walk you through, show you what is available under the Blue Cross plans or the website, visit fepblue.org. That's an easy one, fepblue.org Open enrollment November 11th to December 9th.

00;20;26;13 - 00;20;44;09

Cary Hall

You've got a very short window in here, which is one of the reasons why we do this show every year and post it up on all of the, YouTube channels. Excuse me, posted on our YouTube channel, America's Healthcare Advocate. And we also post that in all 15 podcast platforms. So with that, let's go postal Ron.

00;20;44;11 - 00;21;04;28

Ron Miller

Yeah, let's talk about the post office. So this year the post office has their own plans. Here's the good news about it is that they are the exact same plans that postal employees had when they were included into the federal employee program. So the plan that you had will be the same plan that you have this year.

00;21;04;28 - 00;21;10;03

Cary Hall

So they don't have to worry that, oh my God, we're going to a new plan, I'm going to get kicked off or whatever the case may be.

00;21;10;03 - 00;21;28;09

Ron Miller

So they have they're going to transfer you over. You don't have to do anything. So if you were in the standard option, basic option or Blue Focus on the FEHBP side, they're going to slide you right over to those exact same plans. On the postal side, you don't have to do anything. You don't have to stress about it.

00;21;28;11 - 00;21;48;14

Ron Miller

They're going to transfer you over. You're going to have the same plan that you had when you're on the postal side. The postal employees are going to still going to have the standard option, the basic option, and the Blue Focus. You're going to have all the same benefits. You're going to have exactly the same network, everything. You're just now postal employees are in your own.

00;21;48;14 - 00;21;53;06

Ron Miller

They're in their own bucket. They're on their own plans separate from what they were.

00;21;53;06 - 00;21;59;04

Cary Hall

So can you let's do a quick thumbnail sketch of each of those three, the basic plan, the other two. So let's start there.

00;21;59;06 - 00;22;24;24

Ron Miller

So the standard option is our traditional PPO plan. You can go on that plan nationwide without any referrals. It is the largest one. And you can also go outside of the network. So a lot of people say, hey, Ron, I don't not only do I want to use the doctors that are in our network, even though there's 95% of all the doctors are in there, I also want to use those 5% that are not the standard option is your plan.

00;22;24;24 - 00;22;55;04

Ron Miller

It also has the mail order for both active and annuity and so standard option if you have a lot of prescriptions you can use the standard option because it has that mail order benefit for your prescription drugs. The basic option again a nationwide plan regardless of where you are, you're going to have the same option. And if you go to Arkansas as you do here in Kansas City, difference being is that you have to stay inside the network again, a lot of people say, well, that's not well.

00;22;55;08 - 00;23;15;11

Ron Miller

All your doctors are in the network. I mean, 95%, 99% of all doctors and hospitals and and so what's the big deal? It's not a big deal. So a lot of people choose basic option because it works like an HMO. And the fact that it's copay based, it does not have a deductible like the standard option does, but you still have the freedom.

00;23;15;11 - 00;23;37;01

Ron Miller

You can go to any state. You don't have to have any referrals. It travels with you. It goes worldwide with you. You just have to use the doctors that are in the network. That's the only caveat. And then the Blue Focus again, the Blue Focus is we started that off probably about four years ago, and it's for our younger, newer people that are in the federal government.

00;23;37;01 - 00;23;56;19

Ron Miller

It's the cheapest of the three options. Again, it doesn't need any referrals. It has a little it has a deductible on it of about 500 of not about, but of $500. But the cost of it is really low. And so a lot of people, as you're young, starting their journey in the whole insurance, you know, when you were younger, we didn't use it.

00;23;56;19 - 00;24;01;07

Ron Miller

We didn't have any problems. We were fit. We woke up every day, felt great.

00;24;01;09 - 00;24;02;07

Cary Hall

It is true.

00;24;02;12 - 00;24;04;02

Ron Miller

It is not like that anymore.

00;24;04;03 - 00;24;06;18

Cary Hall

And that is true as well. Yes, indeed. Yeah.

00;24;06;18 - 00;24;20;28

Ron Miller

And so that's what the Blue Focus is. And so on the Blue Focus, one thing they have is that have they really trying to push the younger generation or people who are on the Blue Focus to go and get their annual physicals? And if you do, you're going to get a you actually.

00;24;20;29 - 00;24;21;26

Cary Hall

$50?

00;24;21;28 - 00;24;26;05

Ron Miller

Actually get more than that. You get a $100, you get $125.

00;24;26;05 - 00;24;34;15

Cary Hall

Oh, wait, wait, wait. If you go take care of yourself and get your physical, which is completely free and covered by the plan, now you're going to get a debit card for $100.

00;24;34;15 - 00;24;47;01

Ron Miller

Yep, $125. If you're on the Blue Focus, and you go and get your annual physical every year, and then you get $125, debit card. So we are giving people money.

00;24;47;04 - 00;24;57;23

Cary Hall

Which last time was the last time you heard insurance carrier giving you money? Well, are you hearing it now? Okay. It's good to be a postal worker or federal employee, to say the least. Yeah. Okay.

00;24;57;26 - 00;25;14;28

Ron Miller

That's really the the nuts and bolts of it is that, you know, I know a lot of postal employees are worried about it. Now, here's one thing I do want to do. And I know this is going to be a little confusing, but going on in 2025, postal employees on your ID card are going to have a different customer service number.

00;25;15;00 - 00;25;24;20

Ron Miller

All right. Your customer service will be number will be different. We'll have a dedicated staff that just handles postal employees, customer service calls.

00;25;24;20 - 00;25;35;21

Cary Hall

But it's the same call center. It's the same folks in customer service that have been handling FEP for years. Okay. They're just segregating them to put them in a different group that handles only postal.

00;25;35;25 - 00;26;03;12

Ron Miller

Only postal. Yeah. So and that and that number is and I'm just going to throw this number out not to confuse anybody, but it's 816. The local number (816) 395-2115. That will be on your card or 1-833-467-2140. So the one 800 number I guess they're out of eight hundreds now. They're two. They are 1-833-467-2140.

00;26;03;13 - 00;26;22;06

Cary Hall

Okay. So you've got a different phone number to use if you're if you're a postal employee, if you call the other number the 1-800-411-BLUE, I'm sure they'll transfer your help. You get to the folks you need to talk to. Let's talk about “Postal Wednesdays” because you've got Postal Wednesdays coming up November 13th, 20th and 27.

00;26;22;09 - 00;26;45;22

Ron Miller

So yeah. So Postal Wednesday. So this is just for postal. You know, they have Postal Wednesdays on November the 6th, the 13th, the 20th and the 27th. So those are the days that the postal Wednesdays have. And then they're going to have separate days. So on one day on the 6th it's for Annuitants at 4:00. Actives at 6:00.

00;26;45;25 - 00;27;07;18

Ron Miller

All right. On the 13th they have actives at 12:00, Annuitants at 2:00. So on all these days that we have outlined on the 20th, it's Annuitants at 4:00 Actives at 6:00 on the 27 Actives are at 12:00 and Annuitants are at 2:00. So we're going to have separate, calls. Postal Wednesday calls for those different, segmentations.

00;27;07;18 - 00;27;23;19

Ron Miller

So if you're a retiree/annuitant, you have a time. Or if you're still an active employee, you have a time that they're going to go over your benefits, they're going to go over and just talk to you about the benefits in general. So those are dedicated to you on those Postal Wednesdays.

00;27;23;19 - 00;27;41;14

Cary Hall

And we will post this on the video. This will be up there. It'll be posted. It will also be on all the podcast platforms. So you'll actually see this graphic if you go look at the show on America's Healthcare Advocate, on on the YouTube channel, America's Healthcare Advocate, so that we're going to put all that information up there.

00;27;41;14 - 00;28;01;24

Cary Hall

We'll also put that other phone number, the 816-395-2115 for postal workers. That'll also be up there. Just so you know that we're taking care of that. All right. Let's switch gears to what we're going to talk about Medicare in the next segment. But before we get to that, let's talk about vision and dental and what options are going to be open this year for folks on the vision and dental side.

00;28;01;27 - 00;28;28;16

Ron Miller

All right. Yeah. So vision and dental. So not only do we offer the health care of the three plans, we also have two. We have a dental and we have a vision option. The dental option, there's two options. There's a standard and the high option on all of those. Your tier ones, all of your general teeth cleanings that you can have up to three times a year are paid at 100%.

00;28;28;19 - 00;28;38;24

Ron Miller

They also cover all your preventative stuff. And then we also cover with no waiting period. On the dental are the crowns, bridges, implants and dentures.

00;28;38;24 - 00;28;43;12

Cary Hall

You know that. That's probably the only dental plan I've ever heard of that there's no waiting period.

00;28;43;12 - 00;28;55;13

Ron Miller

No waiting period. Day one. So if you have a crown or if you been wanting to get an implant, you can have it on the high option. There is no out of pocket. Max.

00;28;55;15 - 00;28;56;20

Cary Hall

Run it by me one more time.

00;28;56;20 - 00;29;16;03

Ron Miller

There's no out-of-pocket max. So on the high option, there's no out-of-pocket max. So however much you know, on the on the tier three, on the tier threes or the bridges implants, we pay 50% in an in network, but we pay, we pay up until as much as you want to get done. Limitless on a high option.

00;29;16;10 - 00;29;34;17

Cary Hall

That's really quite remarkable because I don't think there's another dental plan out there that does that. Okay. And believe me, as somebody who's had a lot of recent dental work done, it's expensive. Okay. So they've got a great plan here. Once again, if you want information, they're going to have Postal Wednesdays. That'll all be put. We're going to put all that up on the broadcast as well.

00;29;34;23 - 00;29;41;08

Cary Hall

So you'll be able to see that. And if you want help you can always call the one 800. What is the number again.

00;29;41;08 - 00;29;43;05

Ron Miller

1-800-411-blue.

00;29;43;08 - 00;29;48;08

Cary Hall

Yep. 1-800-411-BLUE or fepblue.org.

00;29;48;08 - 00;29;52;11

Ron Miller

Right fepblue.org. You can always go online and find all the great information that we have.

00;29;52;11 - 00;30;13;21

Cary Hall

For everything's up there. But you want to talk to somebody. Feel free to pick up the phone and give them a call. They're happy to help you. Also, if you're a postal worker 816-395-2115 we'll be right back after the break. Wrap it up. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting coast to coast across USA.

00;30;13;23 - 00;30;33;20

Cary Hall

Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting coast to coast across the USA here on the HIA Radio Network. This is our annual FEP show. It's now our annual FEP and postal show because the postal workers have got a separate deal going on. Now, a couple of things you need to know. Number one, open enrollment for everyone.

00;30;33;23 - 00;31;02;11

Cary Hall

Postal and FEP November 11th December 9th. That's really important to know. Second thing to know if you need help if you're an FEP federal employee 1-800-411-BLUE, 1-800-411-BLUE postal or FEP. Go up on the website fepblue.org, fepblue.org. If you're postal and you want a call and you need help, you call 816-395-2115, 816-395-2115.

00;31;02;16 - 00;31;07;17

Cary Hall

All right. Let's start with vision because we didn't cover that last time. And tell them what's going to go on with the vision.

00;31;07;19 - 00;31;29;27

Ron Miller

Yeah. So the good thing we have the vision plan the vision plan, we have zero copay for a very extensive or all your general X-ray or general X-rays, your routine eye exams. So there's zero copay on that on both the plans, both the standard and the and the high option. So that is always good. Like going in to get a, an exam is about $150.

00;31;30;00 - 00;31;43;18

Ron Miller

That that is awesome. And then also you can get we cover. We have what's called our Vision Blue Vision Collection. If you choose one of those frames, Cary, you don't have to pay anything for the frame you.

00;31;43;21 - 00;31;49;14

Cary Hall

I'm telling you what these benefits. If you're a federal employee, or postal employee, it's, pretty amazing, right?

00;31;49;14 - 00;32;09;22

Ron Miller

So so if you pick one of those, you have no. If you decide, say, hey, I want a pair of Nike's or whatever the whatever the brand may be, they'll give you up to $150 to cover. That allowance, yeah, the cost of the frame. So you do have if you want something different, you do have an option that we do pay for some of that as well.

00;32;09;22 - 00;32;20;29

Ron Miller

And so the vision there are LensCrafters, Davis Davis vision, LensCrafters. Costco. So, Target.

00;32;21;04 - 00;32;22;10

Cary Hall

Costco’s in there and that's all you need to know.

00;32;22;11 - 00;32;28;04

Ron Miller

LensCrafters. So all the major, retailers are in the network for our vision plan.

00;32;28;04 - 00;32;39;04

Cary Hall

All right, let's switch gears and talk about, Medicare and the people that you call them Annuitants. That means they're retired. Okay, so let's talk about Medicare for them and how what's going on with that for sure.

00;32;39;04 - 00;33;01;12

Ron Miller

So on a prescription drug last year, all the Annuitants, all the retirees received a chance to get into the MPDP, which is a prescription drug program for federal employees. Now, they had an option. We automatically opted in. They had an option to opt out. If they opted out, they still had the same benefits with the federal employee plan that they had before.

00;33;01;14 - 00;33;27;18

Ron Miller

The good thing about going on the drug program last year or this year is that you have a deductible or you have a cap of $2,000. So anything above the $2,000 cap, we're going to pay at 100%. So there was no prescription drug cap on the old plan. It was included into the medical. But that is like $6,500.

00;33;27;18 - 00;33;37;14

Ron Miller

So if you do take a lot of prescriptions on the MPDP, on the medical drug prescription program, you have a cap of what you're going to pay in a calendar year, which is awesome.

00;33;37;17 - 00;33;57;08

Cary Hall

Okay. If you get confused by this, okay. Because there's a lot of information here, call them and they'll help you walk you through it. You want to make a good decision. You don't want to make a bad decision. 1-800-411-BLUE. Or if you're postal 816-395-2115 so but because they get it gets a little confusing.

00;33;57;08 - 00;33;58;02

Ron Miller

100%.

00;33;58;06 - 00;34;02;26

Cary Hall

But you but you just walk them through it, go back to it one more time and then.

00;34;02;28 - 00;34;24;16

Ron Miller

As I said so on the Medicare drug prescription program, you have an option. So they have an option to stay in. A lot of people who are in all right, and they want to stay in. If you opt out, you can opt out, but you don't have the the prescriptions. The copays are less in the MPDP and the medical prescription drug program.

00;34;24;16 - 00;34;25;24

Ron Miller

It's a lot of acronyms there.

00;34;25;24 - 00;34;26;25

Cary Hall

Yeah. It is.

00;34;26;28 - 00;34;45;07

Ron Miller

So if you stay in there, the, prescriptions, the copays are less and you have that, cap or you have that, $2,000, nothing more. So that is your stop loss. I call it stop loss. It's your catastrophic Max on your, prescription drugs. But that's the most you'll pay in a calendar year. Okay.

00;34;45;09 - 00;34;51;18

Cary Hall

What have we left out? We're wrapping up here. What? What what do we have left, Ron that we didn't cover? Or what message you left?

00;34;51;18 - 00;35;11;28

Ron Miller

I like to say is that. And this goes back to our regular. So we're talking about Annuitants. We're talking about retirees. We definitely want to talk about on the basic option that if you're enrolled in both Medicare Part A and B and you're paying for the B, the part B, which is going up, I think it's $174 will be up to about $178.

00;35;11;28 - 00;35;31;27

Ron Miller

Yeah. A month we're going to reimburse you up to up to $800 of that part B payment that you're paying. Wow. And that's on the basic option. So we're giving you back money. We know that you are spending money for that part B. We want to reimburse you for that to help you with that payment that you're making towards that part.

00;35;31;27 - 00;35;55;12

Cary Hall

B really important to know. I mean, there's a lot here, okay. And we do this show every year. And Ron comes in and thank God he does. Because if I had to explain this, I'd be tied in knots okay. We do this every year. It's important for all the federal employees to know this is out there. You know, tell your friends, tell your coworkers they can go up on AmericasHealthcareAdvocate.com this show be posted up there with all the information.

00;35;55;17 - 00;36;17;19

Cary Hall

You can also always and this is really important. They've got great customer service right down there on Main Street if you need help. 1-800-411-BLUE, 1-800-411-BLUE. And then if you are a postal worker, 816-395-2115, 816-395-2115. got to remind them one more time. Open enrollment is when, Ron.

00;36;17;19 - 00;36;29;15

Ron Miller

Is, November 11th to December the 9th. So that is the time to go out and and make changes to your plan. If you love the plan, you have Blue cross you love. You don't have to do anything.

00;36;29;18 - 00;36;39;18

Cary Hall

Okay, that's kind of important because especially for you postal people out there, that go through that one more time so they don't think they're losing their plan. There they go.

00;36;39;20 - 00;36;55;25

Ron Miller

Yeah. If you're an employee and you like to plan, you're on with Blue Cross and Blue Shield, you're going to automatically be rolled over inside the postal carrier plans as the same option that you have. You have basic option. You're going to have basic option. You don't have to do anything. You don't have to worry about it.

00;36;55;25 - 00;36;57;04

Ron Miller

It's going to be done for you.

00;36;57;04 - 00;37;22;22

Cary Hall

Yeah. So all that information is there. I'm going to reiterate what I said if you want help in that. Like Ron said, there's a lot of acronyms here on the Medicare side, if you're a retiree, 1-800-411-BLUE, give them a call. If you're a postal worker. 816-395-2115 and you can also go to the website, visit, FEPblue.org, FEPblue.org, and all the information is up there.

00;37;22;22 - 00;37;24;19

Cary Hall

Thank you once again as always.

00;37;24;25 - 00;37;25;28

Ron Miller

It's always a pleasure, Cary.

00;37;25;28 - 00;37;46;07

Cary Hall

It's great to have you up here. And now I leave you with this thought from Doctor Martin Luther King. We must learn to live together as brothers and sisters, or we will surely perish together as fools. Truer words from never spoken. Thank you for listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting here on the HIA Radio Network. Coast to coast across USA.

00;37;46;07 - 00;37;51;15

Cary Hall

Goodbye America.

00;37;51;17 - 00;37;57;26

Cary Hall