00;00;01;14 - 00;00;05;23 Announcer And now America's Healthcare Advocate, Cary Hall. 00;00;05;26 - 00;00;24;27 Cary Hall Hello, America. Welcome to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting coast to coast across the USA. If you want to follow us on Facebook, you can do that at America's Healthcare Advocate. You can also do that on Twitter, the website, obviously America's Healthcare Advocate dot com. And as you know, we are on over 200 radio stations coast to coast. 00;00;24;28 - 00;00;48;28 Cary Hall Our latest is in Largo, Florida. Very happy to have those folks on board. But we are on 14 podcast platforms and YouTube and the numbers just keep growing. It's amazing the number of people that are listening to these shows. So here are the platforms. Spotify, SoundCloud, RSS Podcasts, Overcast Rumble, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Cast, Pandora, TuneIn, Stitcher, Spreaker, Amazon Music. 00;00;48;28 - 00;01;08;20 Cary Hall I have no idea who I on Amazon Music and Google Podcasts Audacy. And then of course we're on YouTube. And the reason that I'm telling you all that is because we are getting some amazing numbers that people that are downloading these shows about 11,000 a month, 11,000 of you a month are actually going up and viewing or downloading these broadcasts on YouTube or on the podcast platforms. 00;01;08;20 - 00;01;27;05 Cary Hall So we greatly appreciate it. If you want to tell somebody about a show, this one today may be one of those shows. We have the folks from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City in Studio. We are doing our annual Medicare Advantage Kickoff Show. We're going to talk about all their plans today, what they're offering. There are some pretty cool things in here you're going to hear about. 00;01;27;08 - 00;01;46;13 Cary Hall So, again, if you want to tell somebody about this, go up to the podcast platform. If you don't catch it on the radio here on 980 or 98.1 or one of the other 14 affiliates around town, you can certainly go up on the podcast or YouTube, download the show and listen to it up there. All right. So joining me in studio today from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Barron Roberts. 00;01;46;13 - 00;02;03;18 Cary Hall Welcome back for what is this, your fifth show, Six show now? You're a veteran now. Yeah. Yeah, you are. And in-studio for the first time, although we've worked together for, I don't know, what, ten years Angie Sutton she certainly has actually made it in the radio studio. So welcome, Angie. Thank you. Glad to have you here. And Barbara Bins in studio with us today. 00;02;03;18 - 00;02;20;23 Cary Hall Welcome, Barbara. Thank you. So we're going to be talking, as I said, about the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare Advantage show. And this is we do this every year. This is our kickoff show. To all of you out there who are chronologically challenged just like me. If you have this kind of white hair, okay, then this this show is for you. 00;02;20;24 - 00;02;40;01 Cary Hall Okay. And if you're one of those in the sandwich generation, you know, I talked to a lady yesterday whose mother is 88 years old. She is a Type one diabetic and she needed some help. And I was able to help her, able to refer her. She is in charge of her mother's care and she had some help with the diabetes situation. 00;02;40;01 - 00;03;00;20 Cary Hall I was able to connect with some folks over at Medtronic and they're going to be able to get her a pump and do some other things. My point in telling you that is if you are part of that sandwich generation and you're managing care for your mother, father, grandmother and uncle, whatever it is, this show is important to you because you want to make sure they have the best coverage possible with the most benefits possible. 00;03;00;20 - 00;03;19;06 Cary Hall And that's what you're going to hear about today as we talk about the Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Medicare Advantage program and what it's going to look like for 2024. So let's just start off Angie with a little bit about Blue Cross, 85 years in Kansas City. I'm almost as old as you as Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and I'm getting there. 00;03;19;08 - 00;03;26;28 Cary Hall Barron’s laughing. Okay. But let's talk a little bit about that. What does that mean, Local service, the whole, your impact in the community, all of that? 00;03;27;00 - 00;03;54;17 Angie Sutton Well, Cary, as you know, we our headquarters is in downtown Kansas City. Our employees live, work, play in in the communities where our members live, work and play. And so you know that the person who is is going to answer that phone when you call with a question about how do I use this benefit, help me understand my coverage or explain to me what this claim means. 00;03;54;19 - 00;04;20;12 Angie Sutton You know, we're right here in your community and, you know, there's there's something to be said about the Midwest and the way people treat each other. And so if you call Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, downtown Kansas City, our members are always treated with courtesy and respect. And conversely, brokers who also serve our members when when they're helping a member and they you know, they often do that on the behalf of the member. 00;04;20;18 - 00;04;47;17 Angie Sutton When they contact us, they get that same courtesy and respect. And, you know, we try to do first call resolution, which simply means we don't expect you to have to call us back five times. We are going to find that solution, that answer for you. And if not, we're going to follow up as soon as we possibly can to just ensure that that we're providing that superior level of service that that our neighbors and our friends expect from Blue KC. 00;04;47;19 - 00;05;09;22 Angie Sutton And so, you know, people often tell me like, Oh, I saw your crew out in the community. We do a lot of volunteer work too, with with various agencies across the community. We've got a big commitment with United Way coming up where we'll be contributing a lot of volunteer hours. So you'll see us out there, maybe even working alongside of us. 00;05;09;22 - 00;05;25;14 Angie Sutton And so that's another thing that certainly you can expect from our company, but really just local, honest, reliable. Those are words that come to mind when when we talk to our members and the things that they say about our company. 00;05;25;17 - 00;05;45;15 Cary Hall You know, that's interesting. And there's a reason they've won the J.D. Power Award three times in a row for best customer service of any health insurance carrier in this region. And what you just heard is the reason for that. And I will tell you, I've talked about it on the show and the one it was, but a month or so ago, I had to call about an issue that I had, and it was answered on like the third or fourth ring. 00;05;45;23 - 00;05;59;11 Cary Hall And the lady said all with me. It was about the dental plan and something about the billing or whatever it was. And the lady that handled it, I was on there paid 11 or 12 minutes, maybe more. She walked all the way through it, said, Let me put you on hold. I got to go find this. I got to go. 00;05;59;15 - 00;06;13;25 Cary Hall But she took care of it and it got resolved. I got a credit for whatever that month was, and we changed the date and it worked out. But that was the level of service that I got, and that was that was. And that's not unusual. Barb. 00;06;13;28 - 00;06;25;27 Barb Bins Yeah, I just wanted to add that one of the slogans our customer service reps have are give no homework. And so rather than say you need to call this person or call this person anything they can do on your behalf, they try to do for you. 00;06;25;27 - 00;06;45;14 Cary Hall And that's that one call resolution. Mm hmm. Yeah. You know, it it is important. And I think that, you know, I'll just really stop there. So there is a carrier out there now that has moved their call center to Guatemala. Okay. I'm just saying. All right. You know, it's not quite the same. You're probably not going to if you call them and say what's what. 00;06;45;14 - 00;07;02;25 Cary Hall Hospitals are north of the river in the network. They're going to ask you what river? Okay. So you're going to you know, you need to understand there's value to local customer service and a value to having people here in Kansas City that understand the difference between St Luke's and HCA or KU Medical Center, whatever the case may be, in Liberty Hospital. 00;07;03;02 - 00;07;20;28 Cary Hall That's the kind of stuff that, you know, you just you have to be part of this community to get it back. And before we go to break, a little bit about broker involvement. Broker distribution is a huge part of what Blue KC does. I mean, you know, my agency worked with Blue Cross Blue Shield for 16 years, and we always had a great relationship. 00;07;20;28 - 00;07;31;15 Cary Hall Talk a little bit about how important working with the brokers, local brokers are in the what is it, 20 counties now that I mean, we'll talk about it, but you're up to 20 counties now. Okay. 00;07;31;15 - 00;08;11;16 Barron Roberts It's a tough call in growing. Yeah. So the broker community is a very critical component of our distribution channel. In fact, the majority of our Medicare Advantage business does come through our broker community, and those relationships are invaluable to us. We just concluded our three major rollout sessions and tomorrow we'll be hosting our Medicare Advantage Broker showcase event where they can come in and ask questions from our vendors that we have installed about how the benefits work behind the scenes, those extra benefits, the Medicare Advantage plans and now we're going to dive into it later. 00;08;11;18 - 00;08;34;05 Barron Roberts But that's an opportunity for them to get inside, behind the behind the walls, behind the scenes on how things work. And that's how important our brokers are to us from that perspective, giving them the insight that they need. In addition to that, a lot of the plan changes we made for 2024, which we'll talk about here in a little bit, was predicated based on the broker feedback we got. 00;08;34;05 - 00;08;42;24 Barron Roberts And we know that our broker partners are the closest to our members and they do provide a lot of the feedback that is shared from our members to them. 00;08;42;24 - 00;08;44;05 Cary Hall And they're usually pretty frank about that. 00;08;44;13 - 00;08;46;17 Barron Roberts Yeah, they're pretty direct. They're very, they're. 00;08;46;17 - 00;08;51;22 Cary Hall Very real because I used to do it. So I. Exactly. Yeah. That's not working. Change it. Yeah. 00;08;51;25 - 00;09;18;29 Barron Roberts So and we, we appreciate that level of insight and we appreciate bringing them on site in the in the spring right after OEP last year we brought in over 50 of our broker partners on site downtown right across the street from Union Station and we asked them a series of questions and it was not brief. It was a full day event we had and we had over 60 questions and follow up in addition to those questions. 00;09;18;29 - 00;09;27;15 Barron Roberts And it was a really great experience getting to hear all their feedback. A lot of that feedback we incorporated into the plans this year. 00;09;27;18 - 00;09;46;02 Cary Hall And that, and it's from that kind of thing that you learn. And that's the whole point. Ladies and gentlemen. They're local. They listen to what the brokers and what people in the community say and they adapt and they improvise to make those things become reality. So we're going to continue to talk about that. When we come back from the break, we're going to start talking about the plan designs. 00;09;46;09 - 00;10;05;27 Cary Hall There are five of them. So we're going to spend the next two segments talking about these plan designs. This is the part you really want to listen to because this is going to tell you what the benefits are and how their benefits are going to differ this year from what a lot of the other carriers are doing. There are things in here that they are doing that nobody else is doing, and we'll talk about that and how that can benefit you. 00;10;05;27 - 00;10;15;19 Cary Hall So stay tuned. We'll be right back after the break. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting coast to coast across the U.S. We've got more. Don't go anywhere. 00;10;15;22 - 00;10;48;27 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, serving them in their greatest time of need. 00;10;49;00 - 00;11;16;13 Steve Kuker 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 that senior care consulting dot com. 00;11;16;15 - 00;11;36;24 Cary Hall Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting coast to coast across the U.S. here on the HIA radio network. You can find out more about us by going to the website of America's Healthcare Advocate. Remember, this is posted on all 14 of those podcast platforms and YouTube if you want. Hey, maybe it's your grandmother, maybe it's your mom, your dad. 00;11;36;24 - 00;11;55;06 Cary Hall Hey, mom, you need to look at this and get off of that. AARP or whatever you're on. That's not working because these folks have a really good plan at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. And that's why they're in studio. And if you want to learn more about it, the website is blue excuse me, Medicare BlueKC dot com, MedicareBlueKC.com. 00;11;55;09 - 00;12;15;16 Cary Hall You want to call one of those nice folks that Angie talked about in the first segment? 833 957 7720 If you just want to talk to somebody, you can call them. It's not a high pressure sales tactic. That's not the way they do things and they'll explain the plans to you and tell you whether it makes sense for you or not. 00;12;15;17 - 00;12;26;18 Cary Hall So there you have it. All right. Let's get into the plan designs and let's start with with the first plan, which is the HMO plan, Angie. And now that was only in a couple of counties. Now it's in nine counties. 00;12;26;26 - 00;12;54;08 Angie Sutton That's right. So rolling out for 2024, we will have five plan options. And so it's critical that when you are looking for the right plan that you work with someone who, as you said, can ask you the right questions about what your needs are to to best fit you in a plan. So one of our plans is our HMO plan, which is that health maintenance organization, and it's called Blue KC Secure. 00;12;54;10 - 00;13;18;00 Angie Sutton And as you said, it's in nine counties Clinton, Ray, Clay Platte, Wyandotte Johnson, Jackson, Cass and Lafayette. So the interesting thing is that an HMO is is really good for someone who wants to have that extra little bit of care. So they perhaps they want to go to one of our Spier care facilities where they get that advanced primary care. 00;13;18;06 - 00;13;43;07 Angie Sutton And they're going to take and, you know, just really invest that extra time in in their care and take them hand, you know, hand by hand. So this particular plan has a $0 premium, $0 deductible, $0 PCP co-pay. So you want to go to the doctor. It's it's a $0 co-pay. You also if you were to have to get an x ray or any sort of like diagnostic lab test, $0 co-pay on that as well. 00;13;43;09 - 00;14;02;28 Angie Sutton What I love about this one is it that it comes with a $2,000 annual max for both preventive and comprehensive dental so that, you know, that's a pretty robust plan. And then what we're going to give you is $500 flexible benefits for eyewear and transportation. So perhaps this is the year that you want to get new frames and lenses. 00;14;02;28 - 00;14;04;23 Angie Sutton You've got $500 to spend on that. 00;14;04;24 - 00;14;07;27 Cary Hall That goes a long way. Costco people. I'm just telling you, that's where I get mine. 00;14;07;28 - 00;14;14;19 Angie Sutton It does. And if you need a ride to get to the to the eye doctor, you can spend up to this $500 on the full package. 00;14;14;19 - 00;14;18;00 Cary Hall Two pair of glasses at Costco. I'm just saying. 00;14;18;02 - 00;14;41;08 Angie Sutton And then you get that over the counter retail benefit. So we're going to give you $100 per quarter. So you'll get $400 for the whole year that you can buy vitamins, Band-Aids, all kinds of things that are you know, antacids is a big one. I mean, I know a lot of people will buy those. That's that a retail allowance that allows you to buy all of those good things that you might need. 00;14;41;10 - 00;14;53;09 Angie Sutton And what I really like about network, sometimes networks make people nervous. This network in these nine counties is the same network in the same nine counties as our PPO plan. Wow. 00;14;53;09 - 00;15;11;05 Cary Hall So, you know, first of all, let's just go back on a second. That's a lot of zeros that she described. Zero premium, zero co-pay, zero X-rays. I mean, there are a lot of zeros in here. That's that's a good thing, right? The other thing is, if you add all this up, you've got a $2,000 annual max for preventative and comprehensive care. 00;15;11;11 - 00;15;25;29 Cary Hall You've got $500 in flexible benefits. That's the hearing aid, the glasses, etc., and $100 per quarter to go buy your Prilosec with. All right, let's $2600, Right. I did the math. Right. Okay. So that's pretty significant if you ask me. 00;15;26;01 - 00;15;54;10 Angie Sutton It is it is a robust plan. I think this is one that we we built with a group in mind that, again, they like that extra extra care that they're going to get with an HMO. And this this might be the right plan. I would just, you know, again, suggest that you reach out to your trusted local broker or call Blue KC and let one of us ask you the right questions, walk you through what the plan design is and if it's going to fit your needs for the year 2024. 00;15;54;10 - 00;16;17;13 Angie Sutton And you know what might fit your needs for 2023 might be different than 2024. You might have been diagnosed with something new or Oh, I got new glasses in 2023. So getting new glasses in 2020 for, you know, those lenses and frames may not be important. And that's why we love those flexible benefits, because it allows you to use it on what you need for that particular year. 00;16;17;15 - 00;16;21;18 Cary Hall Yeah. And then talk about that gentleman fit, because that's pretty significant. 00;16;21;21 - 00;16;47;29 Angie Sutton Yes. So you have $2,000 for different levels of both preventive. So, you know, it's oral health is so important. And I just encourage you to maintain your oral health throughout your entire life. And people will sometimes say, well, I have dentures, so I don't really need to go to the dentist. But it is very important, again, for your overall oral health that you continue to get that preventive dental care, that oral exam every year. 00;16;47;29 - 00;16;51;00 Angie Sutton And so you've got $2,000 for that work. 00;16;51;02 - 00;17;10;29 Cary Hall So it's pretty good. So we're going to flip the script a little bit here and we're going to go back. Barb, I want you to talk a little bit first of all, open enrollment begins on actually, we can start talking about it on on October 1st, which is why this show is running on that particular weekend. And but the open enrollment actually begins for people when they want to call is on win ten one. 00;17;11;02 - 00;17;32;04 Barb Bins Okay. So 10/1 is when are when you will get a preview and you can talk about the new plans and what's changing so that that's the when you can preview plans 10/15/2023 is when enrollment happens. So that's the time when you want to reach out to your trusted broker. They can actually dive into the plan, see what's good for you, what's what should change for you, what works best for you. 00;17;32;04 - 00;17;34;09 Barb Bins You can actually enroll during that time. 00;17;34;11 - 00;17;51;14 Cary Hall And so it goes from from 10/15/2023 open enrollment where you can pick a plan, You can change if you're on you know, if you're on that AARP thing or whatever else is out there and you want to look at this and go, wow, you know, Lucas, he's got a great plan here. They've got things here. I don't have better network, better customer service. 00;17;51;20 - 00;18;13;28 Cary Hall You've got that's your that's your opportunity. And it's over on December 7th, by the way, that's Pearl Harbor Day for those of you old enough to remember. But so so that's a short window. So, you know, it's important, I think, that they talk to the local broker bar but not procrastinate or wait, wait, wait. And then this used to happen to us Every year people would wait, wait, wait. 00;18;13;28 - 00;18;20;04 Cary Hall And then literally the phone lines would burn down with everybody’s nodding Yes. Because you've all been through this, right? 00;18;20;05 - 00;18;48;13 Barb Bins Exactly. So enrollment starts 10/15, it ends 12/7 in the effective date is one one. And so in that time, we know that our brokers are swamped. They are busy talking to people, helping them, stepping them through this process. So at Blue KC, we have implemented some new supports. Two of those supports are Angie and me. We are the broker development and engagement managers and we are here to support our brokers with their day to day questions and answer their questions right then and there. 00;18;48;15 - 00;18;50;13 Barb Bins In addition to that, did you want to say something? 00;18;50;13 - 00;19;03;29 Cary Hall Corey Well, just, you know, if I contrast this with other plans, you don't have to go to the broker portal and enter into the broker portal and then hope somebody gets back to you. It's a little different, right? It's an excellent pick up the phone and call you. 00;19;04;05 - 00;19;05;01 Barb Bins And we answer. 00;19;05;01 - 00;19;07;01 Cary Hall Yeah, gee whiz, how about that? 00;19;07;01 - 00;19;23;24 Barb Bins Our brokers have our cell number, quite honestly. Yeah, but again, like today we're in a meeting and so sometimes they need an answer. You know, right away we have our concierge line in addition, and it is a truly a concierge email. So what our brokers do is they'll email a customer question about a claim or whatever that may be. 00;19;23;24 - 00;19;41;17 Barb Bins They'll email this team again right here in Kansas City. If I had their picture, I'd hold it up. Right now. They'll email the team. The team will dig into this question and then they'll reach out on on the agent's behalf using the agent's name and get back to that member, talk them through what their next steps are, what the resolution is. 00;19;41;19 - 00;19;52;18 Barb Bins Then last step is they'll email the broker and copy Angie or me with the resolution. So the broker is always kept in the loop and they can be taken care of. That why that broker is moving on to the next client. 00;19;52;20 - 00;20;15;27 Cary Hall That's really remarkable. And obviously, as you can see, it is significantly different the way they do it. Then basically the rest of the carriers do it. If you want information. The website is MedicareBlueKC.com, the phone number 833 957 7720. When we come back from the break, we're going to dive into the rest of these plans. 00;20;15;27 - 00;20;33;23 Cary Hall The next one up is Simply Blue. This is the big one you want to listen to. Stay tuned. We'll be right back with more after the break. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting on the HIA radio network Coast to coast across the USA. We'll be back. 00;20;33;26 - 00;20;54;15 Cary Hall Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocates broadcasting coast to coast across the fruited plain here on the HIA radio network. My producer, the always perfect Mr. Darren Wilhite. I'm your host, Cary Hall. Behind the camera, Mr. Dave Thiessen, who videos all these shows and post them on all 14 of those podcast platforms and YouTubes. That's how we get all this stuff up there. 00;20;54;18 - 00;21;12;17 Cary Hall It's quite a production, but we do it so each and every one of you have a chance to go see those shows. Listen to those shows. If you want to tell somebody about this, this is a great opportunity. If you're part of that sandwich generation, you really should look at this for your mom, your dad, your grandmother, grandfather, any other family member you're helping because the Blue Cross plan is really different. 00;21;12;17 - 00;21;31;02 Cary Hall And if you have a problem and this is key, you heard Angie talk about this. You've heard Barron talk about it. The fact that their customer service people are right here in town and they're going to take care of you is when you have that issue and you've got a claims issue or provider issue or you need information, it's critical they're here and they're here to help you. 00;21;31;02 - 00;21;54;24 Cary Hall The phone number 833 957 7720. The website MedicareBlueKC.com. All right. Let's start off with the big kahuna. Okay. The one that is the this is the plan that is going to knock everybody's socks off. Okay. It's called simply blue. Let's go Barron. 00;21;54;26 - 00;22;14;27 Barron Roberts Thanks, Cary. It's it's simply that I think it will do very well in the market this year. It's a very strong plan. Offering this plan this year was designed based off of feedback from our broker, feedback sessions in the spring. One of the pieces of feedback that we got back was that we needed a plan with more flexible benefits. 00;22;14;27 - 00;22;30;23 Barron Roberts How do we put more money into the pockets of our of our members and let them spend it how they need to spend it? So with that, we developed a new bundle that's called a blue benefit bundle. We actually like to call everything, but it's a tongue twister. It is the blue benefit bundle. 00;22;30;28 - 00;22;33;27 Cary Hall Does I blow that on the baby? 00;22;34;00 - 00;23;00;05 Barron Roberts So with that, we've got the active version of that simply blue plan. And just as a reminder for those out there who know what that plan is or those who don't, it's got a $0 premium, $0 PCP co-pays, $0 X-rays, it's $0 deductible. Very, very strong plan offering. But with that, on that active version of the plan, we are offering a $2,500 flex benefit. 00;23;00;07 - 00;23;08;09 Cary Hall Just stop right there. I want you to hear that. Okay. $2500. And what do they do? They go buy some and send you the receipt and you reimburse them. 00;23;08;09 - 00;23;09;03 Barron Roberts Oh, now that. 00;23;09;03 - 00;23;10;05 Cary Hall Oh, it doesn't work that way. 00;23;10;05 - 00;23;11;19 Barron Roberts Now that that process. 00;23;11;19 - 00;23;13;17 Cary Hall Or plan, I'm confused. 00;23;13;19 - 00;23;46;01 Barron Roberts We believe in making sure the member has the access to the funds immediately on January 1st of enrollment. So with that, we want to make sure that they don't have the hurdles of having to overcome cash flow problems for direct member reimbursement and stuff like that. So so with that, that $2,500 can be used for transportation. So if you need an Uber ride, hearing, vision, dental, all of those things that $2500 flexible benefit can be used for. 00;23;46;01 - 00;24;01;12 Cary Hall So is that do they get like a debit card for that or have they actually get a debit card with $2500 on it? Yes. Are you hearing this? Yeah. You should have brought the card so we could show it. I mean, that's really quite remarkable. I can tell you something right now. I've looked at every other plan in the marketplace. 00;24;01;12 - 00;24;24;21 Cary Hall Every one of them. Okay? Nobody has this benefit period. Okay, So this blue bundle benefit, which I didn't bungle, okay, is $2500 on a debit card in it. Sure. So now let's say you are that caregiver and your mom needs this or she needs that. You don't have to take it out of your pocket, take your $2500 debit card and go get it. 00;24;24;23 - 00;24;25;29 Cary Hall That's pretty amazing. 00;24;26;02 - 00;24;51;00 Barron Roberts Yeah. Yeah. So the intent and design behind that is to make sure we're providing affordable access to care and products, you know, targeted towards health care. So with that, we're trying to create access from mitigating transportation issues, making sure people can get their eyewear that they need dental benefits, that they need hearing benefits. 00;24;51;02 - 00;25;11;21 Cary Hall You know, what's interesting about this is so now I got to go get a crown, okay? And it's $2,000 and Mom's got Social Security or my husband's got Social Security or whatever the case may be. And a small pension. But coming up with $2,000 is a big deal for us. But I need that crown because I want to be able to keep using my teeth to eat. 00;25;11;23 - 00;25;33;08 Cary Hall Okay, you got $2,000 here. Walk in and get it done. I mean, to me, this is a big deal, you know, And in addition to the fact I'm going to go through it again, we got a zero premium. We got a zero deductible. We got zero doctor office co-pay for your primary care, zero X-rays and zero labs. So if you're you know, you're diabetic, you need that A1C. 00;25;34;03 - 00;25;41;09 Cary Hall Boom, it's zero. You're not paying for that. Okay. So, you know, when you put all this together, this pretty strong. 00;25;41;11 - 00;26;05;00 Barron Roberts Very strong. And I want to call out one more thing real quick. We've got a $25 OSB, which is an optional supplemental benefit for dental so they could tack on an additional $2,000 worth of dental if they wanted to combine that with the $2500, that's a combined total of $4500 worth of dental work someone could get done. 00;26;05;02 - 00;26;05;07 Barron Roberts Yeah. 00;26;05;08 - 00;26;27;05 Cary Hall So for $25 I can buy another $2000 worth of dental. So now I got a $2500 debit card and I got a $2,000 benefit on top of that. So now you're talking $4500 if I need to go get crowns, bridges, whatever the case may be, you're watching your nod, your head. I mean, it's I think that's amazing. 00;26;27;05 - 00;26;37;10 Cary Hall I've never seen this before. You guys have done this before. This in this robust fashion that you're doing it this year. So somebody really listen to something because that's a big deal. 00;26;37;15 - 00;26;41;20 Barron Roberts Yeah. Yeah. Complete flexibility from that, from that benefit for sure. 00;26;41;20 - 00;26;52;19 Cary Hall It's that's quite remarkable. Talk a little bit about the network and what the network looks like, as Angie mentioned it. So let's talk about. Yeah, let's talk about where you can go. Okay. Yeah. 00;26;52;20 - 00;27;11;11 Barron Roberts So that Simply Blue Plan is a PPO plan. And so you've got access to all of our PPO or and all of our HMO network providers within our service area. So very and it's a very strong, very large network. And to this date I've not heard any feedback on not having a specific provider. 00;27;11;17 - 00;27;35;04 Cary Hall Yeah. So we've got St Luke's there, we got KU in there, we got the HCA hospitals we've got of Advent in there and the outlying areas. You've got Cameron Regional, you've got Liberty, you've got your Golden Valley up in Clinton. You know, like another thing backed is customer services. You try try getting that question answered. If you're calling Guatemala, you might find it a little difficult. 00;27;35;06 - 00;27;36;00 Cary Hall I'm just saying. 00;27;36;03 - 00;27;55;24 Barron Roberts So I do want to call something else simply Blue Plan. It's got the same in and out of network benefits. So if you run into a hospital that's in a rural area that's maybe not in network, so long as they're accepting patients and you go there and seek care, they're then then you'll have coverage for those out of network hospitals as well. 00;27;56;01 - 00;27;57;21 Cary Hall What about the Blue Card. 00;27;57;24 - 00;28;13;12 Barron Roberts National Network so we can tap into our national network on our PPO plans? So if you're traveling, you're outside of our service area, you can tap into our Blue Cross national network, which will allow you to have access to all the providers that are in our Blue Cross plans nationwide. 00;28;13;14 - 00;28;27;17 Cary Hall So if you load up that RV and you're heading down to Florida, you get a little warmer weather in February when it's miserable here. Okay, guess what? You don't have to worry about. Am I in network or out of network? So it makes a big difference. Barb, you had some quite you had something to add to this. 00;28;27;17 - 00;28;31;14 Barb Bins I was just going to make sure we brought up the national network because a lot of our members travel. So yeah. 00;28;31;21 - 00;28;53;01 Cary Hall So that that's, you know, and that's kind of a new development. What is it about four years old that this has been going on now? Because in the Medicare Advantage plans, most of the other carriers, you're limited to the counties that they're offering that service in. So what Blue did nationally was the Blue Cross Medicare Advantage plans is as you said, But they've got a national network now. 00;28;53;01 - 00;28;58;09 Cary Hall They can be in California, they can be in Florida, they can be in Arizona, wherever they are, right, Angie? 00;28;58;12 - 00;29;09;09 Angie Sutton Yes. And we would hope that no one would ever need MD Anderson or Mayo Clinic, but they are in network. If if you should happen to need one of those two two facilities, that's important. 00;29;09;09 - 00;29;26;18 Cary Hall I didn't know that. And that's really important to understand that that kind of gives you an idea of the level and the quality of care that you need to understand what's going on here. So M.D. Anderson and Mayo, it's really funny. I've got a client the other day who a radio listener who called me and, you know, wanted to know about Mayo. 00;29;26;21 - 00;29;44;08 Cary Hall And this is for this was a regular health insurance plan. And yes, they were covered. But the point is, it's covered under these Medicare Advantage plans. And I think that's probably unique to Blue KC, I'm not sure, but I think it probably is. It's certainly something you want to keep in mind, along with the fact that you've got a national network if you happen to travel. 00;29;44;12 - 00;29;57;20 Cary Hall I just I just can't get over this this this blue bundle benefits. I did this three times. Now that that's it up. Yeah. Okay. So I mean, to me, I mean, this is this is remarkable. 00;29;57;22 - 00;30;24;05 Barron Roberts Yeah. Yeah. And so while we're on the topic of networks, I also for when they're a little bit closer to home, Barnes-Jewish Hospital in Saint Louis is also one. So I got a question on that the other day. So anybody out there wondering, they are also in network. And then as far as networks go, from the dental perspective, we are changing our dental network provider and we are developing our Blue Medicare Advantage dental network, our own dental network. 00;30;24;05 - 00;30;31;10 Barron Roberts Wow. For January one, I'll say it. We're really excited about that. That was another piece of feedback we got from our broker community. 00;30;31;10 - 00;30;32;26 Cary Hall It's going to expand the network. 00;30;32;26 - 00;30;41;22 Barron Roberts It is. It is going to create a much larger network with more access to the physicians and dentists that members are looking for. 00;30;41;26 - 00;30;55;02 Cary Hall It's really quite remarkable. And the brokers are going to know all of this, Barb, because you've rolled all this out in your broker meeting. So, you know, once again, they go to their local broker, they can get this kind of information from local broker, right? 00;30;55;04 - 00;31;04;16 Barb Bins So if we had the if we had the possibility to do like fireworks in the background or loud clapping, this dental network, we would at it. Yeah, this is big news. And the brokers have asked and we've heard. 00;31;04;23 - 00;31;24;26 Cary Hall You know, because this is a big deal, you know, you've got to wrap this up. Things are going to come out of the segment. You know, remember what he just talked about. Okay. You've got a total of $4500 here if you choose to upgrade to the $2,000 additional dental plan, you've got $4500. If you don't do anything and you're not sending in receipts. 00;31;24;29 - 00;31;40;24 Cary Hall There's one of the plans out there that you're sitting in, receipts, too. You're not doing that here. You got a debit card. Go do what you need to do. That's what you just heard him say and that was the feedback. So we'll be right back after the break. If you want information, the website is MedicareBlueKC.com. 00;31;40;24 - 00;32;05;16 Cary Hall You want to talk to somebody? 833 957 7720 You want a broker name somebody to go to call them they’ll get you somebody local you can talk to. We'll be right back after the break and wrap it up. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting on the HIA radio network Coast to Coast across the USA. Stay tuned. We've got more. 00;32;05;18 - 00;32;22;23 Cary Hall Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocates Show broadcasting coast to coast across the USA. All of these shows are posted on 14 podcast platforms or read them off to in the beginning of the show and YouTube. So you want to tell somebody about this. You've got a family member, maybe a friend, somebody in your church or in your group. 00;32;22;25 - 00;32;43;17 Cary Hall Go to the website. If you don't hear it on the radio, you can certainly go do that and all the information is up. There's a lot of information here. This is like drinking out of a fire hose, listening to everything we've got going on here. But this stuff is, you know, it's important to understand where else are you going to get a total of $4500 of benefits that you get to choose and do what you want to do. 00;32;43;24 - 00;33;08;05 Cary Hall Nowhere. Okay. It's only a BlueKC. The phone number is 833 957 7720, MedicareBlueKC.com is the website. All right, let's go right to Angie, the essential plan real quick and then I want to talk about the veterans plan. For all of you veterans out there. Let's start with the essential. 00;33;08;05 - 00;33;33;00 Angie Sutton You mentioned the website. And so folks write that down. And on October 1st, you're going to get all of these new plans, all the details on those new plans. So mark your calendar for October 1st and you'll be able to see those are ever popular Blue KC Essential PPO plan. We're keeping that as consistent as we can. You're every year our members say, you know, often, you know, can you just not change the name? 00;33;33;00 - 00;33;59;27 Angie Sutton Can you keep the majority of the benefits pretty consistent so we don't have to relearn and we are doing that. But I would say it'll continue with that $0 premium. It's going to have that thousand dollar annual max for preventive and comprehensive dental, still have that $500 flex for both the eyewear and the transportation. But one change that we we heard members and they said, can I just get all of my OTC up upfront instead of $100 per quarter? 00;33;59;27 - 00;34;05;20 Angie Sutton So what they'll get is $250 on their Blue Benefit Bucks card for OTC on January one. 00;34;05;21 - 00;34;07;01 Cary Hall OTC is over-the-counter. 00;34;07;01 - 00;34;08;16 Angie Sutton They can also see the dollar. 00;34;08;22 - 00;34;09;09 Cary Hall Okay. 00;34;09;12 - 00;34;16;13 Angie Sutton That was retail product. So if they want to buy, you know, we kind of joke, we say if they want to, you know, to buy $250 worth of Band-Aids on January one, they can. 00;34;17;09 - 00;34;20;00 Cary Hall I'm telling you, you spend in there, you get them at Costco. Okay. 00;34;20;07 - 00;34;40;01 Angie Sutton Yes. So that that's going to be our central plan. And so if if you currently are on that essential plan, which we have a lot of folks who are and using that Simply Blue plan for 2024 sounds pretty darn good. I would encourage you to reach out to your broker, get on their list so they can start talking with you ten one about what is going to be a better fit for you. 00;34;40;02 - 00;35;00;28 Cary Hall Don't have a broker call 833 957 7720 All right so that gets us there. Now I want to talk this one's near and dear to me because I'm a Vietnam vet and you know, look, the VA, they're nice people, okay? But, you know, if you're a vet or if you're a family member with a vet, that getting in there and getting something done can often take a long time. 00;35;01;05 - 00;35;24;10 Cary Hall I'm talking sometimes two or three months to get a surgical procedure, see a specialist, whatever the case may be. It's not the most efficient system in the in the in the world. Okay. Well, guess what? There's a plan now called the valor Plan for Veterans. And all of you veterans and family members of veterans. You know, the big issue, it was always in the past, well, I'm going to lose my VA prescription drug benefits. 00;35;24;12 - 00;35;31;29 Cary Hall You can keep your prescription drug benefits with the Valor plan and you can access what? 00;35;32;02 - 00;35;43;23 Angie Sutton Well, first, thank you for your service. Cary. Second, the blue KC Valor PPO plan has access to Spira Care centers all across the metro. 00;35;43;23 - 00;35;45;19 Cary Hall And what's the wait time and Spira Care? 00;35;45;22 - 00;36;02;28 Angie Sutton They can often get you in the same day, if not the next day. We've had you folks who say, I expected to go in and sit down in the very comfortable chairs in the very beautiful waiting room, but they don't even sit down. They check in at the front desk and they're taking them right on back to get that, you know, to see those care providers. 00;36;03;02 - 00;36;23;26 Cary Hall So let's talk about what's Spira Care. This is also a zero premium, zero deductible and zero doctor office co-pay and zero X-rays and lab. It's all 0000. Okay. But let's talk about the Spira Care piece, because you're a vet and you're used to going to the VA. This is this is like going to the VA on a gold standard. 00;36;23;27 - 00;36;30;06 Cary Hall Okay. It's a it's a far better program in terms of how access and how quickly you get in. Let's talk about it. 00;36;30;09 - 00;36;53;01 Angie Sutton So the great thing about Spira Care Centers is they have what we call advanced primary care. So your, you know, really like that white glove service. The moment that you walk in, you have a care guide. So say, you know, maybe you need to be referred to a specialist, your care guide, that you're automatically assigned as a patient at Spira Care is going to help you. 00;36;53;01 - 00;37;08;15 Angie Sutton You're not going to be in the dark like, gosh, when or where they supposed to call me or I supposed to call them. You've got a care guide helping you through every step of the way. And they've got all kinds of services. Sometimes people think it's an urgent care. I could just walk in and get care. That's not necessarily true. 00;37;08;15 - 00;37;31;29 Angie Sutton It's it's more than an urgent care. So, you know, we had a staff member who had a child that sprained their ankle and they were able to get in almost right away. X-rays right on site, such again, just that white glove service. And for our Medicare members, we just hear that they really appreciate it. It's the waiting rooms are comfortable. 00;37;32;16 - 00;37;38;13 Cary Hall I've been into multiple times and they're beautiful facilities and they don't look like a medical facility. Let's just put it that way. 00;37;38;15 - 00;37;53;04 Angie Sutton They don't. And we're up to nine of those centers now. So they're all across the metro. And again, I just if you haven't looked into what Spira Care Centers are, I would really highly encourage you to do that. SpiraCare.com. 00;37;53;10 - 00;38;10;20 Cary Hall So and they are available, by the way, on all of the Medicare Advantage plans. So every one of these plans has access to Spira Care. So if you want that kind of care, if you want that care guide, you know, again, let's go back to the vet thing. Okay? You're a veteran and you've been to VA and you need a surgery. 00;38;10;22 - 00;38;30;13 Cary Hall You know how long you can wait. Okay. What is that like? Okay, you know, here, you don't have to do that. You've got a care guide maybe that your dad, maybe that your grandfather and you're helping them. Okay, well, even you need to look at this, all right? Because now you've got a partner that's to help you manage the health of your dad, your grandfather, your uncle, whatever the case may be. 00;38;30;18 - 00;38;48;19 Cary Hall Maybe they're a type one diabetic, okay? And they need constant care A1C’s and all the rest. It these folks do all of that. By the way, there's also behavioral health. You know, a lot of vets have issues with this. Okay. PTSD, I've got one of the guys at my church has had a very, very difficult time, came back from Afghanistan. 00;38;48;19 - 00;39;00;16 Cary Hall He's a mess. Okay. You know, then he needs care. That kind of care is available at Spira care. They have behavioral health people right there. You don't have to go see somebody there. Right there. Am I right? 00;39;00;18 - 00;39;22;17 Angie Sutton That is correct. And, you know, let's just say again, you mentioned earlier, you're traveling, maybe you're going south. This plan, the voucher plan, has the same in and out of network costs as well. Okay. So you can access that national blue card thousand dollar flex benefit for dental hearing, aids, eyewear transportation combined. So you'll be able to use that whatever makes the most sense for you for that year. 00;39;22;19 - 00;39;34;07 Angie Sutton $500 OTC loaded on your Blue Benefit Bucks card January one. And again, that this plan does not have prescription drugs. So you're not going to endanger your first option drug coverage. 00;39;34;08 - 00;39;56;25 Cary Hall There it is. You've heard it all. Okay. We've gone through all five of the plans. You know what's available now, how to get them. The website once again is MedicareBlueKC.com 833 957 7720. Look, I'm just telling you, take the time to look at what they're offering. I don't care what plan you're on. 00;39;56;27 - 00;40;14;19 Cary Hall Maybe you think it's great, maybe it is okay, but at least take the time to compare. Go to your local broker. You don't have one. Call them. They'll be happy to walk you through what they've got. And compared to what you've got yet, you may find it's a much better deal. That's why we do these shows. The idea this is to educate you, the public, about what's available. 00;40;14;19 - 00;40;30;10 Cary Hall I think they've got a great program. My wife and I've been on a Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare plan for 15 years. Okay. And we think it's a great plan. So I'm just telling you, I think be the best thing you can possibly do. And I strongly suggest you take a look at it. Once again, the website is Medicare Blue KC dot com. 00;40;30;10 - 00;40;33;29 Cary Hall The phone number 833 957 7720. 00;40;34;02 - 00;40;51;20 Cary Hall And now I leave you with this thought 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 broadcasting coast to coast across the USA. Goodbye, America.