00;00;00;12 - 00;00;21;14 Cary And now America's Healthcare Advocate, Cary Hall. Hello, America. Welcome to America's Healthcare Advocate show broadcasting coast to coast across the USA, from Alaska to Florida all the way to Hawaii, 294 affiliates strong. Thanks to all of you. In our listening audience, our producer, Miss Karen Carson. I'm your host, Carrie Hall. This is your show, America. Thank you for joining us. 00;00;21;14 - 00;00;44;02 Cary And making is one of the most listened to talk shows throughout the United States. If you want to follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, you can do that at A.H., a radio show. That's a radio show. All of these shows are posted on the podcast platforms, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker Tune in iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Stitcher, SoundCloud, and YouTube. 00;00;44;07 - 00;01;03;24 Cary The reason I tell you that is if somebody wants to go back and listen to this again or you want to tell somebody, Hey, there's a great show up there on this topic or that topic, you can go back up to the podcast platforms. We put them up there each week. There's a full description of what the show is and it's an opportunity to listen to it again or tell somebody else about it if they want to go up and listen to it. 00;01;04;01 - 00;01;25;09 Cary If you have specific questions about health insurance, if you're chronologically challenged and you're looking for Medicare, you can call the lovely Joyce Thompson at our benefits by design. She is an expert. 877385. 22. 24. It is open enrollment season for Medicare and she's happy to help you. Also, if you are looking for employer sponsored health care anywhere in the country. 00;01;25;18 - 00;01;42;02 Cary AARP's benefits by design. Jim Lodge is happy to help you. He will do that. And if you want to contact me, you can do that at Health Radio dot U.S. Health Radio dot U.S. That's the Web site. Send me an email. I answer each and every one that I get. I get a lot of them, but I answer each one of them. 00;01;42;09 - 00;01;57;17 Cary So I'm happy to help you in any way that I can. We had a gentleman a couple of weeks ago whose wife had a serious cancer issue, and we got her into a hospital that had a trial. That may make a big difference for her. So if we can help you, we're happy to do that. Again, the website Health Radio dot us. 00;01;57;18 - 00;02;00;23 Cary All right. Joining me for this, the fifth year we've done this, right? 00;02;00;23 - 00;02;17;29 Ron I believe it is. I think we are. I'm an old veteran now doing this is I think this is the fifth year that we've been able to do this on the Cary Hall show. And it's really a privilege for us to be able to get on this radio show and all your different podcast, to be able to talk about the federal employee program. 00;02;17;29 - 00;02;24;23 Cary And that's what we're going to talk about today, the federal program. And we have a new party joining us that you rent or buy or rent. Welcome. 00;02;24;23 - 00;02;29;01 Brent Thanks, Carrie. A pleasure to be here with you today. First time for me, but I know Ron's a he's a. 00;02;29;08 - 00;02;47;16 Cary He'll you'll do very well. So the show today the both these gentlemen from blue KC, you're here Brant is the director of labor Motors and National Accounts and Ron Miller is sales consultant labor at lays on. So they they work very closely with the FEP the federal employees program that's we're going to talk about today why are we doing this now like we do it every year? 00;02;47;16 - 00;03;07;03 Cary Because open enrollment for this program begins on November 14th. So the idea is to get this show up. But again, it's up on the podcast platform. So if you want to, you know, what are the benefits going to be this year? How do I enroll? Maybe I'm not happy where I'm at and I want to move over to Blue Cross, which has 97% satisfaction rate with the federal employees that are on the program. 00;03;07;03 - 00;03;18;18 Cary If you want to do that, information will be up there on the podcast platform. So let's just start there, Ron, with, you know, the number one health insurance choice for federal employees, retirees and their families across the country. 00;03;18;18 - 00;03;41;20 Ron Right. And across the country and even locally, locally, we have over 60% of the market share here. So all the different families and all the different federal agencies have trusted us with their health care throughout the year. And as you said, we have the largest network in Kansas City. We have one of the largest overall networks for all of our members. 00;03;41;20 - 00;04;03;03 Ron And one of the good things about MPP and having Blue Cross and Blue Shield, these plans travel wherever you travel, you go out of state, you go to Florida to see your parents or wherever you may be. These plans are going to travel with you. They have the flexibility to really allow you to do a lot of different things with your health plans, and they fit different needs. 00;04;03;03 - 00;04;15;25 Ron And we have a plan that will fit whatever the need is with your family. And that's kind of what we try to gear to. We try to get people in the right plan for their family and how they utilize their health insurance because everybody utilizes their health insurance differently. 00;04;15;26 - 00;04;30;03 Cary And that's we're going to talk about those options today. You know, Brent you've got 46,632 members here and can see that's pretty strong. That's a lot of people you don't realize there that many people involved in the federal government here. But that's a lot of folks that are here in Kansas City. 00;04;30;10 - 00;04;49;19 Brent That is that is a lot of folks carry. We're proud to have that like like Ron said, over 60% of the federal employees and retirees in the Kansas City area are enrolled locally through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City and the federal employee program. And we're real pleased to have them. And we're doing everything we can to keep the keep those members. 00;04;49;19 - 00;04;54;07 Brent And like Ron said, over 99% of those members stay with us year over year. 00;04;54;13 - 00;05;03;06 Cary I think that speaks volumes, doesn't it? I mean, when you think about that, if you if you have a business in 99% of your clients are retained, I'd say you're doing something right. 00;05;03;06 - 00;05;23;10 Ron And there's a lot of thing that goes goes into that care. It's not just the benefits that we have and we'll talk about this later, but it's also the customer service that we provide and the all the other different avenues that we have for our members to make sure that they get to utilize our insurance the best. So we really feel like we cover we cover everything. 00;05;23;20 - 00;05;43;29 Cary So so Brant, let's talk a little bit about that world class customer service. Customer service advocates here talk about, you know, how that works here in Kansas City and what and because one of the things that Blue Cross and Kansas City was known for is its excellent customer service. You've won the J.D. Power Award in past years for best Health Insurance Company in Kansas City. 00;05;43;29 - 00;05;50;19 Cary Customer service was Chad a little bit about what's available to the federal employees and that they do have great customer service? 00;05;50;19 - 00;06;16;22 Brent Brant Well, they do. And you know that that designation is not easy to achieve. It's a world class certification and our customer advocates have calls that are surveyed and 85% of those calls have to meet a designation from that member as very satisfied on the call. And that call has to be reserve on that first on that first call into that customer advocate. 00;06;17;11 - 00;06;28;11 Brent So it's a it's a you know, it's a high target for those advocates to reach. And we've got a number of our folks in Kansas City at Blue KC that have that designation. 00;06;28;16 - 00;06;29;13 Cary Yeah, yeah, you do go. 00;06;29;15 - 00;06;47;07 Ron Yeah. And to go on and like Brant was saying is that so that's one of the good things about us. When you call in, we are going to resolve the issue. You're not going to have to keep calling in two, three, four times. You get the issue resolved. 85% of the people who call in on the first time that Brant mentioned get a resolved solution. 00;06;47;20 - 00;06;52;14 Ron Call in what I need to get fixed. It gets fixed and people get to go on with their day. 00;06;52;14 - 00;07;10;06 Cary Yeah. And this just isn't for federal employees. By the way, I had an incident here about a month ago where we had to change checking accounts because we had some fraudulent activity. And I had because we had had set up on my graph, I called customer service. They answered me. I like the fifth ring. The first woman I talked to wasn't the one handled. 00;07;10;06 - 00;07;30;24 Cary She moved me right to somebody. That woman stayed on the phone with me till we got the whole thing done. I was like, Wow, I didn't have to go through 15 voice prompts and listen to but dial five, dial six, do this, do that. Boom. It was a live person answered the phone. Live person took me to the person that could fix the problem and the problem got fixed and I was like, wow. 00;07;31;03 - 00;07;49;07 Cary And I had another question, a follow up that on a life insurance policy that I had through Blue Cross as well, and they got me to the right people about the life insurance policy. We got that solved. So, you know, I can speak to that because that that's in today's world, there are many places that do that. I mean, seriously, when you think about it, it just doesn't happen. 00;07;49;09 - 00;08;12;14 Brent It there's not you don't you don't you don't get that anymore in a lot of businesses. And so we take we take great pride in that. And and as Ron mentioned, you know, he hears that in the field a lot when he's when he's out doing meetings about members that get that service, they get their their issue resolved on the first call. 00;08;12;25 - 00;08;19;18 Brent And, you know, it's it's it's a big differentiator. And that's why 99% of our members. Stay with us. Year over year. 00;08;20;00 - 00;08;42;11 Cary Yeah and you've got for people listening this is kind of interesting and B, she's the third time winner of this award, second consecutive year, Julie in fourth consecutive year. Laura Six consecutive year and Jenny. M One year. We're not putting the last names in here, but those are just four of the reps that right here, you know, and I always say this, they're not sitting, you know, someplace in New York or California. 00;08;42;14 - 00;08;54;08 Cary They're right here on Main Street. They understand what's going on here in Kansas City. They know where the hospitals north of the river are. You don't know where north of the river is if you're in New York. That's right. Okay. So it does make a big difference. So that's important. 00;08;54;08 - 00;09;10;28 Brent That's right. In their customer, in their manager, trust me, her and she is also a world class customer service advocate for six years in a row. And that makes a big difference when their management has that same designation as as what she's expecting the team to have. 00;09;10;29 - 00;09;29;12 Cary That's a pretty good team. We're going to come back after the break. If you have information you if you need information excuse me, you can call 1 800 411 Blue. If you are a federal employee, you're looking to make a switch or you need help with what you're doing. 1-800-411blue or the website at FEPBlue.org, FEPBlue.org. 00;09;29;17 - 00;09;40;11 Cary Stay tuned. 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 USA. We'll be right back with more. 00;09;40;29 - 00;09;54;02 Music ### 00;09;55;09 - 00;10;12;10 Cary 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 visiting our website. Health Radio dot U.S. Health Radio dot U.S. You have a question? Comment, something I can help you with? Go to the website. Send me an email. 00;10;12;17 - 00;10;36;28 Cary My producer, Miss Karen Carson, I'm your host Cary Hall, in studio with me, Brent Wehmeyer from Blue KC and Ron Miller from Blue KC. This is our annual FTP Federal Employee Open Enrollment Show that open enrollment runs November 14th through December 12th. So that's your window. You want to make sure, look, if you're unhappy, think about this. If they can retain 99% of the people that are currently on the plane with Blue Cross, they must be doing something right. 00;10;36;28 - 00;10;58;23 Cary So if you're unhappy where you are, you can make that move from November 14th to December 12th. You might want to take a look at that. You might find that that might be beneficial to you. By the way, there are virtual health fairs being hosted and there are a host of dates here starting November 1st, running all the way through December 5th, various ones that you can go to virtually log on. 00;10;58;27 - 00;11;03;02 Cary We're going to post all of that up on our website. Is that on the website, Ron? 00;11;03;02 - 00;11;24;21 Ron Now that is, if you go to RFP blue dot org and go to find an event, these will be listed out on on the RFP Blue website. So go out to RFP blue dot or go to find an event and these events will be out there listed there are three there separate ones. There's the RFP, virtual health fairs. 00;11;25;05 - 00;11;36;17 Ron Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and US will be doing ourselves will also be involved and benefit benefits handle all of your ancillary products, your vision in your day. 00;11;36;17 - 00;11;38;20 Cary And we're going to talk about those in the upcoming segment. 00;11;38;20 - 00;11;45;16 Ron Yeah. So so yeah, these are all listed out there on the website on RFP blue dot org find an event. 00;11;45;27 - 00;12;06;10 Cary Yeah. So there there are a host of different dates. Okay. So there's something that'll probably fit for everyone. So again, step blue dot org and then click on the find event. You can attend a virtual seminar. So Brant, they're going to the people they're going to present this then are going to go over the various benefits. Are the is it interactive or are they just putting information out for people to listen to? 00;12;07;05 - 00;12;22;25 Brent Yeah, they're just putting information out so people can listen to it. But there are a number as as you guys have said, a number of dates that that start at the end of October and run all the way through open season and open season runs from November 14th through Monday, December 12th. 00;12;22;29 - 00;12;36;29 Cary Yeah. So this is a great way if you want to learn, you know, if you want to learn about the benefits, the difference between this plan and the other plans that are out there and what Blue Cross is offering, this is a great way to do that. You can go up under these virtual seminars and do just exactly. 00;12;36;29 - 00;12;59;12 Ron And really kind of supplement to that, as you said, Cary, you know what the change in COVID and everything going virtual, we know that a lot of people like that virtual environment and so we wanted to make sure that that was still available for them on these four on these virtual things that we're going to be doing, you will have a chance to ask questions and people will be able to answer those questions as you ask those to them. 00;12;59;12 - 00;13;26;12 Ron So they will have people there to answer your questions. They will be available. So that's just another venue. And then also a lot of the agencies are now having FEP open season fairs, back open in person. So check with your benefit officer at your location to see if you guys are going to have one in-person. And if you are a Blue Cross and Blue Shield rep will be there to be onsite for you. 00;13;26;13 - 00;13;45;11 Cary And answer questions. What are they need to do? So this is kind of important. Yeah, you know, it's really funny because I had doctors float out here right after COVID really started ramping up and I said, you know, one of the big problems that as a broker agent over the years we faced with getting people to use virtual care was they just wouldn't do it if we got 10% of the. 00;13;45;16 - 00;14;01;13 Cary It was like a miracle, right? That's right. So what does that move to? He sets up 90%. So one of the few good things that came out of COVID was people learned how to use virtual and actually found that, you know what, this works out pretty well. I can connect you know, with the doctor or in this case, you know, go to one of these seminars. 00;14;01;13 - 00;14;18;27 Cary I don't have to leave my house. You can sit there in your pajamas if you want to and do the thing. So it works out pretty nicely for everybody. So let's switch gears a little bit. Let's talk about pharmacy benefits, the talk about the pharmacies you all are at because you're all it looks like you're at almost every major pharmacy throughout the KC Metro here. 00;14;18;27 - 00;14;40;17 Ron Yeah. So all the major pharmacies in the Kansas City Metro, we, we are affiliated with some Walgreens, CVS, Wal Mart, Costco, what are some CVS? I say CVS. So all the major pharmacies in your area are in your network, which is a great thing to have. And also check if you have a mom and pop pharmacy that you go to. 00;14;40;17 - 00;15;06;18 Ron We do have a lot of the we do have all a lot of the smaller pharmacies that are in our network as well. So we have about 95% or so of all the pharmacies in the Kansas City Metro in there. So if you have a question you're not sure, go to the website FEP Blue dot org or underneath the pharmacy tab and they have find a provider and then you can find a provider and double check to see that if you have a small pharmacy within the network. 00;15;06;18 - 00;15;11;03 Ron So the FEP Blue dot org is always a good spot to start from. 00;15;11;09 - 00;15;30;04 Cary Yeah. And so like if you're in Cameron, right, and there's, there's a prominent pharmacy up there, it's a family owned farm, it's been there forever. I'm sure if you go up on the website and you know you're a federal employee there and you want to look at that, you can that information is up there. You could probably also call one 804 11 blue if you had to, and they'd be happy to help you with that as well. 00;15;30;04 - 00;15;37;15 Cary So that should work out pretty well for folks. So let's talk a little bit about now, preventative care. It's going to be covered through your preferred provider. 00;15;38;11 - 00;15;58;20 Ron So all the mandated preventative services are covered at 100%. So on both the plan, on all three of the plans, regardless of the plans, you go to them. We're going to get into those later, whether it's a standard option, basic option or blue focus option, you have preventative care. All those preventative cares are covered at 100%. So we really recommend our members to go go and get your health screenings. 00;15;58;20 - 00;16;06;09 Ron All right. Go and get your your mammograms. Go and get your colonoscopy. 00;16;06;13 - 00;16;07;27 Cary There's one everybody likes to do. 00;16;07;27 - 00;16;08;18 Ron Yes, that's true. 00;16;09;00 - 00;16;12;12 Cary No, no, they don't cares. Look at taking it. No, no. They don't like to go get that done. 00;16;12;17 - 00;16;31;10 Brent But, you know, in the preventive care is something that is is so important right now in in health care, you know, because of what happened with the pandemic. And a lot of people weren't not getting those services that they needed to have. And so it's it's it's imperative that that that they have those services, that they get those services. 00;16;31;10 - 00;16;35;19 Brent And so those services are covered 100%. And all the products that that are offered. 00;16;35;24 - 00;16;53;27 Cary Yeah. And if they're on Blue Focus they can actually earn $150 annually for completing the annual physical. And if I read this correctly, that means that they can use Blue 365 partners Reebok, Skechers, TRX Products, etc. Blue Apron. It's all part of that. 00;16;53;27 - 00;16;54;13 Ron That is. 00;16;54;13 - 00;16;55;13 Cary Also kind of a sweet. 00;16;55;13 - 00;17;17;12 Ron Deal that is all part of. So usually, you know, on the incentive programs, you're only able to use those for qualifying medical events, right? But now OPM said, hey, these people can also use it as long as they use it in your guys blue. 360 fit 365 partners as you said, Cary, Skechers, Reebok, Blue Apron. I mean in there pretty good deal. 00;17;17;12 - 00;17;28;27 Ron Yeah. There are other food services out there. There are other other services out there. So there's a ton of places that you can utilize that $150. It's not just at the pharmacy anymore. 00;17;28;27 - 00;17;42;25 Cary Yeah. And so that's just for one for just completing their annual physical. So A it's free. You're not, you know, you don't have to pay to go get it done. B You're going to pay them, right. That that's really a hard deal to beat. 00;17;42;25 - 00;17;53;16 Brent Brant That's a great deal. And you know, like you said, you can use that money at those different those different companies in. And how are you pleased to use it? 00;17;53;19 - 00;18;17;23 Cary Yeah, works pretty well. All right. When we come back from the break now, we're going to get into the plan designs. We're going to talk about three different plans for and talk about the options, how all of that works. And then in the last segment, we'll talk about the ancillary benefits, dental vision, all the rest of it. So stay tuned if you want to learn about that, we're going to do that if you have questions 1 800 411Blue or the website at FEPBlue dot org open enrollment 14th through December 12th. 00;18;17;23 - 00;18;42;04 Cary Don't miss it. Stay tuned. We'll be right back after the break. You're listening to America's health care advocate broadcasting here on the HIA radio network. Coast to coast across the USA. 00;18;42;04 - 00;18;51;19 Cary Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocates broadcasting coast to coast across the U.S. You're on the HIA radio network. You can find out more about us by going to the website. 00;18;51;19 - 00;19;07;18 Cary Health Radio Dot us. Don't forget the podcast platforms. I mean, listen to these guys. It's like drinking out of a firehose, right? I mean, you're trying to listen to all these benefits we're going to get into the plan designs here, you know, so if you want to go back up and hear it or maybe your husband needs to hear your wife, whoever. 00;19;08;26 - 00;19;28;04 Cary Google Podcasts. Spotify Spreaker TuneIn, iHeart, Amazon Music, Pandora, Stitcher, SoundCloud and YouTube. We're on all of them, so you can go back up there. The show will be posted as FEP Federal Employees program and you can listen to the program there. My producer, the always perfect Miss Karen Carson, I'm your host Cary Hall in studio with me. 00;19;28;04 - 00;19;51;24 Cary Brent Wehmeyer, Director of Labor Motor National Accounts and Ron Miller, both from Blue KC. He is a senior sales consultant for these products. So we're talking again, as I said, about the federal employee program that's available here in Kansas City for all 46,000. Actually, we got 46,000, but there are more people out there. So if you're looking to make a change, this is an opportunity to do that. 00;19;52;05 - 00;20;12;01 Cary Open enrollment is November 14th through December 12th. If you have questions 1 800 411 Blue, that's pretty easy. 1-800-411blue, the website at fepblue.org. You can find it event up there if you want to do the virtual. There's a ton of information up there if you're interested in that and they are happy to help you if you have questions. 00;20;12;06 - 00;20;18;02 Cary All right. Let's let's kind of dove in here and just talk about the three different plans on start off run with that. 00;20;18;09 - 00;20;21;20 Ron I think I think Brent's going to talk about something a little bit. Yeah, well. 00;20;21;20 - 00;20;39;20 Brent We'll talk about we do have three plans, you know, and those plans are designed to meet the needs of all the employees, of all the federal employees. And, you know, the first 1/1 one is called standard option is kind of the old standby. It's been there a long time and we've got quite a few people enrolled in that product. 00;20;39;20 - 00;21;10;13 Brent It's it's your standard PPO type of a product with benefits of in-network and out-of-network. But, but it has like we've mentioned earlier in the segment, it has preventive care. It has all the wellness benefits as well, but it includes those all of the same network that we've been talking about with 90 plus percent providers in that network. So it's it's like I said, a standard PPO network with with great benefits. 00;21;10;17 - 00;21;18;05 Ron Yeah. It's our it's our it uses as Brit missing our preferred care blue network which Blue Cross and Blue Shield Kansas City is our largest yeah. 00;21;18;05 - 00;21;20;07 Cary And that's almost every hospital in the city that I know of. 00;21;20;07 - 00;21;40;05 Ron If there's a doctor that's on Blue Cross and Blue Shield, they have preferred Care Blue. So that is our largest network, as Brant was saying. And then our next option is the basic option. All right. Basic option is a co-pay based. So that option is a little different than the standard option. The standard option has a deductible that you have to meet. 00;21;40;13 - 00;21;56;28 Ron Basic option doesn't have deductibles, just co-pay base. So a lot of times people say, I just need to know exactly what it is that I'm going to be out of pocket. Sometimes people feel a little leery, they feel a little nervous, like, what is the deductible? What goes to the deductible? Is it going to be my hospital? Is it going to be my pharmacy? 00;21;56;28 - 00;22;07;17 Ron Is it going to be so deductible? Can get a little, little confusing for people? Basic options, no deductible. You're just going to have co-pays. You can pay those co-pays, then everything else will be paid out 100%. 00;22;07;17 - 00;22;10;25 Cary So they don't have any deductible. They don't have coinsurance on the basic. 00;22;10;25 - 00;22;21;11 Ron They don't have a deductible. They do not have a deductible. They do have a few minor things that have coinsurance on some of their lab works. That's a set of coinsurance, but. Yeah, but no deductible. 00;22;21;11 - 00;22;24;25 Cary Well, that's that sounds like that's pretty impressive. So what's what's the third option? 00;22;25;05 - 00;22;44;01 Ron And then the third option is our FEP Blue Focus that is new. This is our third year for FEP Blue Focus, and we really brought it out. You know, there's a lot of different age gaps in the federal employee population. And so what what's one that we really felt like we weren't meeting was the younger the younger FEP employee. 00;22;44;01 - 00;23;02;10 Ron YOUNG Right out of college, 27 or so that really wanted like I didn't really want to spend it. I've got to get a health insurance plan. I don't use it, but I need the basics. And an FEP Blue Focus has all of that. It has the basics. It gets you you have virtual visits on there. So you can do virtual care if you like. 00;23;02;10 - 00;23;29;25 Ron Hey, I don't want to go see anybody. I just want to do Teladoc. Then you can do that. All right? And so it has all those basic things that all those members need at a lower cost. And as you said earlier, it also has that incentive of $150 that really incentivize that kind of that member that is a little more active to use stuff like Blue Apron and to use stuff that they use for TRX to work out with. 00;23;30;02 - 00;23;33;02 Ron So it really is kind of focused towards that young active. 00;23;33;08 - 00;23;56;15 Cary It must be because I don't even know what the hell TRX was, but I'm the guy with white hair, so there you go. Okay. So so that really is focused toward the younger crowd. So they those are the things that they can relate to. And like you said, you know, if if if they don't need all of these heavily slanted benefit programs, just some great programs, if you need it, you got it. 00;23;56;15 - 00;23;59;26 Cary But if they don't, then they can save some money, get the program and still do well. 00;23;59;26 - 00;24;29;06 Ron Yeah. And it still has all the pharmacy programs. It doesn't have a mail order program. The basic option which the the standard option has a mail order program. All right. So if you have any chronic conditions that you have on a normal basis, you can use the mail order and save yourself money by doing that basic option has mail services on some on some stuff but basic option also has carry and we haven't really talked about that too much is, you know, for people who have Medicare. 00;24;29;13 - 00;24;44;26 Ron All right. Well, let's get into the different population. Right. So if you if you have if you have a basic option and you have Medicare Part B, we have you're eligible to get $800 of your Medicare Part B premiums paid back to you. All right. 00;24;44;27 - 00;24;46;01 Cary Run that by me one more time. 00;24;46;08 - 00;24;46;23 Ron You're going to go to the. 00;24;46;23 - 00;24;47;06 Cary 800. 00;24;47;06 - 00;25;08;02 Ron Dollars to $800 back toward your Medicare Part B premiums. All right. What's the good thing about having Part B if you have Part B and you have any of these plans, you're not going to have any out-of-pocket expenses other than your pharmacy benefits. Okay. So not only you have Part B, we're going to pay you $800 of your Part B premium. 00;25;08;10 - 00;25;25;26 Ron And I know this is a shocker, but part B went down this year. It went down $5.20. Last year was 170. This year, in 2023, it's going to be one $164.90 So you also so that so think think OPM think the government for that but yeah so yeah. 00;25;25;26 - 00;25;38;26 Cary It's very unusual we see anything going down going out of the federal government. So that's that's some good news. Now there's also a $50 incentive here for just completing the blue health assessment. What is that and how does that work? 00;25;39;03 - 00;25;56;11 Ron Right. So there's one thing that we always try to do. So for all the Blue Cross and Blue Shield members are all those people who want to be Blue Cross and Blue Shield members. We have a my blue portal. Okay, now this is separate my blue portal. You can go out, I call it on your personal website. You can go out there, you can see your explanation of benefits. 00;25;56;29 - 00;26;14;22 Ron You can see your health care costs. You can see all the things that you utilize on a daily basis. Where's my deductible, Stan? How much co-pays of I how close to my to my out-of-pocket? Max So my blue portal is a great way to go out there and just check on all the stuff you need. Has this claim been paid? 00;26;14;22 - 00;26;38;14 Ron You go to my blue portal, you can see why I don't see any OB, for it hasn't been paid yet, so it really gives you an idea on what you're doing. And so that's on all the plans. And so also on the wellness going forward, on the wellness, on the incentive, you have an incentive on both the basic and the standard option that if you complete your blue health assessment, you go out on FEP Blue dot org, do your blue health assessment. 00;26;38;14 - 00;26;59;02 Ron We're going to send you a $50 debit card that you can use toward qualified medical things. You know, you're going to your co-pays, your pharmacies, any your health care expenses you can utilize towards that. And not only that, we also have incentive for people if you want to do more. All right. All of us have a little stress in our life. 00;26;59;10 - 00;27;17;24 Ron We have stress coaching, hypertension, exercise, asthma, weight management. If you do four, if you do three more of those online coaching, you can earn up to another $120 towards your 150. So I'm not good at math, but I think that's 173 money. 00;27;18;01 - 00;27;18;17 Brent That's right. A lot. 00;27;18;17 - 00;27;19;05 Cary Of incentives. 00;27;19;05 - 00;27;35;22 Brent For it. That's right. It is. And all of that is accessible through the portal, like Ramos mentioning, they can get into that and they can pick and choose different things that they can that they can earn those incentives for. And like like you said, you can earn those and you can use that money on qualified medical expenses. 00;27;36;00 - 00;27;43;06 Cary And so how long does it take to do the health assessment? It's like is it like 15 minutes? 10 minutes? What is it? Yeah. And. 00;27;43;20 - 00;27;47;22 Ron You know, we'll say let's say that you struggle with using a computer. I'll say you're. 00;27;47;22 - 00;27;48;23 Cary Looking at me when you say. 00;27;48;23 - 00;27;48;29 Ron That. 00;27;48;29 - 00;27;50;23 Cary I just want to point that out. Okay? 00;27;50;24 - 00;27;57;03 Ron Yeah, not directly. Yeah. So, yeah, it's going to take you it's going to it's going to take you 15 minutes. Okay? 00;27;57;03 - 00;28;01;04 Cary It's not bad. It's going to be 50 bucks for 50 minutes. Doesn't sound like particularly bad. 00;28;01;05 - 00;28;02;25 Brent Doesn't sound like a bad payday, so. 00;28;02;26 - 00;28;06;26 Cary Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then and then. And then the other incentives which go further down. 00;28;06;26 - 00;28;23;03 Ron The line then the yeah. The other incentives that you go further down the line, they are an ongoing thing. So you know, say you get into the hypertension, it wants you to check your blood pressure and stuff and so you can have a landmark of where you are. And if you do that every quarter, then you're going to earn that money. 00;28;23;03 - 00;28;27;18 Ron All right. So it's pretty good deal. Keep track of your exercise, all these things that you can do. 00;28;28;11 - 00;28;30;09 Cary So the My Blue Portal, that's it. 00;28;30;23 - 00;28;31;05 Ron My Blue. 00;28;31;05 - 00;28;51;01 Cary Portal. Okay, it's all up there on MY BLUE PORTAL. Part of the open enrollment period is November 14th through December 12th. If you're not happy where you are, you want to look at something different than again, you know, I'm going to go back. You've got 99% of the people happy and staying on the plan that must say something. So it might move you to take a look at the blue KC plan to see how it works. 00;28;51;07 - 00;29;09;08 Cary You can also call 1-800-411Blue the website at FEPBlue dot org at FEP Blue dot org. And they're having those virtual seminars. So if you're considering this, we're going to post all those seminars on the website. They're also on the blue KC website if you want to learn more about the plan and what's available. 00;29;09;15 - 00;29;26;17 Cary We'll be right back after the break. You're listening to America's health care advocate broadcasting here on the HIA radio network coast to coast across the USA. Stay tuned. We've got more. 00;29;29;29 - 00;29;53;01 Cary Welcome back. You're listening to America's Healthcare Advocate broadcasting coast to coast across the fruited plain here on the HIA radio network. You can find out more about us by going to the website Health Radio dot us once again. I remind you these shows are posted on all the podcast platforms. Google, Spotify, Spreaker, tune in iHeart, Amazon Music and Pandora, Stitcher, SoundCloud and YouTube. 00;29;53;01 - 00;30;09;28 Cary So. And we put descriptions up there so you'll know what you're looking for. It's the this is going to be the Blue KC Federal Employees Open Enrollment Show that we posted up there. You want to listen to this or tell somebody about it? Maybe you're thinking, hey, you know, maybe we need to make a change. Well, this is a great way to go up and listen to what's going to be available. 00;30;10;12 - 00;30;28;26 Cary You know, all that information is going to be in on the podcast platform for that for this particular show. 1-800-411Blue is the phone number. If you have questions, they are happy to help you world class customer service. They're happy to help you in any way they can. Open Enrollment November 14th through December 12th at your window. 00;30;29;07 - 00;30;47;01 Cary If you're a federal employee to make a change, you want to get off of what you're on. This is a great way to make that move. The website at FEP Blue dot org at FEP Blue dot org. Also all of the virtual seminars they're doing and they've got I think they're like 15 of these things are doing all kinds of different dates and different times. 00;30;47;01 - 00;30;51;20 Cary If you go off on the website and what do they click on to go to see when the virtual or. 00;30;52;13 - 00;30;53;06 Ron Find an event. 00;30;53;10 - 00;31;09;10 Cary Okay, find an event. Okay. And it'll tell you when they are and you can sign up for one of those. They are going to be interactive so you can type and questions are you got questions and they're happy to answer those for you. So all right. So we've got some good news here. We've got dental and vision benefits for sure. 00;31;09;10 - 00;31;12;08 Cary And there are no premium increases. Am I right or wrong? 00;31;12;21 - 00;31;13;17 Ron That is correct. 00;31;13;18 - 00;31;15;15 Cary That's pretty good news. 00;31;15;15 - 00;31;19;12 Ron That is very good news. That's you don't get you don't get to say that very often. 00;31;19;12 - 00;31;26;21 Cary Oh, you know. Yeah. Well, let's see. We've got part B going down by $5. We got no increase in digital edition. So there is some good news here. 00;31;26;29 - 00;31;58;08 Ron There is some good news here. Yeah. And and so, you know, having having the offer being able to offer dental and vision to our members along with our three different products, we really feel like it gives our our members a chance to kind of integrate all of their health care into into one plan. Right. So, hey, if you have you have us as your carrier, you can also has have us as your dental and vision carrier as one and kind of just, you know, lump everything together in one thing. 00;31;58;08 - 00;32;21;10 Ron So on our FEP Dental all right we have two dental plans. We have a high option and we have a standard option. The standard option has a $2500 benefit benefit per year. And then on the high option, it is 3000. 00;32;23;04 - 00;32;28;27 Cary That's pretty generous. Hartford There aren't too many dental plans out there for 2,500 and 3,000 Brent 00;32;28;27 - 00;32;31;07 Brent That's right. Most of them gap out around thousand. 00;32;31;15 - 00;32;35;05 Cary Exactly right. Yeah, right. Yeah that's pretty rich benefit. 00;32;35;05 - 00;32;45;29 Ron That's a very rich benefit. And the other big thing is, which is almost unheard of, is that there is no waiting period for crowns, bridges, implants or dentures. 00;32;45;29 - 00;32;49;12 Cary Well, that is unheard of. It's kind of unheard of. That is unheard. 00;32;49;12 - 00;33;09;14 Brent Of. Well, that's a key that's a key thing, because a lot of a lot of dental plans don't have implant coverage. And so that that's a key feature of the FEO dental plan that that's available to members. And then you couple that with the with the $3,000 annual max, it's a great benefit. 00;33;09;26 - 00;33;14;10 Cary So well repeated again there are no waiting periods for this stuff. 00;33;14;16 - 00;33;15;28 Ron No waiting periods. No. 00;33;16;07 - 00;33;24;19 Cary So you move to the Blue Cross plan and you need a crown or bridge or you need an implant and you can get it done immediately. Wants to plan your start right. 00;33;24;20 - 00;33;25;15 Ron Day one. 00;33;25;27 - 00;33;28;00 Cary That's a yes they. 00;33;28;00 - 00;33;56;28 Ron Were in so it's it's a if it's you know again it's a fantastic benefit we have a large nationwide network as well for for you to utilize go out to FEP blue dot or go to the dental tab, go to search of provider and you can find all your providers there as well. So it really it really kind of sets up for having you know, it's one of those things when when dental first came in, oh, wow, it's been a long time. 00;33;56;28 - 00;34;13;14 Ron We were not initially in, but then when we got in we were really able to start members really said, Hey, you know what, I trust Blue Cross with my medical. And so I'm really going to really add dental in there as well. So I kind of have a little synergy and a lot of my health care that I utilize on a day to day basis. 00;34;13;14 - 00;34;23;26 Cary Yeah. And those are some pretty remarkable benefits in terms of what's being offered. So if they go to the dental tab and they want to look up their dentist, that's where they would find their dentist on there. 00;34;23;26 - 00;34;24;23 Ron That's where they would go. 00;34;24;23 - 00;34;36;24 Cary And if they're looking for a specialist, if they're let's see. Hey, you know, I do think I want to get implants or I do think I need I do need to get that crown of bridge done. That's where they can find a specialist on there by using that tab. 00;34;36;24 - 00;34;37;19 Brent Same place. Yeah. 00;34;37;28 - 00;34;48;19 Cary So the stimulus in and around the metro. So whether they're in Cameroon or whether they're here in Brookside or whether they're over in Overland Park, it doesn't matter that you'll have everything up there for them. They'll be able to find it. 00;34;48;19 - 00;34;52;03 Ron Yep. Johnson County, Wyandotte County, even if you're in Salina County. 00;34;52;04 - 00;34;57;09 Cary Okay. All right. So let's go quickly. We're about running out of time here, but vision benefits this year. 00;34;57;09 - 00;35;29;05 Ron Yeah, vision benefits. So again, vision benefits, there's no rate increase on the vision benefit. It is a great way to you get a free, comprehensive, routine eye exam on both the high option and the standard option at zero co-pay for you. Okay. Also, we have a enhanced frame benefit. You can have a free if you use if you use our our content, if you use our eyeglass or lens provider, you don't have to pay for the frame itself. 00;35;29;05 - 00;35;49;13 Ron Okay. But if say that you would like to have a nice pair of Oakley's or what have you, we have increase that benefit from 130 to 140. Okay that's going to go towards that frame allowance. Now also you can use that in lieu of glasses. If you were a contact, you don't wear glasses, why wear contacts are on? 00;35;49;13 - 00;35;55;18 Ron I don't wear glasses. What do you have for me so you can use that money in lieu of glasses for context? 00;35;55;28 - 00;36;04;10 Cary That's pretty decent benefit, so it works out pretty well. All right. So folks need to know once again, Brent that the open roll period is November 14th, December 12th, right? 00;36;05;04 - 00;36;05;14 Brent That is. 00;36;05;14 - 00;36;08;13 Cary Correct. And and if they have questions, they can call. 00;36;09;07 - 00;36;09;26 Brent You call. 00;36;10;15 - 00;36;29;22 Cary 1-800-411blue. That's right. They'll be happy to help and they'll chat with them there. Again, the open enrollment period is November 14th, December 12th. They've got three plans for offering. You just heard and transcribed pretty generous benefits on the on the dental and on the vision that are available to you with no increases. You're there are a lot of incentives. 00;36;29;22 - 00;36;49;09 Cary You know, if you're if you're chronologically challenged, you're doing the Medicare, you have to pick up $800 on the part B, it's kind of hard to argue with. So once again, the phone number 1-800-411blue, the website at FEP Blue dot org open enrollment 14th through December 12th. If you have questions, they are happy to help you. 00;36;49;19 - 00;37;03;27 Cary And now, ladies and gentlemen, 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. Good. Goodbye, America. 00;37;04;11 - 00;37;13;11 Music And a note. Just want to.