Latest / Bill of Health / Health Insurance Isn’t Your Only Option — The Health Share Alternative (Bill of Health Ep.7)

Transcript

Health Insurance Isn’t Your Only Option — The Health Share Alternative (Bill of Health Ep.7) · Bill of Health

0:05
How old are you, Bill?
0:07
I get asked that a lot.
0:08
Well, let me tell you how old I am.
0:10
I am used to go to Blockbuster Video on Friday night old.
0:15
I am my first cell phone came in a zippered bag, had to plug
0:18
into the cigarette lighter, and weighed about three pounds old.
0:22
I am the closest thing we had to AI was my cousin John, who went to an Ivy League
0:26
school and knew literally everything.
0:28
If you're of a certain age, you'll remember Cliff Clavin from Cheers,
0:31
who used to know everything.
0:32
He was Cliff Clavin to us.
0:33
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am older than the internet.
0:38
Things change.
0:39
New technology comes along.
0:41
Someone with a great idea rises up and challenges the status quo.
0:44
They call them disruptors.
0:46
Disruptors emerge all the time, like Netflix, like smartphones, like the
0:49
internet, like Gemini, like Claude.
0:52
Now, are there disruptors in the healthcare and employee benefits space?
0:56
They are.
0:57
They exist
1:07
Welcome back everyone to The Bill of Health.
1:08
I'm your host, Bill Feer, the health insurance guy, and today I wanna
1:10
spend a little time talking about health shares, how they offer real
1:16
and viable alternatives to traditional health insurance and to healthcare.
1:21
All right, I gotta provide just a little bit of a warning here
1:25
One common refrain that you'll hear me saying all the time is that I wanna
1:28
build a community with this podcast.
1:30
I wanna be in a place where people come for information, not a sales pitch.
1:34
However, there are some topics that I am truly, truly passionate about,
1:37
and today is one of those days.
1:39
I think it is really important that we all know considerably more about
1:43
health shares than we do today.
1:45
We all need to be smart with our budgets.
1:47
We all need to be smarter healthcare consumers, and understanding
1:50
health shares, I think, is an important part of that process.
1:53
Listen, I'll tell you right up front, health shares are not for everyone.
1:56
They're not meant to be, but they are a disruptor that warrants consideration.
2:01
So let's get into it.
2:02
I've said this before and I will keep saying it, I've always been client-facing
2:06
in my roles, meaning I'm across the table from the employer or the employee.
2:09
I'm helping them make tough decisions, and one non-negotiable for me is that
2:13
I insist on making sure the people helping me bring that proposal, that
2:16
idea to life are the smartest and most ethical and trustworthy I can find.
2:21
Consequently, I love, love, love talking to smart people, like today's guest.
2:26
All the way down in the heart of Texas, from Austin to be specific,
2:29
today we are joined by Richard Walton.
2:32
Richard runs the strategic distribution arm of Sedera Health Share.
2:35
He attended West Texas A&M, go Buffaloes- Yeah … and spent the
2:39
next 20 years in group benefits space.
2:41
What the heck does that mean?
2:42
Well, Richard worked with employers to design, build, and implement
2:46
benefits plan for employees in all types of companies, small companies,
2:50
big, medium, large companies.
2:52
One of the things I really appreciate about Richard is that he is always
2:55
trying to find differentiators, something new, something
2:58
innovative to bring to the table.
3:00
I think you could call Richard honestly a disruptor.
3:03
It was the frustration of group health, basically, kind of watching everything on
3:07
a treadmill, premiums go up, deductibles go up, nobody gets healthier, that led
3:11
him to today's topic of health shares.
3:13
He left traditional benefit space behind.
3:15
Just like Cortez, he burned the ships, not going back, and he went
3:19
all in on medical cost-sharing.
3:22
I think Richard's idea is really simple.
3:25
It's that real innovation in the health space is gonna happen outside of
3:30
traditional insurance models For example, direct primary care, which we've covered
3:34
in previous episodes for the things that you can predict, and a sharing
3:38
community for the things that you cannot.
3:41
This is not another insurance plan dressed up to look different.
3:45
This is truly a disruptor.
3:46
Let's give a warm Bill of Health welcome to my friend, Richard Walton.
3:51
Thank you so much
3:51
for having me.
3:51
Yeah.
3:52
Glad to have you.
3:53
I am glad to have you.
3:54
We're gonna get right into it.
3:55
There's a lot to talk about today.
3:57
Matter of fact, there's so much to talk about we're gonna keep
3:59
you here for another episode.
4:01
I want you just to take 30 to 60 seconds for someone who maybe have heard about
4:07
a healthshare, thinks it's something religious, doesn't know about it.
4:11
I want you to take 60 seconds and just give a primer on what
4:14
the heck is a healthshare.
4:16
Thanks for that.
4:16
So a healthshare, it's been around for a very, very long time, and I
4:21
would say conceptually, probably since biblical times or before.
4:25
Think of, like, even tribal health, like the tribe takes care of their community.
4:29
It's the same sort of concept, right?
4:32
So imagine you and 100,000 of your friends said, "Hey, we're really not
4:36
being well-served by an insurance, traditional insurance plan," for any
4:40
number of reasons that we all kind of know and experience day to day.
4:44
"Let's all just make a voluntary contribution, put our money into
4:47
a big nonprofit, and we're gonna commit to helping each other
4:50
out with a clear set of sharing guidelines." So there's sensible rules.
4:54
This is not loosey-goosey.
4:56
So the idea is healthcare by community instead of by a big
5:00
insurance carrier that kind of controls the strings up at the top.
5:03
Gotcha.
5:03
Okay.
5:04
Thank you.
5:05
Now, as you mentioned, as you referenced, health sharing has been
5:07
around for a long time, decades.
5:09
But for many of us, it remains sort of an unfamiliar or misunderstood concept.
5:14
From your perspective, the work that you're doing there at
5:16
Sedera, why do you think health shares still fly under the radar?
5:19
Maybe what are some of the misconceptions that people might
5:21
have when they first hear about it?
5:23
Well, I'll be the first to admit there's been some bad actors in the
5:26
healthcare sharing space, for sure.
5:28
Do your due diligence on the health share that you join.
5:31
There's been some bad actors that definitely grab headlines, and,
5:35
you know, when you have a new model and it doesn't go well the first
5:39
time, that spreads like wildfire.
5:41
Yep.
5:41
I would also say, too, that the distribution and just people that
5:45
help other members describe how health shares work tends to be a smaller list.
5:50
There's not a ton of innovation, especially if you're working with
5:53
insurance agents that are typically, that's all they know- Right … is
5:57
traditional insurance plans.
5:58
Yep, yep.
5:58
But I do think the tides are definitely changing, and honestly, it's coming from
6:02
consumer sentiment more than anything.
6:05
I like to think of it as the concept of parallel economies.
6:09
So the idea of a parallel economy is they're just born out of frustration-
6:13
Mm … with existing options.
6:15
And think about, like, Airbnbs instead of hotel rooms- Yeah
6:18
and podcasts instead of, like, traditional legacy media, and
6:23
in Ubers instead of taxis.
6:25
All of those flourish and are honestly bigger than the predecessors
6:30
that they were with before.
6:32
But born out of frustration, out of natural consumer desire for
6:36
alternatives, those other options still exist in the economy.
6:39
They still do, but we operate parallel to that.
6:43
Mm. And parallels in economies and healthcare are direct primary care and
6:47
medical cost-sharing, and honestly, who knows what's gonna come up out of that?
6:51
To my point before, innovation's gonna happen outside of an insurance plan.
6:55
Yeah.
6:55
Oh, I love that.
6:56
I love that.
6:57
Not insurance, but protection.
6:59
For someone used to paying High monthly premiums for a traditional group or
7:03
individual health insurance plan.
7:05
How would you explain what medical cost-sharing community actually is
7:08
and what it maybe fundamentally isn't?
7:10
How does it differ primarily from your typical corporate
7:13
employer-sponsored health plan?
7:15
I think the biggest difference is when you're going through open
7:19
enrollment with your employer group and you see your option of insurance-
7:22
Mm-hmm … plans, you're gonna be looking at there's co-pays and deductibles
7:26
and max out-of-pockets, and we just have a very different vocabulary,
7:31
but also a very different approach.
7:34
If you're interested in medical cost-sharing, and people that are
7:36
interested will understand that I don't really need insurance for Z-Pak.
7:41
I don't need a Z-Pak insurance plan, and I, I really don't need a network.
7:45
I need a doctor that I can trust, and I need help with the large
7:49
and unexpected medical events.
7:51
So if you're comparing an insurance plan to a medical cost-sharing plan,
7:56
they're just very different methods of approaching how we manage healthcare and
8:02
how you manage healthcare personally.
8:04
Yeah.
8:05
Yeah, it's interesting that you mention that.
8:07
I work with small businesses, Richard, I guess is what I'm trying to say, and
8:10
I didn't wanna be someone that just came with another- high-deductible plan,
8:14
maybe a lower deductible plan, just the same stuff that they're used to getting.
8:18
I didn't offer any value there.
8:19
I didn't see any value there.
8:21
And so when I was exploring other things to do and other things to look
8:24
at, how can I help clients, I actually changed the way I fundamentally
8:28
approach my own healthcare.
8:30
As I wanted to be smarter and to take more things into control of my own
8:33
control when I could, I began to look at alternatives, and this healthshare and
8:37
the direct primary care models just popped up, and it fundamentally changed the way
8:41
I approach my own personal healthcare.
8:43
And I love the way you said that.
8:44
You don't need a insurance plan for a Z-Pak or maybe to go in to have your back
8:49
looked at because you've got an ouchy back or because, you know, something like
8:53
that doesn't need to happen, and there are so many things that I wanna talk about.
8:57
We gotta go in steps here because there's a lot I would love to make sure that we
9:00
get a chance to cover, but this is great.
9:03
One of the things I know I wanna ask you, traditional insurance
9:05
often insulates the clients, if you will, the consumers, the insured,
9:10
from the actual cost of healthcare.
9:12
Now, an insured person doesn't know what that doctor's visit costs
9:16
or what that Z-Pak costs, right?
9:19
And I think because of that sort of insulation, consumers don't see it.
9:23
I think it leads to inflationary pressures.
9:25
It means they can charge what they want, they can do what they want.
9:28
How does a healthshare encourage members to behave more like cash
9:32
shoppers, smart consumers, and how does that shift or drive down costs for
9:37
everyone, entire community, for example?
9:39
Yeah, that's a great question.
9:40
So who was it, Charlie Munger, that said, "Show me the incentives
9:44
and I'll show you the outcome"?
9:45
Hmm.
9:45
I think there's a lot of that going on.
9:47
And in healthcare and traditional insurance-based models, I wanna introduce
9:52
the concept of third-party payment.
9:54
Yeah.
9:54
So between you and your doctor, there's a third party that is dictating the
9:59
terms of your care, that you have to pick drugs from this formulary.
10:03
They control the pricing.
10:05
So that on itself is like, if you think about it, no one would wanna sign up
10:09
for that, especially as deductibles get higher and higher and higher,
10:13
that there's a cash price out there, but there's also an insurance rate
10:17
that I don't have any control of.
10:19
And just because I happen to have this one insurance card, that
10:22
dictates the price that I'm gonna pay.
10:24
Yeah.
10:24
Early days, insurance networks, I think that's probably a good deal,
10:28
like they're negotiating down- Yeah … rates for our policyholders.
10:33
That does not happen anymore.
10:34
It's so vertically integrated, and there's so many games.
10:38
I study this, and we're in this space all the time.
10:40
There's more games than we even know about.
10:43
Versus being a cash pay patient, two-party payment.
10:46
If you're a member of a healthshare, you're largely two-party payment.
10:50
That's you and your doctor that's providing- Hmm … the service.
10:53
So that right there is how we purchase everything else in our e-
10:57
entire economy, is two party, and I'm making a value-based decision.
11:01
Do I value this service for this price?
11:05
And just by being a two party, it forces that transaction
11:09
and that method of thinking.
11:11
Now, we fully understand it's not like there's a menu prices
11:15
of services in healthcare.
11:16
We long for that day, but we're not there yet.
11:18
So we give our members, and every health share gives their members a lot of tools
11:22
to help navigate being a cash- Mm-hmm
11:23
pay patient.
11:24
But I liken it to, like, if your transmission was just blown on your
11:28
car, you would not go to a mechanic and say, "Okay, tell me what we're looking
11:32
at. Give me a ballpark. I'm not gonna hold you to it, 'cause you gotta get
11:36
in there and, like, drain the oil and, like, really see what's going on." Yeah.
11:39
"But give me a ballpark on how much this is gonna cost." And that's
11:42
a very natural way to purchase an expensive car repair, and you can
11:47
do the same thing in healthcare.
11:48
I love that.
11:49
Previous episodes, and I- I'll make a small commercial,
11:52
Richard, if you'll indulge me.
11:53
If you haven't had a chance to go back and listen to previous episodes, we've talked
11:56
about this before, I have experience with primary healthcare, with the direct
11:59
primary care, where I had to get an X-ray for that ouchy back I was talking about.
12:04
And I talked to my provider and she told me to go here, and I said, "Why am
12:08
I going here?" She said, "Number one, it's $30 for a black and white X-ray,"
12:12
which I won't get at my local regional medical center, not gonna get it.
12:16
If my insurance was involved, it was gonna be considerably higher than that.
12:20
And number two, she appreciated the reports that the radiologist was
12:23
giving, the quality of the reports.
12:25
So I was shopping for that service.
12:27
We don't think that people have the ability or that you
12:30
go into this big hospital.
12:31
I- I had a previous guest on, Lynn Carter, if you haven't heard that
12:33
episode, go back, 'cause it was great.
12:35
But Lynn said, "Yeah, when you step into this cathedral of a hospital lobby and
12:38
you look at all these things going on, you don't think that there's the opportunity
12:40
to negotiate prices or to deal directly."
12:42
And almost always there is, and it's really changed the game.
12:45
I think it really can change the game for a lot of healthcare consumers,
12:49
and that's something maybe that kind of drives my next question.
12:51
A common worry for someone looking at a health share is what happens when I
12:56
just need to see the primary care for a runny nose, or pick up a prescription,
13:01
or I've got a lump or a mole on my back I wanna get looked at, right?
13:05
I just need to see my primary care.
13:07
How does Sedera structure its model to handle routine care versus major
13:12
catastrophic big stuff medical events?
13:15
There's really two parts to this answer, and Sedera is pretty unique that we
13:21
very intentionally and by design do not share in routine medical care.
13:27
And there's really two points to it.
13:28
A, it's, like, very cost-effective just to pay your doctor directly
13:31
for that or gravitate towards direct primary care models.
13:35
That is kind of the cheat code to all of this, I think.
13:39
But also, two, there's a whole world of medicine that is not a CPT code, right?
13:45
Like when you go in to see your doctor, they're looking for a CPT code, that
13:49
exact CPT code to bill insurance for.
13:53
And there's a whole world of medicine that not dictated by CPT codes.
13:58
So there might be honestly a better way that you wanna treat
14:01
whatever condition you've got.
14:02
And by us not being involved and intentionally not separating predictable
14:07
and known routine medical care from large and unexpected, there's a huge amount of
14:11
freedom to navigate healthcare just like you want between you and your doctor.
14:15
Yeah.
14:16
I'm gonna tell you a real quick story, and this is for the listeners
14:18
as much as it is for you, Richard.
14:20
When I started my DPC relationship, I'd had a long ongoing minor sort of
14:25
neurological condition And through the traditional insurance model, I had
14:30
gone and had MRIs from time to time.
14:33
I had neurological exams from time to time.
14:35
Couldn't find anything.
14:36
It was just a quirk or chronic condition.
14:38
In a single visit, and I'm not kidding, in a single visit with my
14:41
DPC provider, she said, "Has anyone checked your iron levels?" No.
14:46
No one's checked my iron levels.
14:47
My ferritin levels were very low, almost zero, and she's like, "Well, no wonder
14:52
you're having neurological conditions."
14:54
I'm taking an iron supplement now that I get over the counter at
14:57
Walmart, and that condition is gone that I've had for 20 years.
15:00
Now, that's unusual.
15:01
Maybe it won't happen for everybody.
15:02
I'm not saying they've got the keys to all chronic conditions.
15:05
I'm just saying I wouldn't have received that kind of care, which is
15:08
why I'm evangelizing right now, but I wouldn't have received that kind of
15:11
care at my, a primary care physician.
15:13
Not that that person's a bad practitioner or that that's a bad doctor.
15:16
It's just that someone saying, "Hey, have we tried this?" Right?
15:19
'Cause it didn't specifically match up to the CPT code or the
15:22
billing code that you talked about.
15:23
I love that, and I think that is an absolute game changer.
15:27
Also, I'm aware, and correct me if I'm wrong here, that you like
15:30
to bundle, or we'd hope maybe they could bundle the Sedera with some
15:34
sort of a direct primary care.
15:35
But you also have virtual care options, if I'm not mistaken.
15:38
If that model is more beneficial to the client or more efficient for the client,
15:42
they can see you've got plenty of those providers that will see them virtually.
15:46
Yeah, absolutely.
15:47
You know what?
15:47
For my 15 years of in this industry, the virtual care model
15:51
has gotten so much more- Hmm
15:53
robust and frictionless.
15:56
I'm on sales calls all the day, and, like, I genuinely connect with people over video
16:00
calls, and you can still do that over a video call- Yeah … with your doctor.
16:04
And the concept, too, is virtual direct primary care, so you talk
16:08
to the same doctor every time.
16:10
Hmm.
16:10
And that unlocks ordering labs, reviewing labs- Yeah
16:14
kind of removing all the friction.
16:16
It can happen late at night.
16:17
It can happen, like, on your own terms when you- Yep … schedule
16:19
it, and as simple as just opening up the app and talking to your doctor.
16:23
It's very, very refreshing.
16:25
Yes.
16:25
Yeah, and I think I'm even seeing it more and more now sort of embedded
16:28
into traditional insurance plans, the ability to see someone virtually
16:33
if that works better for you.
16:34
So I think virtual care is definitely a trend that we're gonna see continue.
16:37
For freelancers, independent consultants, small business owners, self-employed
16:42
who are completely priced out of the individual ACA market or the
16:46
marketplace or Obamacare market How does the membership-based sharing model
16:51
provide a viable safety net without necessarily breaking the monthly budget?
16:56
Well, if you look at our sharing amounts, they are significantly
17:00
lower than a group health plan, individual plans, group health plans.
17:04
They're, like, an order of magnitude less expensive for a lot of reasons
17:09
we've discussed- Right … before on consumerism's kind of baked into
17:12
the model, like, a lot of reasons.
17:14
So just imagine other people just like you joining a healthshare and
17:18
committing to helping each other out without all these friction, all these
17:22
rent-seeking third parties that just extract- Yep … value, and that's
17:26
where a lot of our value comes in.
17:29
And we become perfect for the freelancers, the person that's working on a corporate
17:34
job but has a side hustle and really wants to go off on their own by disconnecting
17:38
your healthcare from your employment.
17:40
Yep.
17:40
We follow our members wherever they go, whatever job they get.
17:44
I would say, too, if you're priced out of your employer's group health plan,
17:48
maybe they pay for employee only, but you've gotta do something- Got some
17:51
family, yep … with your family.
17:51
We become a great, great model- Mm … for that.
17:55
And also, too, some jobs, big corporate-y jobs, have opt-out credits.
17:59
If you waive their health plan, they'll put some money in your pocket.
18:03
But my last job did that.
18:04
I see.
18:04
And that was enough for me to pay for a healthshare.
18:07
Yeah.
18:07
Okay.
18:08
Good.
18:08
I love that.
18:09
I love that.
18:10
Richard, we've got a lot of content, and we're gonna break it
18:13
up into a couple different episodes here, so I want you to sit tight.
18:15
We're gonna do a little work here.
18:17
It's time now, my friends, to open up the Jargon Jar.
18:22
The Jargon Jar.
18:23
This is a place where we take a confusing, intentionally muddy topic
18:26
or language of the insurance industry, and we translate it into plain
18:29
English, except for this time, we're gonna stay on the health share topic.
18:32
We're gonna talk about, specific to health shares, the topic of
18:36
an initial unshareable amount.
18:39
Initial unshareable amount.
18:40
There's other things you wanna call it or other things that maybe other
18:43
health shares call it, but let's call it the initial unshareable amount.
18:46
What the heck is it?
18:49
An unshareable amount is basically the specific out-of-pocket dollar amount a
18:52
member has to pay for medical expenses before the health share community begins
18:58
sharing or reimbursing medical bills.
19:01
Now, for legal reasons, we're not gonna call it a deductible, but like
19:05
a deductible, it's the amount that you pay first, and health shares have a
19:08
very flexible structure where you can pay a little or you can pay a lot first
19:13
before the sharing model kicks in.
19:16
Unlike traditional insurance deductibles that reset annually
19:20
for all care, unshareable amounts are frequently structured for a
19:22
specific incident, medical need, or on a per year basis, depending
19:26
on the exact health share program.
19:27
Richard, if I'm not mistaken, Sedera, I believe, has a three
19:31
incident cap in a calendar year.
19:33
Just so we're super clear, the three incident cap means if you have to
19:37
pay three IUAs in a membership year for an individual or a household,
19:42
essentially the Sedera community says, "Bill, you've had a hell of a year."
19:46
Yeah.
19:46
"This fourth one is on us." Right, right.
19:47
It's like, "Don't worry about your IUA."
19:50
Yeah.
19:50
"We'll take
19:50
care
19:50
of you." Please get better.
19:52
So as I mentioned, those initial unshareable amounts can be
19:55
structured in any way, 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,500, all the way up.
20:00
And so that affects, if you will, your pricing, but it is basically
20:04
the amount that you pay first.
20:06
Those are in place, I think, for a very good reason.
20:08
You're not gonna worry about an emergency room.
20:10
If you went into the emergency room with a car wreck, your
20:13
unshareable amount is chump change.
20:15
It's just a, a minuscule drop in the bucket.
20:17
And so they just kinda make sure that everyone has skin in the game,
20:20
everyone has a responsibility to take care of themselves, and the
20:23
members involved in that community.
20:25
And so that is the initial unshareable amount.
20:27
You will see that no matter where you go for your pricing or
20:29
for looking at studying health shares, you'll see those amount.
20:32
They may call them something different, but you'll see that, and basically
20:35
that is the amount that you pay first.
20:38
All right, Mr.
20:39
Richard, now it's time for a surprise.
20:41
You don't know this one's coming, okay?
20:43
This time for Five for Fighting.
20:47
Five for Fighting, Richard, is a surprise.
20:49
I'm gonna ask you five rapid-fire questions.
20:52
Don't think, just answer.
20:53
Would love to get your take, and sometimes the topics can be a little controversial.
20:58
Are you ready, Mr. Walton?
21:00
First, a Chicago deep dish, Brooklyn, New York, thin foldable, St. Louis with
21:04
the weird cuts and the Provel cheese.
21:06
Richard Walton, who has the best pizza?
21:09
Is it Detroit-style that has the sauce on the top, or is that Chicago?
21:12
That's Chicago.
21:12
I like the one with the sauce on the
21:14
top.
21:15
That's Chicago.
21:15
Chicago.
21:15
Yep, Chicago.
21:15
Okay, good answer.
21:16
Oh, we may come to blows over this one.
21:19
Kansas City, North Carolina, Memphis, or Texas, Richard Walton, who has
21:24
the best barbecue- Texas … and why is it always Kansas City?
21:26
Texas, final answer.
21:27
Oh, no, no, no.
21:29
Okay.
21:29
All right.
21:30
You will be surprised, or you may not be surprised, but your friend, your friend
21:35
Lynn Carter also agreed that it was Texas.
21:38
It's because Kansas City hides behind a barbecue sauce.
21:42
Like, in Texas, you have to make the actual meat taste good, and you can't
21:46
slop on some sauce- Oh … and call it.
21:48
Like, it has to taste-
21:49
Oh, oh my goodness.
21:50
Yeah.
21:51
This is, what is it?
21:52
Sacrilege?
21:53
I'm getting heresy and sacrilege.
21:55
I don't know the adjectives right now to talk about this.
21:57
Richard Walton, if you were speaking to employees with an employer health
22:00
insurance or even those folks that don't have employee health insurance, how
22:04
could they benefit from using a health share and bundling that with a DPC
22:07
provider, direct primary care provider?
22:09
That's the cheat code to all of this, is the first dollar in healthcare
22:12
should go to paying the doctor that's taking care of you most of the time.
22:16
Mm-hmm.
22:17
And pair us for the large and unexpected, as we discussed.
22:21
That's the cheat code to all of this.
22:22
The happiest, happiest employees you'll ever see 'cause you get true
22:26
physician-led healthcare, we're not worried about networks, and we don't
22:30
do price increases to the extent that you ever see on an insurance plan.
22:33
Every year, annually.
22:34
Yeah.
22:34
Wonderful.
22:35
Austin has a great food truck scene.
22:38
Richard Walton, please name your favorite food truck.
22:41
Oh, this is so tough.
22:42
There's an Indian food truck down on 6th Street.
22:45
I don't know the name of it
22:47
Park's on 6th Street, though, there in Austin, if you're ever down there.
22:50
Yes Call and they'll get your-
22:51
And I would, a shout-out
22:52
give it a call … a shout-out to Franklin Barbecue, who started in a food truck Oh,
22:55
yeah Best barbecue you'll ever have, yes.
22:58
Franklin Barbecue.
22:59
Wait, I'm thinking of Franklin out of Tennessee maybe, not Texas.
23:02
That's something different.
23:03
But yeah, okay, I've heard of them.
23:04
I, at one point in time, Richard, had a Texas hot link, and I was not prepared
23:08
for how hot that hot link was going to be.
23:10
That was quite an experience down there.
23:12
Last question: if you're sitting across the table from a budget-conscious family
23:15
or a self-employed person or an employer tired of the treadmill you spoke about
23:20
earlier, anyone that's on the fence about making the jump to a health share,
23:23
what is the ultimate litmus test that you'd use to help them decide if this
23:26
model is truly a good fit for them?
23:29
There's a couple of screening questions, for lack of a better word.
23:32
You know, we do have a graduated sharing schedule based on preexisting
23:36
conditions- Yeah … and taking some really good time to unpack that
23:38
because most people think that's a binary, like yes or no, and it's not.
23:43
If you apply some context and, again, solve for having high blood pressure's
23:47
not a reason to not join a health share.
23:49
Yeah.
23:50
But the thing that I really love is just doing a simple spreadsheet of this is
23:53
the cost of insurance, and you know what you're gonna get from that, and let's
23:57
just evaluate with the benefits of here.
23:59
And oftentimes this is what motivates me more than anything, is letting
24:04
those employees get a free pay raise.
24:05
Like, they're- Mm … sending insurance money to an insurance carrier.
24:08
Yeah And if we can accomplish something that really works for
24:12
their family that's $1,000 a month less, that's $12,000 a year.
24:16
That's a college fund for your kids.
24:18
You can do so much with that money instead of sending it to an insurance
24:22
carrier and it's gone forever.
24:23
I love that.
24:24
Again, not a protracted sales pitch here, but I do really, really love that.
24:29
Great, great discussion so far.
24:31
We have a lot more to cover, and because of that we're gonna have Richard back for
24:35
our next episode so we can continue this great discussion about health shares.
24:40
We're gonna try to break it up into some d- digestible chunks, so that's
24:43
why we wanna break this up into another episode, but folks, I want
24:46
you to tune in and stick around.
24:48
Special thanks to our guest today, Richard Walton.
24:50
I love, love, love talking to smart people, and you clearly have
24:53
expertise worth sharing, for certain.
24:55
Richard's contact information is gonna be in the show notes.
24:58
Richard is gonna stick around for another episode, part two of
25:00
our discussion on health shares.
25:01
Also, if you're an employer or an employee and you've ever thought about
25:05
shopping insurance plans or coverage or thinking about alternatives that
25:08
can help you put money back into your pocket and become a smarter healthcare
25:11
consumer, be sure to follow along on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
25:15
We are Bill Fy, the Health Insurance Guy.
25:16
Subscribe to the pod on Apple, Spotify.
25:18
Give us a review.
25:20
We'd love to have your thoughts on the program.
25:22
And if I can personally be of help to you, explore your options, head on over
25:25
to my website, Core 360 Benefits Group, and schedule a 30-minute consultation.
25:30
With that, thanks for listening to the Bill of Health.
25:32
I want you to be smart, shop smart, and protect your wealth.
25:36
We will see you next time.
25:45
This podcast
25:46
is provided for educational purposes only
25:47
and should not be considered legal, tax, investment, or insurance advice.
25:49
Individual circumstances vary, and the listener should consult qualified
25:51
professionals regarding their specific healthcare and financial situation.
25:53
Opinions expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily
25:55
reflect the views of any insurance carrier or affiliated organization