Latest / That KEVIN Show / The Risks of Prioritizing Profit Over People

Transcript

The Risks of Prioritizing Profit Over People · That KEVIN Show

0:01
Speaker 1: From the birthplace of radio's greatest era, now from New York,
0:06
Speaker 1: it's Radio Night Live with Kevin McCullough. Unlike anything else
0:14
Speaker 1: on radio today, it's a front row seat for great
0:17
Speaker 1: information with today's leading experts. Travel with a third generation
0:21
Speaker 1: travel icon, Linda Perillo. The Fox News Medical All-Stars featuring Dr.
0:26
Speaker 1: Mark Siegel, Dr. Marty McCary, Dr. Jeanette Nishwat, and the OG, Dr.
0:31
Speaker 1: Nicole Sapphire. Legal analysis from former prosecutor and court journalism
0:35
Speaker 1: superstar Imran Ansari and Christine Nicholas. The quintessential heartbeat to
0:40
Speaker 1: New York hospitality. All joining legendary broadcast pro Kevin McCullough
0:45
Speaker 1: on a mission unlike any other. United to bring back
0:49
Speaker 1: New York. Now, live from Studio 111, here's Kevin McCullough.
0:56
Speaker 2: All right, Kevin McCullough, glad to have you with us.
0:59
Speaker 2: Any information that we get, any new information that we
1:02
Speaker 2: get about the hijacked airliner in Israel, we will try
1:08
Speaker 2: to bring to your attention as best we can in
1:10
Speaker 2: this coming hour. We've always got interesting things to talk
1:16
Speaker 2: about on Wednesday, and part of what we do with
1:19
Speaker 2: the Wednesday show is we dedicate some of the time
1:22
Speaker 2: to discuss wellness and wellness strategies for your life. Today,
1:27
Speaker 2: we're going to talk about maybe one of the less
1:30
Speaker 2: exciting parts of that, but certainly important. And that is
1:33
Speaker 2: how much it costs you to stay healthy. And we've
1:36
Speaker 2: got some real solutions for you. So stick around. It's
1:41
Speaker 2: going to be a fantastic hour. I want to talk
1:43
Speaker 2: to you about something that strikes me as timely. The
1:47
Speaker 2: next time that a chat bot, you know what a
1:49
Speaker 2: chat bot is? Hands, show of hands. You do, do, Tanika,
1:53
Speaker 2: do you know his chatbot?
1:54
Speaker 3: Okay.
1:56
Speaker 2: Sam, I mean, Matt, Alex, you guys know? Okay, everybody knows.
2:00
Speaker 2: The chat GPT, Claude, you know, some of the others
2:04
Speaker 2: that are out there. The next time it tells you
2:06
Speaker 2: it understands your concerns, consider a different possibility. It may
2:11
Speaker 2: not know your concerns at all. Its owners may be
2:15
Speaker 2: trying to understand more about how much your concerns are worth.
2:20
Speaker 2: And here's why. Anthropic, the company behind Claude, is preparing
2:25
Speaker 2: to go public. Its IPO filing is now giving investors
2:28
Speaker 2: their first serious look under the hood. OpenAI, the company
2:32
Speaker 2: behind ChatGPT, is preparing for an eventual IPO as well,
2:36
Speaker 2: although its plans have reportedly been pushed into next year.
2:40
Speaker 2: Either way, the direction that they're headed should get our attention.
2:46
Speaker 2: We're approaching a moment when companies supplying answers to millions
2:50
Speaker 2: of people are will face an increasingly public demand to
2:54
Speaker 2: produce returns for their investors. Now, what happens when the
2:59
Speaker 2: answer that helps you most makes the company less money?
3:02
Speaker 2: Are you going to get the best answer? Listen, I
3:05
Speaker 2: am not opposed to profit. I earn a living operating businesses.
3:10
Speaker 2: Employees deserve paychecks. Workers deserve to get paid. Investors deserve
3:14
Speaker 2: an opportunity to earn returns. Useful technology requires resources. But
3:20
Speaker 2: profit makes a terrible god. And artificial intelligence gives the
3:27
Speaker 2: people pursuing it an extraordinary opportunity to influence people who
3:31
Speaker 2: may never recognize that they're being influenced. That's the problem.
3:37
Speaker 2: Influencing people who may never even recognize that they are
3:41
Speaker 2: being influenced. A chatbot can organize your week. It can
3:46
Speaker 2: research a subject or explain something complicated. It can also
3:50
Speaker 2: respond to your loneliness or affirm your grievances. It can
3:54
Speaker 2: learn which words keep you coming back. Those are very
3:59
Speaker 2: different kinds of usefulness. If growth becomes the overriding objective
4:03
Speaker 2: in taking AI public, the temptation isn't difficult to imagine.
4:12
Speaker 2: More conversations, more personal information, more dependence, more opportunities to
4:16
Speaker 2: sell something. Nobody has to walk into a boardroom and announce,
4:21
Speaker 2: let's manipulate people. The spreadsheet can do that automatically. Reward
4:27
Speaker 2: the behavior. Watch the numbers go up. Eventually, somebody stops
4:31
Speaker 2: asking what the behavior costs. And this is where I
4:34
Speaker 2: get really uncomfortable. When an assistant quietly becomes a salesman.
4:41
Speaker 2: Think about it. You ask for advice. It recommends a purchase.
4:46
Speaker 2: Was that recommendation best for your family or best for
4:48
Speaker 2: somebody's commission? You ask about a controversy. It gives you
4:53
Speaker 2: a confident answer. Did you get evidence or an interpretation?
4:58
Speaker 2: Somebody's worldview may be dressed up as settled fact. Already,
5:04
Speaker 2: users have to distinguish fluency from accuracy, and public market
5:09
Speaker 2: pressure could make that even harder if companies prioritize persuasion
5:14
Speaker 2: over speed and customer retention over careful answers. Going public
5:19
Speaker 2: can bring accountability, but to me it seems secondary. Things
5:24
Speaker 2: like financial disclosures, audited statements, more people looking at management
5:29
Speaker 2: and asking questions, all that stuff matters. Anthropic is also
5:34
Speaker 2: organized as a public benefit corporation, which legally requires its
5:37
Speaker 2: leadership to balance investor interests with its stated public mission
5:41
Speaker 2: and the interests of people affected by its conduct. That's
5:45
Speaker 2: worth knowing, but it doesn't make the tension disappear. It
5:51
Speaker 2: means Anthropic has at least attempted to account for itself
5:54
Speaker 2: in a structural manner. But an audited balance sheet can't
5:59
Speaker 2: tell you whether a chatbot is teaching your teenager to
6:02
Speaker 2: think clearly. Shareholders have rights. Your child may simply become
6:07
Speaker 2: an account. As these companies move toward Wall Street, everybody
6:11
Speaker 2: else in AI is going to have choices to make.
6:14
Speaker 2: Some will chase comparable capital. Others will distinguish themselves through
6:18
Speaker 2: privacy and independence and stronger safeguards. Maybe that produces healthy competition.
6:23
Speaker 2: I would hope that it would. Or maybe caution starts
6:26
Speaker 2: looking expensive. Here's what I want. I want somebody inside
6:30
Speaker 2: these companies who can still say no to a profitable idea.
6:35
Speaker 2: Which is one of the reasons why I've been telling
6:37
Speaker 2: you about Dominion.chat. Dominion is a partner of my show.
6:42
Speaker 2: I want that stated plainly so you know where I'm
6:44
Speaker 2: coming from here. Dominion isn't pretending those questions can somehow
6:48
Speaker 2: be answered without moral assumptions. And I appreciate that. Especially
6:52
Speaker 2: for families. Especially for mine. But I also need an
6:55
Speaker 2: AI to do actual work. And Dominion handles research, writing assistance,
7:00
Speaker 2: source citations... content guardrails. The company says its architecture used
7:05
Speaker 2: special models for different jobs and then a separate judge
7:08
Speaker 2: model to review answers for doctrinal fidelity and logical and
7:13
Speaker 2: legal consistency. That's their description of the system, and it's
7:17
Speaker 2: an interesting approach to a very real problem. Can I
7:20
Speaker 2: see where the answer came from? Can I examine it?
7:24
Speaker 2: Can my family use this technology without checking our convictions
7:27
Speaker 2: at the door? Those things all matter to me. And no,
7:30
Speaker 2: putting Christian on a piece of software doesn't make it infallible.
7:34
Speaker 2: I still want us to have to check the facts,
7:37
Speaker 2: recognize that Christians disagree about theology, and use judgment. Please
7:40
Speaker 2: use judgment. The entire point of an assistant is to
7:44
Speaker 2: help us fulfill our responsibilities, not surrender them. That's ultimately
7:49
Speaker 2: why I support the direction Dominion has chosen. It's trying
7:52
Speaker 2: to build useful technology around convictions that put human beings
7:56
Speaker 2: above the commercial opportunity. And I want you to be
7:59
Speaker 2: able to try it too. I'm offering a free one-year
8:03
Speaker 2: subscription at dominionofdominion.chat if you go to my promotions page
8:09
Speaker 2: on my website, thatcovinshow.com. Use that page and that link.
8:15
Speaker 2: Explore it. Ask hard questions. Examine the answers. The truth is,
8:19
Speaker 2: AI's future could bring real chaos. Livelihoods will be disrupted.
8:24
Speaker 2: Trust can be manipulated. enormous power could end up concentrated
8:28
Speaker 2: in very few hands. So I keep coming back to
8:31
Speaker 2: a pretty simple test. Does this tool leave us better
8:34
Speaker 2: equipped to work, learn, love our families, and serve our neighbors?
8:40
Speaker 2: Or does it leave us more dependent, more isolated, and
8:43
Speaker 2: easier to manipulate? Fear cannot be our operating system. Resources
8:47
Speaker 2: like Dominion.chat give us an opportunity to engage this technology thoughtfully,
8:52
Speaker 2: use the tools, demand accountability, and keep your judgments. Especially
8:56
Speaker 2: that last one. The machine may help us find an answer,
9:00
Speaker 2: but it must never become the authority to which we
9:02
Speaker 2: surrender ourselves. And when these other ones are going public,
9:08
Speaker 2: that really worries me. Dominion.chat for more info. Go to
9:13
Speaker 2: my site, thatkevinshow.com. Click promotions to get a free year
9:18
Speaker 2: to try it out. Kevin McCullough coming right back.
9:26
Speaker 1: From New York, it's Radio Night Live with Kevin McCullough.
9:31
Speaker 2: Welcome back to That Kevin Show, thatkevinshow.com. You know, I'm
9:36
Speaker 2: always interested in helping you do a couple of things,
9:38
Speaker 2: and we talk about them on different days of the week,
9:40
Speaker 2: but I'm always interested in helping you protect and preserve
9:46
Speaker 2: what you work for, so hard to earn every week,
9:50
Speaker 2: your money, what you're doing with it. Are you able
9:52
Speaker 2: to leave it as a legacy for those around you?
9:54
Speaker 2: It's always something that's on my mind. But the other
9:57
Speaker 2: part of it is I want you to be healthy
9:59
Speaker 2: and I want you to have. confidence that the health
10:02
Speaker 2: of your life is headed in a good direction. So
10:04
Speaker 2: we talk about wellness, we talk about finances, and sometimes
10:08
Speaker 2: we talk about the finance of wellness, which is kind
10:10
Speaker 2: of what we're talking about today with my very good friend,
10:14
Speaker 2: Vic Pritchard, who is the founder of DFW Direct Insurance.
10:18
Speaker 2: They've been in business since 2009. And on average, Vic
10:22
Speaker 2: told me they help the average person come in and
10:25
Speaker 2: save about 38% over their current health insurance solution. Maybe
10:31
Speaker 2: you are in fact in need of savings. I know
10:34
Speaker 2: I was, I was paying way too much, but Vic,
10:36
Speaker 2: it's good to see you again. Thanks for being back.
10:38
Speaker 3: Good to see you, Kevin. Thanks for having me on again.
10:40
Speaker 2: I had something happen, and I have to just, before
10:43
Speaker 2: we get to anything else, I just got to brag
10:45
Speaker 2: about this for a second. I came to you, had
10:49
Speaker 2: to have been like at least four months ago now,
10:52
Speaker 2: and I was in one of the medical sharing programs,
10:56
Speaker 2: and for a family of five, I was paying way
11:00
Speaker 2: too much money for the coverage that I wasn't getting,
11:03
Speaker 2: if you see what I did there with the word choice.
11:06
Speaker 2: And there was less and less that seemed to be
11:08
Speaker 2: covered all the time. And my wife was asking about
11:11
Speaker 2: things and my kids were asking about things. And I thought,
11:14
Speaker 2: why am I beating my head into the wall trying
11:17
Speaker 2: to figure out how to get this stuff paid for?
11:19
Speaker 2: And about that time, someone told me about Vic Pritchard
11:22
Speaker 2: and DFW Direct Insurance. And I went, signed up. You
11:27
Speaker 2: immediately off the bat found a way to save me
11:30
Speaker 2: $ 400 a month, real dollar for dollar savings. That's not
11:35
Speaker 2: perceived benefits. That's not imaginary stuff. That's all like on paper,
11:39
Speaker 2: $ 400 a month savings in my pocket over what I
11:42
Speaker 2: was paying. That's $ 5, 000, almost.
11:45
Speaker 3: $ 5, 000 a year.
11:46
Speaker 2: And then I did what I normally do, Vic. I
11:48
Speaker 2: don't really go to the doctor that much. So it's okay.
11:51
Speaker 2: I paid the premium. I'm saving the money. That's good.
11:53
Speaker 2: A couple of months go by, I've saved $ 800. Three
11:56
Speaker 2: months go by, $ 1, 200. Now this is starting to turn
11:59
Speaker 2: into real savings. But then it got close to school
12:02
Speaker 2: time And my lovely bride said, we got to take
12:06
Speaker 2: our daughter in. She's got to get vaccination. She's got
12:08
Speaker 2: to get a physical. She's got to do all this
12:09
Speaker 2: stuff for the school that she needs to do. I
12:12
Speaker 2: think the total bill came to about $ 900. And we
12:18
Speaker 2: paid nothing out of pocket. And this is one of
12:20
Speaker 2: the other things that I want to tell people. There's
12:22
Speaker 2: a lot of plans that Vic has that you don't
12:24
Speaker 2: pay anything out of pocket when you go to the doctor.
12:26
Speaker 2: So now you're saving me. a month per month on
12:29
Speaker 2: my premium and you're saving me in the doctor's visit,
12:32
Speaker 2: nothing out of pocket, no copay, none of that mess.
12:35
Speaker 2: And then we sat around for a while and waited
12:38
Speaker 2: for the, for the bill to come. And I got
12:40
Speaker 2: something from the insurance company, but it wasn't a bill.
12:44
Speaker 2: It was this right here. This in my hands is
12:50
Speaker 2: a paycheck, a rebate check from the insurance company that
12:55
Speaker 2: we are covered with. And it was $ 11 in return
13:00
Speaker 2: on the payment for my daughter's doctor's visit. And Vic,
13:06
Speaker 2: I called you on the phone and I said, what
13:08
Speaker 2: is this? It's like savings bonanza. What is going on here?
13:12
Speaker 2: And it's not just on doctor's visits, but on prescriptions
13:16
Speaker 2: and some other things you told us to be aware of.
13:18
Speaker 2: And so now we're like getting rebate checks on stuff
13:22
Speaker 2: like regularly. How are you able to do this? I
13:25
Speaker 2: want all of my listeners to know that there is
13:27
Speaker 2: help in the health insurance arena, and it starts with
13:30
Speaker 2: Vic Pritchard. But tell us how it works.
13:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, Kevin, we love helping people to discover the 98%
13:35
Speaker 3: of the plans that are below the tip of the
13:38
Speaker 3: iceberg that most people would never even encounter on websites
13:42
Speaker 3: like healthcare.gov. And so the type of health plan that's
13:45
Speaker 3: the most popular design in the individual market that we
13:48
Speaker 3: serve is called a defined plan. or fixed benefit plan.
13:52
Speaker 3: And there are many cases, just like in your case, Kevin,
13:54
Speaker 3: where the benefit paid might exceed what's actually owed to
13:57
Speaker 3: the provider. This is actually pretty common. And so these
14:01
Speaker 3: plans work.
14:01
Speaker 2: Well, and there's a reason why that happened too. And
14:03
Speaker 2: let me explain that real quick. So not only, so there,
14:07
Speaker 2: I got the discount because of the fixed benefit, as
14:09
Speaker 2: you said, but also because we went to an in-network provider, they,
14:14
Speaker 2: they detailed a savings. So I didn't pay out of pocket.
14:17
Speaker 2: I got $ 40 off the office visit because they were
14:20
Speaker 2: in network. And then above that, the fixed payment was
14:25
Speaker 2: where we ended up in the positive territory getting money back.
14:28
Speaker 1: Yeah.
14:29
Speaker 3: And one strategy we can use is for families that
14:31
Speaker 3: are in reasonably good health like yours, we can go
14:33
Speaker 3: to what's called a medically underwritten product to get the
14:37
Speaker 3: premiums way down, get the better PPO networks where you
14:41
Speaker 3: can use any doctor, clinic, lab, or hospital. And again,
14:43
Speaker 3: we're talking national, not just in your state, but anywhere
14:46
Speaker 3: in the United States.
14:47
Speaker 2: Yeah.
14:48
Speaker 3: So we've spent 17 years just adding carrier after carrier
14:52
Speaker 3: to our array of our portfolio. So really, no matter
14:56
Speaker 3: what someone's situation, we can write child-only policies. We can
14:59
Speaker 3: write policies for people without a social security number. We
15:03
Speaker 3: can write individual, family, small group plans. And so we
15:07
Speaker 3: just love helping people discover those solutions that most people
15:10
Speaker 3: don't even know exist.
15:12
Speaker 2: I could not, if you had told me a year
15:14
Speaker 2: ago that you could have helped us to this level
15:16
Speaker 2: as a family, I would have been blown away. The
15:19
Speaker 2: fact that you have and that it's exactly what you
15:21
Speaker 2: told me it was on the phone that very first
15:23
Speaker 2: time we spoke, I just want everyone that's listening to
15:26
Speaker 2: me to understand this is all real. Like $ 5, 000 in
15:30
Speaker 2: savings on premiums, no out-of-pocket cost, in-network discounts that are
15:35
Speaker 2: knocking the price down, down, down, and down. And then
15:38
Speaker 2: rebate checks when the fixed benefit payout is more than
15:41
Speaker 2: what the requirement would be for the item served. And
15:46
Speaker 2: this isn't just one company that does this, Vic. You've
15:49
Speaker 2: got several options. In fact, you're kind of agnostic when
15:54
Speaker 2: it comes to the companies. You just want to find
15:57
Speaker 2: the best plan for the right people.
15:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're up to 22 different individual health insurance companies now, Kevin.
16:03
Speaker 3: And what we love doing is just quick needs assessments.
16:07
Speaker 3: everyone's situation is a little bit different. It's not a
16:09
Speaker 3: one size fits all. And then we just take that
16:11
Speaker 3: consultative approach to us. It doesn't matter what carrier we
16:14
Speaker 3: end up with. As long as our client's happy, it's
16:17
Speaker 3: affordable and it has the benefits for the little day-to-day
16:20
Speaker 3: stuff like your daughter's checkup visit, as well as the
16:23
Speaker 3: major hospital and surgical things that could pop up.
16:25
Speaker 2: Yeah. Talk to me about the drug benefits too, because
16:29
Speaker 2: there's very, very advantageous ways that those help as well.
16:33
Speaker 3: Sure. A lot of our policies have co-pays for both
16:37
Speaker 3: generic and brand name drugs. The policy that we did
16:40
Speaker 3: for your family happens to reimburse, you know, $ 50 to
16:45
Speaker 3: $ 75 each time a person fills a prescription, even if
16:48
Speaker 3: it's a $ 10 or $ 15 generic drug. So again, there's
16:51
Speaker 3: another case where the benefit payable may be even more,
16:55
Speaker 3: which I know is so counterintuitive. Most people have never
16:58
Speaker 3: even heard of this concept, but the planned benefits have
17:01
Speaker 3: been enriched over the last few years to keep up
17:04
Speaker 3: As you know, with the ever-increasing costs of health care,
17:07
Speaker 3: everything's going up, mortgages, car payments, you know, everything. The
17:11
Speaker 3: cost of groceries and health insurance premiums are the exact
17:15
Speaker 3: same things. We try to keep pace with plans that
17:17
Speaker 3: will do a good job for people.
17:20
Speaker 2: You're licensed in all 50 states. You've been doing this
17:22
Speaker 2: 20 years. You've got, you know, 22, almost 23 companies
17:25
Speaker 2: that you're helping with folks. I'm not surprised that the
17:31
Speaker 2: average savings that you're being able to affect for people
17:34
Speaker 2: is in the 30% to 40% range. I think that's incredible.
17:37
Speaker 2: For us, it was exactly true. And, friends, I just
17:40
Speaker 2: can't express to you enough how strongly I feel that
17:44
Speaker 2: if you are debating even the insurance plan you're paying
17:47
Speaker 2: for through your employer. Look, some employers have really great plans,
17:51
Speaker 2: and if they pay for all of it, then that's great.
17:53
Speaker 2: But if you get stuck with some of the bill,
17:55
Speaker 2: you might want to see. You might just want to compare.
17:58
Speaker 2: And if you're a small business owner and you're providing
18:00
Speaker 2: benefits for your employees, you definitely need to be calling
18:03
Speaker 2: Vic because these types of creative plans are going to
18:07
Speaker 2: get you further down the road. And friends, if you're
18:09
Speaker 2: like us and you don't have either of those options
18:12
Speaker 2: and you as a family, you're trying to provide for
18:13
Speaker 2: your own family effective insurance, you've got to call him 817-449-5557, 817-449-5557.
18:23
Speaker 2: When we come back, Vic, there's been some news about
18:27
Speaker 2: the enrollment period that is about to open up for
18:30
Speaker 2: the affordable care, the ACA, et cetera. And there's some
18:37
Speaker 2: ways that people need to be thinking about this and
18:39
Speaker 2: could maybe take advantage of something surrounding it. And then
18:41
Speaker 2: a little bit later on, what's up with seniors and Medicare?
18:44
Speaker 2: Lots of changes on lots of different fronts. Let's talk
18:46
Speaker 2: about all of them. When we come back, I'm Calvin McCullough.
18:49
Speaker 2: Glad to have you with us.
18:57
Speaker 1: Back to Kevin McCullough and Radio Night Live from New York.
19:03
Speaker 2: Why don't we get away? All right, welcome back. It's
19:06
Speaker 2: That Kevin Show, thatkevinshow.com. Always glad to have you with us.
19:10
Speaker 2: DFW Direct Insurance is what I'm talking about and with.
19:14
Speaker 2: Vic Pritchard is the proprietor and founder. His phone number
19:17
Speaker 2: is 817-449-5557. That's his personal cell phone. He has given
19:22
Speaker 2: me permission to give that to you so that you
19:25
Speaker 2: can get savings on your health insurance that you won't
19:28
Speaker 2: find anywhere else. Vic, we were talking before the broadcast,
19:31
Speaker 2: and there's lots of changes coming to the Obamacare world
19:35
Speaker 2: in terms of when you can get involved, who can
19:37
Speaker 2: do it, and there's a bunch of people that are
19:39
Speaker 2: going to be bounced out of the system shortly. What's
19:41
Speaker 2: going on in the ACA? Yeah, we have several things.
19:45
Speaker 2: as you mentioned, Kevin, that are happening. The Trump administration
19:47
Speaker 2: just announced last week that over 700,000 people.
19:58
Speaker 3: Are about to lose coverage for enrollments that were not
20:00
Speaker 3: done correctly on healthcare.gov.
20:02
Speaker 2: Is that a nice way of saying that some people
20:04
Speaker 2: may have committed fraud?
20:07
Speaker 3: Yes, and of course, they're totally out to eliminate fraud, waste,
20:11
Speaker 3: and abuse, and that includes our healthcare industry. And, of course,
20:15
Speaker 3: these premium subsidies.
20:17
Speaker 2: To be fair, isn't the games playing in the whole
20:21
Speaker 2: insurance side of the equation, isn't that what drove premiums up?
20:25
Speaker 2: Like people rigging the system on one end, trying to
20:27
Speaker 2: short sheet it on another. And at the end of
20:29
Speaker 2: the day, the insurance companies are always going to get paid.
20:32
Speaker 2: So it's like, you know, they're protecting themselves against this stuff.
20:36
Speaker 2: But that's part of that whole. And we've gotten to
20:39
Speaker 2: the point where we're just like, OK, well, bribe and
20:41
Speaker 2: corruption has just happened. And so we just live with it. Well,
20:44
Speaker 2: we kind of don't. And I'm kind of glad for that.
20:46
Speaker 2: But anyway. Me too.
20:48
Speaker 1: Yeah.
20:48
Speaker 3: And another, you know, for the 10th year straight, we're
20:51
Speaker 3: projected to see about a 14% across the board premium
20:55
Speaker 3: increase just on the monthly premiums for low, medium and
20:59
Speaker 3: high income families. One thing that we do is we
21:03
Speaker 3: take a medically underwritten approach where we can go off exchange,
21:07
Speaker 3: off the marketplace and shop about 18 other carriers. And
21:10
Speaker 3: the premium doesn't depend on a person's income. And Those
21:14
Speaker 3: plans don't have to provide coverage that some people would
21:17
Speaker 3: never want or need. If you're not on a $ 3, 000
21:19
Speaker 3: a month drug or maybe you're a family that no
21:22
Speaker 3: longer needs maternity benefits, you know, we can custom create
21:25
Speaker 3: a plan to kind of avoid that whole 14% a
21:29
Speaker 3: year rate increase. And it's been a lifesaver for a
21:32
Speaker 3: lot of families.
21:33
Speaker 2: Well, and that 14% because you're talking about ACA compatible plans.
21:39
Speaker 2: What can DFW Direct Insurance do to help people that
21:42
Speaker 2: are listening right now, even before the enrollment window kicks in?
21:46
Speaker 2: What can you do right now? What can they do
21:48
Speaker 2: right now to help offset that?
21:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, Kevin, our plans, by and large, are available for
21:54
Speaker 3: year-round enrollment, not just during the November, December open enrollment period.
21:59
Speaker 3: So if I talk to someone today that said, hey,
22:01
Speaker 3: I'm paying too much or I don't like my network
22:04
Speaker 3: of doctors or my deductible keeps creeping up, We can
22:07
Speaker 3: shop 18 to 22 different carriers, and 9 out of
22:11
Speaker 3: 10 of those would be available to enroll today, like
22:14
Speaker 3: October 1st or next week. So people don't have to wait.
22:18
Speaker 3: People that are in good health can really capture the
22:22
Speaker 3: most premium savings, but you definitely don't need to be
22:25
Speaker 3: in perfect health for us to be able to find
22:28
Speaker 3: unique ways to actually save you money without, again, compromising benefits.
22:32
Speaker 3: So yeah, year-round enrollment. It's a simplified underwriting process where
22:36
Speaker 3: they just... run a quick background check on prescription history
22:40
Speaker 3: and issue the policy typically within 24 to 48 hours.
22:43
Speaker 3: So it's not an arduous, painful process with medical records
22:47
Speaker 3: or medical exams. Some of the life insurance policies might
22:51
Speaker 3: require that, but the health insurance is definitely a simplified
22:54
Speaker 3: underwriting process. And we have professional agents, of course, like myself,
22:58
Speaker 3: to guide people through each step of the process. And
23:02
Speaker 3: we're listeners. We listen to what people's needs are because, again,
23:05
Speaker 3: it's not a one-size-fits-all We can actually custom create a
23:09
Speaker 3: health plan with the benefits people need and eliminate some
23:13
Speaker 3: of the benefits that are cost drivers. You know, one
23:16
Speaker 3: of the biggest cost drivers this year is all these
23:19
Speaker 3: recently patented brand name only, you know, biologic prescription medications
23:23
Speaker 3: that you see on the TV commercials. So, you know,
23:26
Speaker 3: all the plans you would see on healthcare.gov or the
23:29
Speaker 3: state based exchanges have to cover all those, you know,
23:33
Speaker 3: $ 5, 000 a month drugs. And so that's driving the cost up.
23:36
Speaker 3: for people that would never want or need those benefits.
23:39
Speaker 3: Most of our policies, like the one that we have
23:41
Speaker 3: your family on, have an attribute that's very important called
23:44
Speaker 3: guaranteed renewability, right? So once you're on that plan, you
23:48
Speaker 3: can never be dropped for high claims or poor health
23:51
Speaker 3: or singled out for rate increases. We also have the
23:54
Speaker 3: ability to pivot at any point in time to an
23:57
Speaker 3: ACA plan, even though the premium might be a lot
24:00
Speaker 3: higher or the network might be a lot skinnier, we
24:03
Speaker 3: would also have the ability to look at a wide
24:05
Speaker 3: array of more costly plans.
24:07
Speaker 2: So the point is, it's an ongoing relationship and conversation
24:11
Speaker 2: about what the customer needs and how you guys can
24:14
Speaker 2: best match that up with all of the available plans
24:17
Speaker 2: that you have.
24:17
Speaker 3: Absolutely. We like to reshop the market at least once
24:20
Speaker 3: a year to once every two years, even for our
24:23
Speaker 3: existing clients, because we frequently onboard new carriers that might
24:27
Speaker 3: have different benefits, different price point, different deductible that might
24:32
Speaker 3: be more beneficial. So just like a person would review
24:34
Speaker 3: their auto insurance, homeowner's insurance, it always helps to do
24:38
Speaker 3: an annual policy review. Cool.
24:40
Speaker 2: All right. I'm going to take a quick break. Seniors
24:42
Speaker 2: and Medicare, if those subjects are important to you, stay
24:45
Speaker 2: with us because Vic's going to tell you about what's
24:48
Speaker 2: the latest with them next.
24:48
Speaker 1: Stay here. And now, from New York, back to Radio
25:01
Speaker 1: Night Live, here's Kevin McCullough.
25:05
Speaker 2: Welcome back. It's That Kevin Show, thatkevinshow.com, for all things
25:10
Speaker 2: that you might be looking for. No matter where you're
25:12
Speaker 2: hearing us, this podcast, always available, completely free, never behind
25:16
Speaker 2: a paywall. We want you to have access to it, thatkevinshow.com,
25:19
Speaker 2: easiest place to get that. And maybe you want to
25:21
Speaker 2: forward this to some people that maybe are in need
25:24
Speaker 2: of better health insurance options. If you know of anybody,
25:28
Speaker 2: give them Vic's contact information and his phone number, 817-449-5557, 817-449-5557.
25:37
Speaker 2: Because at the end of the day, you're going to
25:39
Speaker 2: be doing them an enormous favor by introducing them to
25:42
Speaker 2: Vic and what he can do by way of health
25:44
Speaker 2: insurance for their family. Vic, before we got started today, um,
25:50
Speaker 2: you were talking about some, we were talking about a
25:52
Speaker 2: few different things. Um, But seniors and Medicare coverages and changes,
25:58
Speaker 2: what do we know about where 2026 is going to
26:01
Speaker 2: land with that part of the discussion?
26:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, Kevin, one of the biggest changes coming up is
26:06
Speaker 3: the Part D prescription drug plans for people that have
26:09
Speaker 3: kind of a standalone Medicare supplement for the first year
26:13
Speaker 3: ever are no longer going to be subsidized by the government.
26:17
Speaker 3: And so this is going to trigger some market disruption
26:20
Speaker 3: and we are anticipating some pretty big rate increases. So
26:23
Speaker 3: we can help people to reshop that, make sure they're
26:26
Speaker 3: getting the best value to where their drugs that they
26:29
Speaker 3: need are still covered. And then on the medical side,
26:31
Speaker 3: of course, costs are always increasing for hospitals, surgical costs.
26:35
Speaker 3: And so last two years, we've seen over double digit increases.
26:40
Speaker 3: We're talking 20% plus increases on Medicare supplemental policies from
26:45
Speaker 3: several carriers across at least 30 states. And so what
26:49
Speaker 3: we can do, and a lot of people, Kevin, don't
26:51
Speaker 3: know this, but if you're using Original Government Medicare as
26:54
Speaker 3: your primary coverage, and you have a true Medicare supplement
26:58
Speaker 3: as your secondary, you can actually change it any time
27:01
Speaker 3: of year to any other carrier's plan, whether it's a
27:04
Speaker 3: Plan G, a Plan N, a Plan A. And so
27:07
Speaker 3: we have people all year long just that feel like
27:10
Speaker 3: they're paying more than they should be for good quality
27:13
Speaker 3: Medicare supplemental coverage.
27:14
Speaker 2: Well, and that's why it's so important to have someone
27:18
Speaker 2: like you to be able to talk to about it because...
27:21
Speaker 2: if I was stuck in the weeds trying to figure
27:24
Speaker 2: this out on my own and just looking at claims
27:27
Speaker 2: that are made on websites, I mean, that is really,
27:31
Speaker 2: I guess if you're really, really into doing deep research,
27:36
Speaker 2: you could probably find out the same information. But to
27:38
Speaker 2: be able to interface with you who has knowledge of
27:42
Speaker 2: the plans that are already available and say, well, you
27:46
Speaker 2: may not know it, but this just became available. Let's
27:48
Speaker 2: talk about that. When you're talking about the The drug offset,
27:54
Speaker 2: what does that look like for an average senior? Because
27:57
Speaker 2: I know that we're taking more drugs than ever before,
27:59
Speaker 2: but if they're going to have to pay more out
28:01
Speaker 2: of pocket for this, what does that actually mean?
28:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, the monthly premium that they would pay to the
28:06
Speaker 3: Part D drug insurance carrier is expected to increase again
28:10
Speaker 3: because without the government support on the back end, they're
28:14
Speaker 3: going to have to bear a lot more of those
28:15
Speaker 3: costs on their own. The good news is, Kevin, behind
28:19
Speaker 3: the scenes a few years ago, they finally implemented a
28:23
Speaker 3: $ 2, 000 per person per year maximum out-of-pocket for any prescription drugs.
28:27
Speaker 3: So if someone did have something real expensive, once they
28:31
Speaker 3: do hit that and that index is up each year,
28:33
Speaker 3: it's currently gone to $ 2, 100, then everything would revert to 100%
28:38
Speaker 3: coverage after that. So mainly what we're talking about is
28:41
Speaker 3: just how much someone would pay each month for that
28:44
Speaker 3: drug coverage. Right now, we have policies with as low
28:47
Speaker 3: as zero monthly premiums that offer free generic drugs. But again,
28:52
Speaker 3: anything could change. So October 15th is right around the corner.
28:57
Speaker 3: That period from October 15th through December 7th is the
29:01
Speaker 3: open enrollment period for the Part D drug plans. That's
29:03
Speaker 3: where we can jump in and really help people to
29:05
Speaker 3: evaluate the ever-changing market options and make sure we keep
29:09
Speaker 3: that premium as low as possible.
29:12
Speaker 2: It really is worth having someone on your team, friends.
29:15
Speaker 2: That's why I want you to write down this phone number.
29:17
Speaker 2: It's Vic's personal cell phone, and he will answer it,
29:21
Speaker 2: and he will probably say, very nice to meet you,
29:24
Speaker 2: because he's a nice guy, and he always says that. 817-449-5557.
29:26
Speaker 3: 817-449-5557.
29:26
Speaker 2: Or maybe you don't need any of the Medicare or
29:28
Speaker 2: the Obamacare adjustments. Maybe what you're needing is just.
29:40
Speaker 2: Solid health care for your family. That was the situation
29:44
Speaker 2: I was in. That was what changed for us in
29:46
Speaker 2: a huge way. Again, I have to repeat this story
29:49
Speaker 2: all the time because people I don't think hear it
29:51
Speaker 2: the first time. But he's saving us almost $ 5, 000 a month.
29:57
Speaker 2: almost $ 5, 000 a month, I'm sorry, a year for the
30:01
Speaker 2: premiums on our basic health care coverage. That's $ 400 a month,
30:04
Speaker 2: $ 5, 000 for the year. And then on top of that,
30:08
Speaker 2: with in-network providers going to people that are in-network, getting
30:12
Speaker 2: a discount for going to someone that's in-network, you see
30:16
Speaker 2: that reflected on the bill. And then with fixed pay options,
30:21
Speaker 2: their payment may exceed whatever the doctor's office visit costs
30:24
Speaker 2: with the discount of being in-market. Where does that rebate
30:27
Speaker 2: money go when it's overpaid? Back to the customer. It
30:31
Speaker 2: is unusual because companies could just keep that. They could,
30:36
Speaker 2: or the doctor's office, they could just give it to
30:38
Speaker 2: the doctor's office and let them keep it. There's nothing
30:40
Speaker 2: that says they have to do it this way. The
30:42
Speaker 2: companies you're finding these plans with are choosing to be
30:46
Speaker 2: that kind of partner with the customer themselves. That is
30:49
Speaker 2: unheard of in this day and age.
30:51
Speaker 1: It is.
30:51
Speaker 3: You know, the company, Kevin, that we have you placed
30:54
Speaker 3: with is a 176-year-old company.
30:56
Speaker 2: Well, maybe they'll figure it out at some point when
30:59
Speaker 2: they're no longer a fly-by-night operation.
31:03
Speaker 1: Yeah.
31:03
Speaker 3: And they're privately held. They're not publicly traded. So what
31:07
Speaker 3: that means to the policyholder, right, is they're making decisions
31:11
Speaker 3: for the policyholder, not for the shareholder. And so what
31:15
Speaker 3: that means ultimately to the consumer is lower premiums, open
31:19
Speaker 3: PPO networks, use any provider, and again, a benefit-rich plan.
31:25
Speaker 3: And your plan actually is zero annual deductible, both in
31:28
Speaker 3: the hospital and out of the hospital, by the way.
31:30
Speaker 3: So a lot better value.
31:32
Speaker 2: You probably just heard Vic say that word, zero deductible,
31:35
Speaker 2: and probably think that's not even possible. How could they
31:38
Speaker 2: possibly do that? construct a plan like that why don't
31:40
Speaker 2: you just call him and ask him how it works
31:42
Speaker 2: he'll walk you through it just like he did with
31:44
Speaker 2: me 817-449-5557 817-449-5557 and again tell him you're listening to
31:46
Speaker 2: that kevin show when you call because he's going to
31:49
Speaker 2: be glad to hear from you 817-449-5557 817-449-5557 but don't
31:50
Speaker 2: call unless you're interested in saving on your premium paying
31:53
Speaker 2: nothing when you go to the doctor and having zero
32:07
Speaker 2: out-of-pocket for your hospital, and then sometimes getting rebate checks
32:11
Speaker 2: back on stuff that happens. I mean, if you're not
32:13
Speaker 2: interested in any of those things, don't call him. Don't
32:15
Speaker 2: waste his time. But if those things could help, call
32:18
Speaker 2: Vic Pritchard today.
32:19
Speaker 3: 817-449-5557.
32:19
Speaker 2: Vic, always good to have you with us. Thanks for
32:23
Speaker 2: being here.
32:24
Speaker 3: Thanks, Kevin. Thanks for having me on.
32:25
Speaker 2: You can also look him up online at DFWDirectInsurance.com. DFWDirectInsurance.com.
32:31
Speaker 2: But I would prefer you to call his number. 817-449-5557.
32:46
Speaker 1: Once again, from New York, here's Radio Night Live and
32:50
Speaker 1: Kevin McCullough.
32:51
Speaker 2: All right, Kevin McCullough, so glad to be able to
32:53
Speaker 2: have you with us on this Monday edition. I have
32:56
Speaker 2: to tell you a true story. Happened to me last Friday.
33:04
Speaker 2: And just as I'm getting off the air, I wander
33:08
Speaker 2: out of the studio, down the hall, go to the mailbox,
33:12
Speaker 2: find a letter there from Vic Pritchard and the DFW
33:17
Speaker 2: Direct Insurance. Well, not them, but the Manhattan Life Insurance
33:21
Speaker 2: and Annuity Company that they got me enrolled in. And
33:25
Speaker 2: I knew that in recent weeks, my wife had taken
33:30
Speaker 2: my daughter, who had to start school and when you're
33:34
Speaker 2: starting school at a certain grade, you got to, you
33:35
Speaker 2: got to go through a whole rigmarole of tests and
33:38
Speaker 2: everything and so forth. And so she, she, she took
33:41
Speaker 2: her to our pediatrician and got her all checked out,
33:44
Speaker 2: got some vaccines and other things that she needed for, uh, the,
33:48
Speaker 2: the stage of life that she's in, et cetera. So
33:51
Speaker 2: I had not seen a bill from those doctors visits.
33:56
Speaker 2: And in fact, my lovely bride was go, Hey, have
33:58
Speaker 2: you seen anything from the, from the doctor's visits because
34:02
Speaker 2: we haven't gotten anything. And you may remember, friends, I
34:04
Speaker 2: told you that when we switched insurance providers, we went
34:09
Speaker 2: to a zero out-of-pocket policy. So when we go to
34:14
Speaker 2: the doctor, we don't have to pay anything out of pocket.
34:18
Speaker 2: Not only that, Vic Pritchard and DFW Direct Health Insurance
34:22
Speaker 2: got us lower premiums by about $ 400 a month for
34:25
Speaker 2: a family of five. So it dropped us $ 400 each month.
34:30
Speaker 2: That's saving us about $ 5, 000 a year. So even if
34:32
Speaker 2: we had a few out-of-pocket expenses, we'd still be coming
34:35
Speaker 2: out way ahead because of what we're saving on our
34:37
Speaker 2: monthly premium. So that's two ways that they're saving me money.
34:41
Speaker 2: Zero out-of-pocket and paying $ 400 a month less in my premium. Now,
34:46
Speaker 2: check this out. I go to open the notice from
34:53
Speaker 2: the company, and I see that it's from the insurance company.
34:56
Speaker 2: And I'm looking at this thing and it says across
34:58
Speaker 2: the top explanation of benefits, this is not a bill. So, okay,
35:03
Speaker 2: this is not a bill. Then I get to the
35:06
Speaker 2: second page, which I have now in my hands. So
35:14
Speaker 2: what they did was, and it was significant because it
35:18
Speaker 2: was more than that. And they split the overage between
35:22
Speaker 2: the doctor's office, and the insurance policy holder. So I
35:28
Speaker 2: got $ 11 back on a $ 900 visit to the doctor
35:35
Speaker 2: by my pediatrician that I've had for 20 something years,
35:38
Speaker 2: 16 years, 17 years, I guess, 17 years. We've had
35:43
Speaker 2: the same pediatrician for 17 years. And I got a
35:47
Speaker 2: rebate check for $ 11 because my policy, which is $ 400
35:50
Speaker 2: less a month, and got me an in-network provider for
35:54
Speaker 2: $ 40 off my office visit and zero out-of-pocket money, and
35:58
Speaker 2: I got $ 11 sent to me because how good of
36:01
Speaker 2: the policy it is. Friends, this is insane. I picked
36:05
Speaker 2: up the phone, I called Vic, and I said, Vic Pritchard,
36:08
Speaker 2: this is another reason why I believe in DFW direct insurance. Friends,
36:13
Speaker 2: if you've never had this type of insurance, you need
36:16
Speaker 2: to call Vic today. It is vital. He is ready
36:19
Speaker 2: to help you as well. DFWDirectInsurance.com or his personal cell number, 817-449-5557. 817-449-5557.