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Transcript

Intro/Outro: Welcome to the Insurance Leadership Podcast, the podcast designed to bring you perspectives and principles from leaders in the life and health insurance industry we trust you'll enjoy today's episode.

Ryan Eaton: Welcome to another episode of the Insurance Leadership Podcast. I'm Ryan Eaton, I'm here with you today, we have two amazing guests. We have David White, Rick Holmes. Rick is joining us virtually today here to talk about a new product launch. These guys are leaders in their industry. They're presidents of their company.

They both got over 30 years experience in the insurance business, also leading people. Both of 'em are big real estate investors. They come with a vast business experience and, they're gonna not only provide some different leadership stuff, but they're also gonna be getting into a new product that is absolutely awesome.

And if you're in the ACA market at all, Or the individual side of things, this is going to be lights out. So with that, let's go ahead and get started today. Guys, welcome to the show. Yes, thanks.

Rick Holmes: Thank you, Ryan.

Ryan Eaton: Excited to have y'all on today. And as we said in the intro, we got a fun topic. This is one of the episodes we're gonna do on the Insurance Leadership podcast, where each six months we kind of hit a new product that's launching or rolling out.

It's not gonna be something about like, Hey, this dental plan has a better network. This is something-- new products that are fun, exciting, and I had to have you two guys on the show to talk about the ACA health supplement. So thank y'all again for, for hopping on the show.

David White: Thank you.

Ryan Eaton: David, why don't you start us off with I heard you talking about the day you got me excited. Why don't you hit on why this program is so exciting to you?

David White: Well, you know, I've been doing this for 35 years and And when you get to my age, you say, how often have you ever seen anything, any product that you think could really change the whole marketplace, the landscape. And as you know, we've been fighting this thing for a while because you thought there were reasons we shouldn't do it.

But I have deemed this the opportunity of a lifetime. I love it. And you know, even have the Marines say booya. Well, we've taken OOAL, which is O O A L. And

Ryan Eaton: so opportunity of a lifetime.

David White: Yeah, opportunity of a lifetime and, and that's something that comes along that you get to work on and you get to bring to the marketplace that really nobody's ever seen before.

So, you know, excitement. I was excited two months ago, and the closer we get to it, I get more excited.

Ryan Eaton: No. I know.

David White: So I think it's, I think it's beyond something new and I, I think everybody, when they listen to what Rick has to say and listen to how it's put together, everybody's gonna get as excited about as we are.

Ryan Eaton: No, I agree. Rick, tell me about your excitement before we get started.

Rick Holmes: Yes, ryan, this isn't anything new. We've been doing this product and been having this product in Alabama for now over 10 years. We've written about a hundred million dollars. Worth of the secondary market and just knowing that how we've come in and helped employers provide better benefits for their employees.

Just now seeing that we can reach out and touch all the individuals that are struggling to afford healthcare. So, I've never been more excited as well, and so it's just a blast to see us come in there and be able to make a difference.

Ryan Eaton: Oh, I love it, man. Well, this is, that's what it's all about at the end of the day.

Why don't we take a second to kinda give, just before we kinda get into some of the details of the product and what it's gonna do and how it's gonna work, why don't you give Rick, what you would say, maybe your 30 45 second elevator pitch on kind of what this product is and what it does.

Rick Holmes: If I'm talking to somebody, the first thing I'm gonna say is, It is not uncommon for every single person out there struggling to be able to pay out-of-pocket cost.

When they go to a orthopedic surgeon, when they go to a OBGYN, everybody has these big deductible plans on their health insurance and before those providers will perform any care, they're gonna want to collect that money up front. And the average American, and this is a true stat.

Ryan Eaton: Mm-hmm.

Rick Holmes: Average American, more than 60% of Americans have less than a thousand dollars sitting in their account.

And it breaks my heart. And these providers have now become in the collection business. So knowing that these members can get the care that they need. And so what we do with this product is we basically give them the resources to pay those providers their deductible. Their co-insurance is gonna save them money and then also make it where they can actually have the best care available to help them take care of their, you know, help needs.

Ryan Eaton: Man, that's so true. David, what would you add to that?

David White: No, I think it's absolutely right. I think the other thing we'll get into the more of the details of it, but the, the ACA started off to be a great thing and they would have all these subsidies and everything that was gonna help the people, but over the years, the deductibles have gotten higher, the out-of-pockets have gotten higher and tend to keep getting higher every year.

Ryan Eaton: You're right.

David White: And so as you were talking about the other day, if you make a hundred thousand dollars a year, And you hit the out-of-pocket, you're close to 10% of what you make on a gross basis. Yes. Not a net basis.

Ryan Eaton: That's right.

David White: So it can get very tough very quickly.

Ryan Eaton: Well, you know, you bring that up and we started off with the ACA in 2014.

Right. And the out-of-pocket max at that time was $6,350. And we look and just such this short period of time, now it's at $9,100. In 2024. It's gonna go up another $350 and it's just gonna continue to go.

David White: That's right.

Ryan Eaton: And and even if you have a good plan, even if you, let's just say you have a bronze plan, you still, you got $9,100 outta pocket and that's not including the premium repaying.

David White: That's right.

Ryan Eaton: So you've gotta have some help there. David, with this product, as Rick was saying, This product's been right. We've seen it. We've seen it in the group market with the gap plan. And you've been doing it now for 20 something years. We've seen it in the Medicare space. Medicare's got Medicare supplements.

They got Medicare Advantage plans. But this ACA, given kind of the newness of it being in 2014 coming out, you didn't have a lot of agents adapting to it. You had a lot of things that were kind of, people weren't sure if they wanted to sell these plans. You had subsidies. Agents weren't getting commissioned then they were then they weren't.

A lot of stuff bouncing, no one's really attacked this market. With that, all that said, you've had this product for 20 years, and did you ever think that you were gonna be jumping in

David White: No.

Ryan Eaton: To the individual market?

David White: No, I never did because in my opinion, I was always looking at the underwriting part of it.

Ryan Eaton: Okay.

David White: We don't ask any health questions, right? We pay all preexisting conditions. Okay? Well then, in my opinion, this would've been a terrible product because everybody that's buying it is the people who are sick, sick, and who are gonna use it immediately. So you've got a terrible loss ratio. But then when we begin to look at the financial side of it and comparing the price of a gold plan to the price of a bronze plan, and seeing how much the difference was.

I looked at it totally differently. I said, th they're not really making an underwriting decision. That's right. They're making a financial decision. So can they spend a little more money than the bronze plan, but have gold plan benefits, which takes the deductible in the, and the out-of-pocket way back down.

To a more normal place. Yeah. And that's what I saw the difference is. And so when I really understood that, I said, well, this is from an insurance point of view, they're, they're not making an underwriting decision based on health. That's right. They're making a financial decision based on how could I have the best plan at the lace price?

Ryan Eaton: No, I think you said that exactly right. And Rick, we were talking about the other day in the individual market. Unfortunately, there hasn't been something to help in these type situations as secondary insurance. We've seen other gap plans like a, a critical illness, an accident, hospital indemnity. While those plans are good, they don't cover everything, and they're only covered about 20% of the procedures that are out there.

And it only happens in a. Hospital stay situation or you know, an accident type situation or a major thing like cancer, but your average type stuff, maternity and physical therapy and speech therapy and you know, a knee surgery, these type things, you're still left to pay a hundred percent of. Why don't you tell us a little bit about kind of how this plan differentiates from those other type gap plans?

Rick Holmes: Yeah,

so, you know, first of all, you know those were good plans. That's right. But like you mentioned, They're only gonna cover 25% of the things that can happen to you. But I tell you what really makes this plan work is with the accident, the ci, the cancers, the hospital indemnity, the filing process is put on the member.

So one, they have to remember to file crazy. Two they gotta go to through the time to file. But what's so great about the secondary, Is providers, they are used to filing the primary and they file the secondary exactly the same way. They get paid the exact same way with a direct deposit into a credit card or a checking account.

So it's simple. So when the member comes in to the provider, all they have to do is to remember to lay down their primary healthcare card and their secondary leave the profiling process to the providers. They walk in and walk out. Morgan White pays that provider directly. It's simple, it's easy, and it's going to cover that.

If the major medical covers it, we don't have to worry that there's a 75% chance it's not gonna be covered. We know that this secondary plan is gonna cover a hundred percent of the time. As long as their major medical says that it covers and it's an eligible expense. So that's rea that, that, that's refreshing and reassuring that that member's gonna be taken care of every single time and have a good experience.

Ryan Eaton: Well, you nailed it there, Rick. You know, that's one of those things we've seen in different markets as well, like with Medicare Advantage plans or maybe. Even in the group market, some gap plans maybe don't cover everything that's applied to the major medical deductible or co-insurance. And with this plan, you got 99.9% of things covered.

The only two things that aren't covered is your outpatient rx, your pharmacy rx, and your professional fee, and the doctor. Doctor's office, your labs, your x-rays, everything else still covered. But those are the only two things that are not covered. And most of the time those are covered with co-pays that by, by your major medical plan anyway.

Exactly. So very important to remember looking at highlights. I can't let y'all have all the fun. One of the, one of the things that I saw here with this plan is kind of, y'all were coming up and developing and designing it. You know, it's guaranteed issue, right? So we're looking at it that that means there's no health questions on the application, just a simplified application.

Basically demographic information. Select one of the six plans that are kind of out there for you. Very simple. The preexisting conditions are covered, right? So if you had something a year or two ago or, you know, I was even thinking about my father in this situation who had cancer five years ago. Even in that type of situation, he would be able to come on.

It wouldn't be something that kicked him out. There's no medical underwriting. It's just an easy online application. The rates female or male are the same, 18 to 64 year olds. I, I don't know how you get any easier to be able to enroll someone in a plan and for, for agents all across the market. I don't see, I don't know if there's a plan out there that's more simplified and, and and clear from a consumer standpoint.

Rick Holmes: Yeah. I think even on critical illness plans, you know, you have to ask a question, have you had cancer before? Have you had a heart attack?

Ryan Eaton: That's right.

Rick Holmes: All these things. And so from an agent's point of view with this, you don't have to ask any questions that, what's your name and where do you live?

Ryan Eaton: No, that's right. Rick, what would you say? You know, kind of thinking about kind of the. The target market, who this is good for, you know, you're talking about pairing this secondary insurance with an ACA plan. What are maybe one or two of the scenarios that you think would be be good examples or good places to be able to put this in?

Rick Holmes: So without a shot of a doubt, truck drivers, you know, they make a pretty good income. You mentioned David earlier, someone making a hundred thousand. Truck drivers, they're not gonna qualify for any subsidy nine times out of 10. That's right. Especially if they're owner operators. Good point. We really believe that truck drivers are gonna be a great, great, great candidate.

These traveling nurses, you know, they're choosing not to be employed by the hospital so that they can go and just go, go to different hospitals and be local for each hospitals. So, I mean, a lot of them are making three times what they were, but they're gonna have to provide their own healthcare. Yeah. So they're gonna be ideal.

Another part that I really see this happening, and that is in the IRA market, I see a lot of employers just basically saying, we're gonna give you guys a set amount of money. You guys go find your own individual health plan. It's gonna be pre-taxed. But then they're gonna find a bronze plan. Yep. And then they're gonna put the individual supplemental plan with Morgan White.

I see that happening all the time, but I'll tell you, it's kind of fast forward, and Ryan, you don't even know this, but Morgan White and I had, we had a joint client here in Birmingham that it was a big physician group with about 200 employees, over 50 physicians, and they got acquired by a private equity firm.

Okay. And they called me up in October and said, you know, look, we'd love Morgan White, but we're gonna have to come up underneath this new private equity firms January 1st. And so when they looked at their plan, They had all these high deductible healthcare plans and the Morgan White plan would be ideal.

So they said, Rick, is there any way our employees can buy this plan direct from you and Morgan White? And I said, no, we gotta have a group billing. We gotta have a list bill. You guys gotta pay the premium that happened in October. And then for us to see that this is gonna be coming. Live here soon. I mean, it puts chill bumps, literally call that.

I'll call that practice administrator and say, Hey look, I heard you loud and clear. Morgan White heard you loud and clear. This product is live, and I'll let David tell him that a little bit later on when it goes live. But anyway, to be able to go back to 'em and say, you're gonna be able to buy the exact same plan for your employees.

Right. But you're not buying it. The employees are gonna be able to pay for it individually. Yep. I mean, I just get chill bumps. That's awesome. A lot of opportunity out there and I can just go on and on on about.

David White: Well, you know, Rick, I think, I think a lot of people now that are working remotely, which never did before Covid, and I think more employers are going to do retype plans or say, We'll, we'll do something different and you're gonna have to get your own.

So any, all the people working from home or working for small businesses that's right. That don't have a plan are, are gonna go to this type of thing. And that's a big change from what it was two, three years ago.

Ryan Eaton: You also got the thing guys too, that, you know, this was our first. Thing we saw was that the people enrolled in gold plans, right?

We were all down in Tampa, right? A month or so together, meeting with different people on this because the opportunities that were out there, and one of the things we saw was the, you know, a gold plan was still a $4,000 out of pocket on it, right? Was $1,175 in Florida and you were like, who has the money to pay $1,175?

But 8% of the people in Florida are buying gold plants. So 8% are paying for that just cuz they want quality coverage. And we looked. And we saw the bronze plan was, I think it was like 475 or $500, something along those lines. And Rick, that's when we started talking about the different plan designs. Tell 'em what you found.

Once we kind of did the, the, the pairing of the plans and kinda what the savings looked like, it was

absolutely unbelievable.

Rick Holmes: Yeah. So back on Florida and what's amazing about Florida I'm gonna go ahead and say there were 16 and a half million individual enrollments as of January 1st of 23.

Florida had over three and a half million, so 20% of the enrollments came through Florida. So that's what's interesting. Wow. And so when we looked at Florida, back to what Ryan said, a goal plan was over $1,100. A bronze plan was about $425. When we looked at the deductible on the gold plan, it was 1500.

The out of pocket max out of pocket was 4,000. So then we said, okay, let's design a secondary plan that would give that member $6,000. Now granted the bronze plan, it had a $7,500 deductible. So you know, you had a $1,500, Morgan White secondary plan paid $6,000, but when you subtracted the 6,000 from the 9,000 out of pocket, they had a 3000 out of pocket versus a 4,000.

But here was the good news was, is that the cost of the bronze plan at 4 25, the cost of the secondary plan at 150 or whatever it may be. When we looked at those two combined, they had better coverage and the cost literally saved them over 50% of what they were gonna be paying 11 over $1,100 for a gold plan.

And so, David, exactly what you said. Someone buying that is a financial decision. That's right. That's right. That they're buying in order to save money, but then also have the same results. Right? And so it's simple, it's easy, and I mean, like we said, this is the first product to be out there and hit the market like this.

That's where you get ooah.

David White: People start yelling when they hear that, they say that would, how can anybody not make that decision? I mean, it's so easy. Yeah. No underwriting, just like the ACA plan, and yet we're gonna save five or six or $700 a month.

Ryan Eaton: That's amazing. Well, the three of us have all been in the situation before too, where we get with someone, we're doing an application, maybe life insurance, maybe something else.

We go through it, everything seems fine. We send it in. And there's something on that medical history that pops up, right? That's right. And it's been 30 days since, you know, you took the application, you're wondering what's going on, and then you find out it got declined because of underwriting. Exactly. And may maybe a hundred percent justified, but then you're back to the same going, this is one of those things, you enroll somebody.

They're approved. That's right. Within 24 hours. That's exactly, I mean, it's just, you don't get easier than that. And Rick, I know you've actually already been talking to a lot of agents across the country about this already, and that's what I love your excitement about it. Tell us kind of what you've been hearing, the feedback you've been getting from different agents who are doing the ACA on a daily basis.

Rick Holmes: Well, first of all, they're so excited about it. Okay. And I mean, my phone does not stop ringing. Just asking me, Rick, when is we gonna be able to get contracted? Contracted? And then I'll call Ryan and then he'll say, Rick, we're close. We're close. I'll let you put David on the spot. You ought to ask David.

David White: Listen Rick, I guarantee you everybody here is working hard as they can. Well, they can start selling.

Rick Holmes: Hey, I will tell you this is. Without a shadow, a doubt. The agent that I'm talking to, she's here in Birmingham. I mean, she's in Dothan, Alabama, and first thing she said is, when this goes live, I want be the first person to buy.

Ryan Eaton: I love it. Oh, I love it. I love it. You said that.

Rick Holmes: I wanna be the first person to buy it. Just like I've got secondary. Mm-hmm. And I wanna show people, here's my secondary. That's right. I want them to know, hey, not only do I got it, but then I use it all the time cuz I see how it impacts my family. Yeah. But she said, I've got individual help.

I'm gonna buy this. On myself first, but I wanna be the first person in the country. So y'all remember that love. We're gonna get her to be the first person, so we always remember that first one. She's already asked to be the first.

Ryan Eaton: We will let her know first to get her in. I love that. Yeah. We're gonna record her signing up.

Rick Holmes: How about that?

David White: That's a good idea. I love that.

Ryan Eaton: That's awesome.

David White: But no, we get calls all the time and agents are so excited because they've been looking for a product like this. And you know, they've been putting a bandaid on That's right. Helping their clients with these other products that they're having to file.

And 75% of the time it's not gonna pay. And a lot of times they're gonna forget and not even file when it could have paid. This right here is gonna pay every single time. Yeah, that's right. And so just knowing that you can make a difference in helping people afford the care that they need. You know, that's what we're put on this earth to do is to make a difference.

Ryan Eaton: I love that.

I love that. Well, so look, let's kind of get in some, a little bit more, I guess, intricate details here. This is gonna be a plan that the benefit structure, right from January of the year. Through December 31st of the year. Just like the aca. Right, exactly. So if someone enrolls in June, or let's just say July for easy purposes, does their benefit get cut in half?

Nope. Nope. It does not. That's right. So they have still have that same $6,000 benefit if that's what they were choosing to purchase. They'd have that through the whole year. David, when do you see this program being going live? And obviously there's. 3000 balls that kind of move with this, but kind of what is your plan target about?

David White: Well, Rick was

on top of me there. He was, no, we, we are having meetings every week with all of our people to try to make sure that we get this done as quickly as possible. And seven one is our go live date. But what we're trying to do, Rick, we know the big time is gonna be one, one of 24, because that's the open enrollment period for aca.

But our idea was to go ahead and go live at at at July the first. And then that way if there's any kinks or anything that we hadn't seen ahead of time, we got a chance to get that all fixed before the one big one, one enrollment for open enrollment for the ACA plans.

Ryan Eaton: Now I think that's good and the planned availability.

Currently the product's filed and approved and there's gotta be some tweaks to it just for the individual side of it. Yeah. But with that, we're thinking probably about 35 to 40 states within the next three or four months, we'll have it approved. I think we're already kind of in that 15 to 20 ballpark right now.

So kind of that's moving forward. One of the things Rick, I think I heard you, maybe it was one of y'all. Ask both of y'all and see which one of y'all. Wanna pop in on this, but you said that, hey, this is a way for agents to increase their commission. Maybe 60%, maybe, maybe doubling it while also improving the benefits.

Do one of y'all wanna hit that kind of how that works and, and why that would be the case? Rick, why don't you jump in on that one?

Rick Holmes: Yeah, that'd be

great. So you know, what's happening is a lot of these agents are already selling their individual healthcare plans through the exchange. So they're making revenue there, so they're already working with the clients.

And so now with this product that can layer on top, the way we've got it figured is it's just about gonna double. That's your revenue. That's right. And so it makes it nice cuz they're not gonna do any more work. And like you said, Ryan, several times there's no underwriting, it's guaranteed issue, it covers all preexisting conditions.

And of course there's no waiting period. So literally, David, I think you mentioned that these policies are going to go live on the first of the month. So does everybody have the ability to buy up until, what are we gonna say, like the 25th?

Ryan Eaton: That's correct. Yeah, that's correct.

Rick Holmes: So we'll be able to buy on the 25th.

Ryan Eaton: Mm-hmm.

Rick Holmes: And as long as they buy before the 25th, then that policy will go live on the first of the month. That's right. And to know that if anything happened on the first, second, or third. They're gonna lay down their major medical card, they're gonna lay down their secondary card, no preexisting conditions, and that provider's gonna file the claim.

David White: So yeah, Rick, and the way, way we have it designed right now as soon as we can make sure that the money is there, if it's a credit card or however we do it. Then their policy and their ID cards at that point will come to 'em electronically, so they'll have 'em at the same time. That's confirmed.

Ryan Eaton: And that's a great point too.

I think you, you just said something that most people aren't familiar or used to using in the insurance market is that we can take credit cards. We can take ach and those are the two forms of payment that you can do. And, and if you have an American Express, you can use it or discover, or a Visa or MasterCard.

It doesn't limit you based off cards. It can pull from your, pull directly from your bank account. So these are the different things that make this plan so attractive to people too, is that, you know, you hear people say all the time when they're buying insurance, can I use my card? I, I'd love to get the points right.

Well, this one you can, and that's why we're allowed to be able to take stuff up to the 25th of the month because it is all electronic. You fill out the information online goes directly into the system. Within 24 hours, that card is emailed directly to the member, and usually it's sent within the hour, emailed directly to the member.

That's right, access to the portal where they can go in and at future dates, they can change their payment information, they can change the date it's drafted. They could pull ID cards or policy information, anything they want to online. And the other feature that they've added for this too, is that it also can get added to your Apple Wallet or Google Pay, and there's instructional videos in there for people too, so they can pull it up on their phone and always have it with them, because as you said, Rick, that's the biggest difference about the, one of the biggest differences about this plan is that the members not having to get involved in the claims process, right?

That's right. The, the, the, if they show that major medical card, whoever it may be, blue Cross, Aetna, United, Humana, whatever the case may be. Plus the secondary insurance. They show that at the time the provider takes care of everything. And one way to make sure you always have it with you, if you forget your wallet, have it on your phone.

Cause everyone's got their phone with them, right? Yeah. Go ahead and download to their phone. Take a picture of it with your phone. Save it. Whatever's easiest for you. Right. But you can have it there with you, so that's another great thing.

David White: Yeah, I think, I think it's good to say here, Rick, that the technology that issues the policy so quickly and and issues your ID card so quickly is not new to Morgan White.

We've been doing this for dental and vision, individual dental and vision for years and years. It's now just taking that technology that we already had and applying it to this, to this out of pocket plan, which is going to, to Be something different that people hadn't seen the ability to get that information so quickly in their hands.

Ryan Eaton: That's right. Well look guys, we're getting closer to the end on time, so I got a few more questions and y'all hop in if there's anything else you wanna say as well. But I was on a, a call the other day and I heard an agent ask you know, how would you suggest doing this? I've got ACA clients that I think the individual had about 5,000 ACA clients they've enrolled over the past several years.

And he said, should I write this only for my new clients? Or should I write this for my existing clients? Rick, why don't you take this one? What would you say?

Rick Holmes: First thing I would say is definitely you're gonna always introduce it to your new clients cuz they're hearing about it for the first time. But cause you've been managing that 5,000 clients that already have individual healthcare, you got a relationship with them.

It's so easy for you to go through and see the members that have either a goal plan or a silver plan. And if you just shot out an email to 'em saying, Hey. There's a way that you can save money and also have the same result. Immediately you're gonna trigger, I mean, every one of those guys should be buyers, and then even if they have a bronze plan, they may.

Be willing to pay a little bit more money to give them the coverage that they need. Because a lot of times, you know, it's taking 10 or 15% maybe if their adjusted gross income, if they have any care. That's right. And they like knowing that they can have a fixed monthly premium and know that they can go get the care that they need.

Ryan Eaton: That's, and that's what we've said too. It's, it's, you know, you're, for the people, like you just said, Rick, maybe they've got a subsidy, maybe they're making 50, maybe they're making $60,000 a year, and all that kind of comes into how many people you have in your family, right? Depending on the subsidy amount you get in your income and number of family people in your household, they may get the full subsidy, but they still got the $9,100 out of pocket.

And as we've all said, It's insurance for your insurance, right? It keeps you from having to go, go broke if something were to happen, or heaven forbid, two people that's what I was gonna say. What if two people did it? 18,200 out of pocket? I mean, then you're talking, you know, 20 to 30% of your adjusted gross income if you're making a hundred thousand dollars a year.

So, I mean, you gotta have something there to be able to help out or you have a huge hole of exposure. So, look, kinda getting close to the last question here. David, what would you say if you were having to speak to one of our customers here and they were asking, why is this plan good for me? What would you say to them?

David White: Well, I would just say we're not only gonna save you money versus the the plan that has benefits that are equal to this, but we're going to be able to do it very quickly, very easily, without any holes. That's right, no waiting periods, no preexisting condition limitations, all of the things that you're asking.

Can be done very quickly and can put you in a much better financial position.

Ryan Eaton: Great point. Rick, what would you say?

Rick Holmes: I'm gonna ditto what David just said, cuz that's exactly right. I will tell you, I'm seeing more and more employers that 15 years ago they recovered probably about 80% of their total employees had employer health insurance.

Now, today, on average, it's less than 50%. Mm. And so every. Renewal cycle that comes along. They're getting 20, 30% rate increases and two or three employees are dropping off, and I see those folks going to the individual. So we really think that, I really think in the next 10 years, 50% of the employers out there will know no longer be offering health insurance.

They're gonna be providing your ias, they're gonna be providing you go out to the exchange, find your own stuff. I'm so excited because this product is gonna make a big difference in not only in the group space because there's gonna be employers who don't wanna provide a payroll deduction, that you can buy this product for group health insurance plans.

You can buy it for individual health plans. You can have somebody who has individual health insurance that gets hired by an employer who has now group insurance. They still want to keep their supplemental plan. I mean, it is just endless. So they buy the product and they see how it works and they're gonna keep it.

Mm-hmm. So that's what I love about it. So the persistency is there and it's something that agents can count on. I'm building a consistent revenue stream that's just gonna keep coming. Even, you know, even when you're ready to step out and retire. You know, it is still coming in no matter what. So it's like a pension plan.

Ryan Eaton: No, I love that. And, and I'll mention one last thing based off something you just said too. This policy automatically renews, right? So it just continues to renew. It continues to be a steady stream of revenue on the books. It's not a decreasing commission schedule, right? It, it is a consistent, like an annuity for the agents out there promoting it.

Well guys, I'm absolutely fired up about this product. I know you all as well. Is there anything else you wanna say kind of before we wrap it up today?

David White: No, I think we've said much all of it.

Ryan Eaton: We've hit product availability, we've hit the enrollment side. We've hit the, the strategies, the options, the stuff we're getting from agents.

Rick, is there anything else you wanna say? Kind of wrap it up today.

Rick Holmes: Yeah, I thought I heard David say that this goes live July 1st. July. That's it.

Ryan Eaton: That's what I'm gonna start to do.

Rick Holmes: And when can we start, David, since you're committed to July 1st, when can we start licensing agents?

David White: Well, that's something that we we're talking about right now internally, but Ryan probably..

Ryan Eaton: That is a great point.

So, so right now we're expecting five 15, May 15th. We should have all the contracting, everything set up. We believe marketing material, we believe applications. You know, that's weeks from this two weeks we're, we're looking good, man. We've been working's talking about two weeks from now. So, so we're right there at the cuff.

With that being said, some of the programming to get this onto the website for the actual enrollment of the product, we'll take a few more weeks to get done, but you gotta have all the other stuff first before that can be finished. That's why it takes a few additional weeks. But I'll tell you this here at our office too, I can tell you the programmers, the administrative team, The legal team, the filing team, the HR team.

We've hired an additional 20 to 30 people for this program at our office. Yeah, so as David mentioned earlier with, you know, we've been doing the online enrollments for a long time. We feel like our systems are our test loading of the servers and everything else. We feel a hundred percent certain on that.

But one of the biggest things was, hey, What about all the phone calls that'll be coming in for customer service? And, and David and Rick and Johnny have done a phenomenal job from a leadership standpoint in our organization making sure that we're ready to take this on. And we, we see this being one of the biggest things we've seen in our company history.

And as David said opportunity of a lifetime. It's just it's an awesome thing. So, so we're fired up, Rick. I'm glad you brought up seven one to end it off for us. Thank you guys.

David White: We're looking forward to being part of this. Thank you, Rick for being our partner.

Ryan Eaton: That's right. That is exactly right. Well, guys, that wraps up another episode of the Insurance Leadership Podcast, where a good plan today is better than a great plan months from now.

Thank you for listening in. We appreciate you.

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