Understanding Health Insurance

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Taylor Bowker – Mindful Insurance Agency

 

Podcast Overview:

00:00 “Starting My Own Business”
05:11 Health Insurance vs. Cost Sharing
12:34 Cost Challenges in Employee Insurance
19:59 “Updating Marketplace Applications Challenges”
26:40 “$14K Surprise Medical Bill”
29:26 “Health Insurance Subsidy Reduction Impact”
37:36 Snowbirds, Coverage, and Emergencies
38:45 Healthcare Coverage Tips by Age
45:35 “Streamlined Application Support Platform”
51:59 “Insurance Enrollment Rules Explained”
55:45 Employee Coverage Plan Explanation
01:01:10 “Specializing in Individual Coverage”
01:08:09 QSEHRA Benefits and Marketplace Savings
01:11:50 “HSA Usage and Restrictions”
01:16:07 FSA Contributions and Usage Rules

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Podcast Transcription:

Taylor Bowker [00:00:00]:
I saw the largest health insurance increase of my entire career this past open enrollment because these folks no longer qualified for a subsidy because their income— your income could literally go a dollar over the threshold to receive a subsidy and you no longer qualify for $1,000 a month’s worth of savings. You could owe, you know, $12,000, $13,000, $14,000, $15,000 back at tax time if you go even a dollar over. So that’s kind of where the issue lies.

James [00:00:35]:
You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link found at drawincustomers.com. We are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie, and today we are welcoming slash preparing to learn from Taylor Belker of Mindful Insurance Agency. So Taylor, How is it going today?

Taylor Bowker [00:00:59]:
Hello. Good. Staying warm or attempting to.

James [00:01:02]:
Wisconsin, here we are. So tell me a story. What is Mindful Insurance Agency?

Taylor Bowker [00:01:07]:
Oh, sure. So at Mindful Insurance Agency, we assist individuals and businesses get health insurance, health, dental, and vision. And we are a brokerage. So we are essentially the middle person between the members and the health insurance carriers and just try to advise and educate and help people get health insurance.

James [00:01:30]:
Right on. How do you end up in health insurance?

Taylor Bowker [00:01:33]:
Well, um, so I started in the insurance industry back in 2012. I was 5 years old. I’m just kidding, I was a little bit older than that. Um, yes, yes, yes. Um, so I started very entry-level job at an agency in Waunakee, around town here. Um, again, just doing very entry-level things. And then I shortly got promoted to a business development role. Um, and then from there, there there was a different agency hiring that was focusing on health insurance, and I was ready for a change.

Taylor Bowker [00:02:11]:
They needed a customer service rep, front desk person, so I went there to work, and within a year of me working there, they actually asked me if I wanted to become an agent or a broker, and I had never thought that that was something I wanted to do. Insurance, it can be a very just like cutthroat kind of a situation with sales and quotas and things like that. And that always kind of made me a little nervous. But I am very much a people person. So I, you know, I thought, why not? Let’s give it a try. So I got licensed and became an agent back in 2016 now. And then, so started as an agent there doing health, dental, and vision, like I said. And then back in 2019, I decided to start my own business.

James [00:03:05]:
So that’s awesome.

Taylor Bowker [00:03:05]:
Yeah, I’ve been doing that for 6 years now.

James [00:03:08]:
So what was the motivator to start your own gig versus just maintaining with where you were at? Sure.

Taylor Bowker [00:03:12]:
Yeah. Well, I guess I’ve always kind of just been somebody who works just, I prefer to kind of be on my own. Being my own boss sounded really great. I was in a group of individuals at the time and other business owners, the group that you’re in with me now where we met. And again, there were just a lot of business owners there and they were doing a really good job of owning a business. And it just sounded like a feasible option for me and something that I wanted to do. I also felt like I kind of had learned everything I really could being at the place I was at previously. So I figured, you know, why not give it a shot and rip the Band-Aid off? And it’s been, yeah, it’s been working out well so far.

Taylor Bowker [00:04:00]:
So that’s good.

James [00:04:01]:
Right on.

Taylor Bowker [00:04:02]:
Yeah.

James [00:04:02]:
So has health insurance changed much over the past, what are we talking, 9, 10 years?

Taylor Bowker [00:04:08]:
Sure. So I would say yes, yes and no. So I think the biggest thing that’s changed is rates, insurance rates.

James [00:04:19]:
They keep going down.

Taylor Bowker [00:04:20]:
Yeah, that would be amazing. No, similar to a lot of other things, they just keep increasing and by a lot, especially the last couple years. So a lot of other products have come into play to try to help mitigate those premium costs for people. There’s a lot of other products out there now that aren’t necessarily health insurance as it is defined by, you know, the commissioner of insurance, if you will, or the government. But there are other products out there that are designed similarly to help people, you know, still get the care that they need and save money on their premiums and their out-of-pocket costs. So I would say prices have changed and other products have been developed in the market to try to help with those pieces.

James [00:05:08]:
And other products, you mean, I guess, help me what you mean by other understand products.

Taylor Bowker [00:05:11]:
Sure, yeah. So obviously you have typical health insurance. This would be either through, it’s all kind of under the Obamacare umbrella as we’ve known it for a while now. It can be a group plan through an employer that you work with, or it can be an individual plan on the marketplace or direct with an insurance carrier. And that would kind of be your more typical, just average health insurance policy. But as of the last, say, maybe decade, a couple of new products have come out, one of them being referred to as medical cost sharing. So medical cost sharing in layman’s terms is essentially a product that you pay a monthly subscription fee for, similar to a premium, and you choose what’s called an initial and shareable amount, similar to a deductible, where essentially you’re saying, I’m willing to pay this cost upfront in the event that something catastrophic were to happen to me. And so because it’s covering you for more catastrophic occurrences and not the full shebang like a regular health insurance policy would,, they tend to be less expensive for certain people in certain situations.

Taylor Bowker [00:06:24]:
Those types of products also work really well for lucky individuals that are more healthy, that don’t necessarily use their benefits all the time, but just want something there in case. That also works well with what’s called direct primary care, which is a newer model, at least around the Madison area. It’s where you work with a primary care doctor directly. So they’re not affiliated with any any hospital systems. You do pay them a small monthly subscription fee to utilize their services. However, it’s, it’s really very worth it because a direct primary care doctor is always going to make sure they have same-day or next-day appointments available for their patients, which is very unheard of nowadays. Yeah, unfortunately. And then they can also do a myriad of things for you, you know, because you’re paying that monthly fee.

Taylor Bowker [00:07:18]:
They can run labs for a couple of dollars, which is also very crazy to say. They can run prescriptions for people at cost. If you have an appointment with them, it’ll be either a 30-minute or an hour-long time block, which again is not very common if you go to a clinic through a hospital system. They can help you with most acute and even urgent care needs as well. So that can just be, yeah, those two things specifically go hand in hand pretty well together. There’s also things out there that have been out there for a while, like short-term policies, you know, through UnitedHealthcare or Allstate or something like that. Those can be less expensive for folks, or if people need insurance and they haven’t lost other coverage and it’s not open enrollment, that’s an option. And then for groups specifically, like businesses, they could also look at a level-funded or a self-funded plan option, which is essentially where the employer contributes a portion of the actual money to the employees for their services.

Taylor Bowker [00:08:25]:
And then because of that, sometimes premiums can be less. A lot of times those products are designed a little bit better for a large company with like hundreds of employees, but it can actually provide cost savings for the employer just depending on the situation. So, okay. Yeah. A lot of other kind of new things out there for people to look at again, just to try to not pay so much for things. Sure.

James [00:08:51]:
Yeah.

Taylor Bowker [00:08:51]:
Fair. Yeah.

James [00:08:52]:
Yeah. It’s, it’s health insurance is interesting. Mm-hmm. ‘Cause someone like me that I don’t go to the doctor very much. Right. Certainly if I can help it.

Taylor Bowker [00:08:58]:
Yeah.

James [00:08:58]:
But if you get cancer or something like that, mm-hmm. That could be financially catastrophic.

Taylor Bowker [00:09:02]:
Absolutely. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. And there’s, you know, local HMOs are, Under the Obamacare umbrella, preexisting conditions are not a factor. So if you do have a typical health insurance policy and you get cancer, you will and should have coverage for all of that. I say should because lately, the last couple of years, there’s been a couple of national carriers that for whatever reason have started to just deny claims for virtually no reason. Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me and say, you know, I have this carrier and they just are denying me this prescription that I need for literally no reason.

Taylor Bowker [00:09:43]:
I need something else and I need something different. So depending on the situation, a local HMO policy under the Obamacare umbrella is not necessarily a bad option. And depending on someone’s income, it could actually be the most cost effective. It just, it depends on a person’s situation. But okay. Yeah.

James [00:10:00]:
So, so help me understand something from a pricing point of view with insurance that’s set by the government.

Taylor Bowker [00:10:08]:
Well, yes and no. So they’re set by the government, but also the insurance carriers themselves. So like the insurance carriers have to follow certain parameters as far as the type of plans they offer and designs and then the costs. It’s also based on, you know, contracts that carriers make with the hospital systems and the doctors. That’s a factor. Actuaries do a lot of math to figure out, you know, rates for people and depending on when they’re going to, you know, die or not and things like that. So there’s definitely a lot of factors. But the— yeah, the government does definitely have a say in a lot of that as well.

Taylor Bowker [00:10:52]:
So.

James [00:10:52]:
Okay. Yeah. Is the pricing separate or different state to state?

Taylor Bowker [00:10:58]:
Yes. And in fact, pricing— well, and also, you know, it depends again on the product. But if we’re talking about, you know, typical regular ACA Obamacare insurance, insurance. It is actually dependent on county oftentimes where you live. wow. Oh, Okay. Yeah. And it can also depend on your age.

Taylor Bowker [00:11:16]:
It’s very interesting because if you look at like an individual person on the marketplace, say, and they live in Dane County, their rate is actually going to be less expensive than if they lived in Milwaukee County, which there’s not a lot of things that are less expensive in Dane County when you’re comparing to other counties in Wisconsin. Right. But health insurance oftentimes tends to be. Not always the case, but I more often than not see it that way. So yeah, it depends on your age, it depends on where you live, and then of course it can, if you’re on an individual plan on the marketplace, depend on your income as well.

James [00:11:52]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:11:53]:
And if you are a, say you’re an employee or an employer and your company has over 50 employees, then people start to get rated in pools depending on their medical needs and ages, and there’s a lot of factors with that. But typically, if you have over 50 employees, then it’s more just, this is your rate for individual, this is your rate for employee plus spouse, yada, yada, yada. So it’s, again, very situational, but those are the main factors, yeah.

James [00:12:25]:
I remember way back when, when we offered health insurance, this we don’t anymore because with employees in multiple states, it just got to be a mess.

Taylor Bowker [00:12:34]:
Yeah, and that can be very expensive. So I have a couple of groups that I work with, businesses if you will, and they unfortunately have a pretty hefty employee turnover just, you know, for whatever reason. And they’re starting to look outside of Wisconsin into other states to hire folks. And so when that’s the case and they already have a health insurance policy in place they’re offering, Then you have to also offer either a PPO or a POS network. Those networks allow those employees that live outside of the network here to still have coverage wherever they live. However, PPO and POS plan options tend to be a lot more expensive, and as an employer, you have to contribute to employee premiums in some way, shape, or form. So it can get more expensive for an an employee— employer that way, pardon me. You can also offer, you know, like reimbursement type options where you’re just essentially reimbursing those employees, you know, a flat dollar amount every month for their insurance.

Taylor Bowker [00:13:40]:
And then they can, you know, get an individual plan on the market or, you know, use that money to pay for medical services. You know, just kind of depends on what they do and use their coverage for. But yeah, it can get very cumbersome when you have employees that are out of network as well. So.

James [00:13:57]:
Yeah. I remember we were using a PEO.

Taylor Bowker [00:14:00]:
PEO.

James [00:14:01]:
PEO for payroll. So essentially our employees were a group.

Taylor Bowker [00:14:05]:
Sure.

James [00:14:05]:
Or part of the bigger group.

Taylor Bowker [00:14:07]:
Oh, okay. Gotcha.

James [00:14:08]:
Yeah. And it worked out well when everyone was in Dane County.

Taylor Bowker [00:14:10]:
Yeah. Right.

James [00:14:11]:
In Wisconsin.

Taylor Bowker [00:14:12]:
Right.

James [00:14:12]:
And then we started getting people all over the country. Mm-hmm. And you look at the premiums and you’re like, whoa, we didn’t wanna buy a hospital.

Taylor Bowker [00:14:18]:
Yeah. We just need healthcare insurance. Literally, you would think, yeah, it’s, it’s pretty wild that how expensive it can be and rates can get. And yeah, yeah, that’s true.

James [00:14:27]:
I had no idea. So yeah, right. Remember getting yelled at by one of my employees like, this is so expensive. I don’t know if you know this or not, but the cost of health insurance is not my fault, right?

Taylor Bowker [00:14:37]:
Yeah, that. Yeah. And I, you know, I often too, I get a lot of people that reach out to me that say have health insurance through their employer and, you know, maybe it’s not a group that I manage, it’s just totally separate, but they just say I want to explore the individual market and see if there’s anything cheaper for me. And a lot of times we will look at other options for people and it actually gets put into perspective that, oh, actually the coverage I have through my employer is actually not as expensive as I thought. And you know, and my coverage is actually maybe better than I thought it was compared to other options. So, but on the flip side, you know, I have helped people that can find other less expensive options elsewhere too. So it kind of just depends. But yeah, across the board, unfortunately it gets rather expensive for everybody, so.

James [00:15:21]:
Fair.

Taylor Bowker [00:15:21]:
Yeah.

James [00:15:22]:
Tell me about the marketplace. We talked about the marketplace. Like it’s just this thing that people just know what it is. Oh, sure.

Taylor Bowker [00:15:28]:
Yeah. So the marketplace is essentially, so the marketplace is healthcare.gov. It’s a website platform. If you’re an individual getting coverage through Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act or ACA, there’s a lot of acronyms in health insurance, and you qualify for a savings or a subsidy on your premium based on your household size and your income, then you would do an application on the marketplace. Again, healthcare.gov. It’s essentially just a platform that you would do your application on if you qualified for savings. Now, they call it the marketplace because, you know, it shows you all of your options in your area as far as carriers and plans go. You know, you can enter in your prescriptions and your doctors, and then again, you’d enter in your income.

Taylor Bowker [00:16:21]:
Birthdays, household size, your zip code, and then you kind of see what you qualify for and you’re eligible for via the marketplace. So it’s a quoting tool.

James [00:16:31]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:16:31]:
Or yeah, a place you’d go to the open market to find, to see what your options are for individual coverage.

James [00:16:37]:
Right on.

Taylor Bowker [00:16:37]:
Yeah.

James [00:16:38]:
How does that work if you’re a business owner? What are they using for income there?

Taylor Bowker [00:16:42]:
Well, so if you’re a business owner, okay, okay. So it will, you mean a business owner getting your own individual insurance on the marketplace?

James [00:16:48]:
Correct.

Taylor Bowker [00:16:48]:
Let’s start there. Yeah, great question. So, Again, it’s very different for everybody and it is very different for each business owner because when you’re a business owner, you can be set up either as an LLC, an S corp, you know, all those kind of different ways you can be set up as a business. Now, if you’re an LLC, it’s dependent on your net income after deductions, which can be very helpful for people because the lower your income on your taxes on paper, the lower your premiums are going to be on the marketplace. If you are, say, an S corp and you pay yourself a salary or, you know, you’re making more than if you were to count deductions, then we have to utilize that full income. The other thing, too, is, you know, when I say household size and household income, everything’s based on your taxes. So if you are married, you have to include your spouse’s income on there because that is what shows up on your taxes. But, and then if you’re a business owner too, again, depending on how your business is set up, oftentimes you can, you know, write off your premiums, out-of-pocket expenses.

Taylor Bowker [00:17:58]:
Just kind of depends again how things are set up. And I also always advise people double-check with their accountant. Yeah, oftentimes in my world, I wish I wore an accounting hat, financial advising hat, attorney hat. I don’t. So But I’ll advise people to go talk to their team and just double-check. But that’s, that’s, that’s how that would work for a business owner. Just depends on your income.

James [00:18:22]:
Right on.

Taylor Bowker [00:18:23]:
Yeah.

James [00:18:23]:
And is the marketplace for literally everyone or only people under a certain threshold of, of income?

Taylor Bowker [00:18:30]:
Oh, good question. So, so yes and no. You can always do an application on the marketplace whether you qualify for a subsidy or not, but you don’t have to sometimes. People will opt to— oftentimes when I’m working with people and they don’t qualify for a subsidy, will opt to not do an application on the marketplace just because the marketplace does add an extra layer, if you will. You know, if somebody say their credit card number changed and they forgot to reset their autopay and they missed a payment, you know, I can reach out to a carrier and say, you know, can you help with this? This person, this is the situation. They want to pay their premium. They want their coverage to stay in effect. They don’t want to, you know, it to be canceled.

Taylor Bowker [00:19:19]:
And a carrier is a lot more willing and easy to work with in that regard than, say, the marketplace, which has a lot of rules and regulations you have to follow and deadlines you have to meet. And if you have to reach out to them for something, you know, you’re calling a call center, you don’t know who you’re talking to. It’s kind of just an extra layer if you will, if you can avoid it, then usually I try to avoid it. But you can do an application on the marketplace if you don’t qualify for savings. That’s totally fine. It’s just, just another piece of the puzzle right now.

James [00:19:54]:
So if you have a problem with the marketplace, you’re going to the marketplace, not necessarily through the carrier you ended up with.

Taylor Bowker [00:19:59]:
Yeah, it’s interesting. So if you do an application on the marketplace and you say you have to make any changes to your application, you got to update your address, your phone number, your email, your income changed drastically and you have to update that, that has has all to be done through your Marketplace application if you did a Marketplace application. I have so many clients that reach out even though, you know, I kind of advise when I help them, you know, well, reach out to me for sure if anything changes or anything you need, that’s what I’m there for. But oftentimes people just try to do things on their own, which is fine, but they’ll call the insurance carrier and say, I need to update my address. And then they’re told, well, you did your application on the Marketplace, you have to actually reach out to them. And then at that rate, if they weren’t working with someone like me, they’d have to call Marketplace or go online and figure out how to update their application, which is still an extremely cumbersome process to do that. And it’s kind of hard to figure out even still for me who does this every day, which I don’t know what that says about it. But, so yeah, it’s just adding an additional layer if you don’t need to.

Taylor Bowker [00:21:02]:
But yeah, if you do it through the marketplace, any changes or updates have to be done through the marketplace.

James [00:21:07]:
Right on.

Taylor Bowker [00:21:08]:
Yeah.

James [00:21:08]:
Tell me, it’s a perfect segue, right? For using you for the marketplace or using you for insurance.

Taylor Bowker [00:21:13]:
Oh, sure. Yeah.

James [00:21:14]:
Why would someone use someone like you versus just going on the marketplace?

Taylor Bowker [00:21:18]:
And yeah, absolutely. So I, like I mentioned previously, I am a broker, so I am licensed in the state of Wisconsin, at least for right now. And I’m licensed with pretty much all the carriers in Wisconsin, as far as I know. And so I am able to offer people all of their options depending on where they live, which is great. I have a lot of knowledge and expertise in all this. I’ve been doing this for a very long time. Something else that’s really cool that I get to say is that I am actually free to work with. I get paid by the insurance companies when I sign somebody up for coverage.

Taylor Bowker [00:21:56]:
Whether you work with a broker like me or not, your rate is going to stay the exact same. So yeah, broker commissions are essentially built into premiums every year just to kind of factor that in. So whether you work with someone like me or not, all your rates and options are going to be the same. But, you know, trying to figure out what everything means and look through those options can be very intense and confusing. I like to use the analogy that if you could paint a room in your house on your own or have an expert painter paint it for free, you’re probably going to pick the expert painter. So just think of me as your, you know, your free expert to help paint your health insurance picture for you. Right.

James [00:22:38]:
If I can. And is this with the insurance or buying on the marketplace or buying it through you? Is this a one and done? Like, hey, I got insurance and then they never talk to you again. They just pay the premium or is this something where you are in touch with them?

Taylor Bowker [00:22:50]:
Yeah. Yeah. Great question. So no, it’s, it’s very much the, the first option that you mentioned. So being a broker, not only do I help people find their options and sign up, make sure that they get their, you know, premium payments made and all that figured out. But then from there, I always tell people to, you know, I am your broker now, I am your advisor, and I am here to help you. So if you have any questions, comments, concerns at all throughout the year regarding anything, feel free to reach out to me first. I do have contacts at the insurance companies, you know, that are higher up.

Taylor Bowker [00:23:24]:
I can escalate things if necessary. Oftentimes I have people reach out to me and say, again, you know, I tried to call the carrier. They told me this. I don’t really know what’s going on. Again, I tell people, just reach out to me first. It’ll save a lot of headaches and a lot of catastrophes and things. So no, I am, I am here to advocate for my clients through and through all the time, always, whatever they need. So that’s the other cool thing about me as a free expert.

Taylor Bowker [00:23:51]:
Yeah.

James [00:23:51]:
So way, way, way, way back when I interviewed someone that did, I’m trying to think how she labeled it. It was essentially. Assessing or grading the bills that people get from hospitals and doctors and stuff like that.

Taylor Bowker [00:24:06]:
Okay.

James [00:24:06]:
Because there’s fancy line items.

Taylor Bowker [00:24:07]:
Sure. Yeah.

James [00:24:08]:
I learned people go to school to figure out how to code.

Taylor Bowker [00:24:10]:
Yes. Coding. Yes.

James [00:24:12]:
And sometimes those get messed up. Mm-hmm. Or mistakes are made.

Taylor Bowker [00:24:15]:
They sure do.

James [00:24:15]:
And billing doesn’t know, or yeah, maybe they do know and they’re just charging extra, whatever.

Taylor Bowker [00:24:21]:
Yeah. Right.

James [00:24:22]:
So when it’s just a checkup, whatever, life goes on. But if it’s something like cancer, all of a sudden that can be hundreds of thousands of dollars in mistakes.

Taylor Bowker [00:24:28]:
Yeah.

James [00:24:29]:
So you’d pay your patients, I guess essentially would pay this woman to look over the bills and say, hey, this line is right, this line is wrong.

Taylor Bowker [00:24:36]:
Oh, cool.

James [00:24:37]:
This line should be this. So then would someone like that go to you or do they go direct to the carrier?

Taylor Bowker [00:24:43]:
Yeah, good question. So it, you know, it depends on the situation. There are some times where I tell people, you know, oh, this is billing related. I don’t have access to this. You have to actually call customer service yourself or whatever. But with something like that, you know, I would, depending on what point we’re at with billing and claims. Oftentimes I will tell people, you know, they have to reach out to claims directly. However, I do know, I oftentimes tell people, and I’ve kind of learned this just doing research and listening to things and educating myself with all this health insurance mumbo jumbo, you’re, you know, you should really never pay your first bill.

Taylor Bowker [00:25:23]:
A lot of times they’re just similar to like you just said, they’re wrong or there’s additional just charges on there for things that maybe you didn’t get. Get or are confusing, you know, you can always reach out to the hospital, clinic, lab, wherever it was that you got your services and ask for an itemized bill. You have that right. And then you can actually see line by line, code by code, because every single service has a code attached to it. You know what you’re actually billed for and why. And, you know, if things don’t look right or funky or don’t make sense, you know, you can certainly try to also fight those things if it’s really worth it. I went to a seminar a long time ago for self-funding, and there was a lady that spoke there who wrote a book called America Diagnosing a Sickness, I believe it is essentially how unfortunately the health insurance field is you very, know, for profit and it’s, it’s, it’s business. And there was somebody she wrote about in that book that got a spine surgery surgery, and she was prescribed, you know, painkillers, and she had to go back for a urine test a month later, essentially to make sure she wasn’t still taking the painkillers because people get addicted.

Taylor Bowker [00:26:40]:
And the lab where she went to get the test done, essentially, for whatever reason, tested it for literally everything under the sun, and she ended up getting a bill for $14,000 for a pee test. So her father happened to be like a brain surgeon or something like that, and he knew enough to try to, you know, call and fight it. But that’s the other kind of really terrible part to all of this is if it was tested for all those things, you know, it’s a lot of it is also pointing fingers like, who was it that, you know, messed this up and requested this be tested for all these things? Or, you know, who— how can we— you know, we already tested for this. ‘Yes, so we can’t just take these charges off.’ I don’t know, there’s a lot of hoopla, unfortunately, hoops to jump through with all those things. But, um, regarding this woman you spoke about and looking at these bills and things like that, you know, that’s— it’s kind of sad almost that she’s able to, you know, have a career that is insane. Yeah, where she’s just fixing all these people’s bills that are astronomical. And, you know, that’s a big part of why everything is really expensive too with health insurance. And but anyways, yeah, it’s interesting.

James [00:28:01]:
Yeah, I guess from the recent— with the subsidies and stuff like that, is that still a problem or is that fixed? Sure.

Taylor Bowker [00:28:08]:
Yeah, you’re just as confused as I am, really. But so, okay, so what I’ve been telling people, and I have had a lot of people reach out to me recently and ask questions about all this, of course. So Before open enrollment happened this past November, let me take a step back. So when COVID happened back in 2020, there were already subsidies in place for individual health insurance premiums, but they added on additional increased subsidies for folks just because obviously COVID was happening and, you know, it was a time. So those additional enhanced subsidies, as they’re referred to, were put into place for 5 years. So they were always set to expire at the end of this previous year, December 31st, 2025. Since then, nothing has really been fixed or addressed with the rising premium costs that come along with all these health insurance plans like we talked about. And so The government is trying to decide whether they’re going to extend the additional enhanced subsidies for 2 more years or not at all.

Taylor Bowker [00:29:26]:
So there are still subsidies in place as of January 1st this year. They’ve just reverted back to the old amounts that were in place prior to COVID, which can— it’s been a little bit of an issue just because And again, premiums have increased year after year since enhanced subsidies were introduced, but now they’ve decided to revert back to the original subsidy amounts that were in place prior to COVID, and rates were much less back then. I saw the largest health insurance increase of my entire career this past open enrollment because these folks no longer qualified for a subsidy because their income your income could literally go a dollar over the threshold to receive a subsidy and you no longer qualify for $1,000 a month’s worth of savings. You could owe, you know, $12,000, $13,000, $14,000, $15,000 back at tax time if you go even a dollar over. So that’s kind of where the issue lies. These folks that I helped were paying just over $400 a month for a bronze plan for the two of them. In the early ’60s. And the, you know, the bronze plan was, it was a terrible plan anyways.

Taylor Bowker [00:30:45]:
But so this next year, again, like I said, there was no way they could get their income below what we needed it to be below. And for the same plan without any savings on the premium, it would’ve cost them, I remember this number exactly, $3,313 a month for the two of them to keep that same trash bronze plan in place because that’s a jump. Yeah. And their income was like, like, you know, $100,000 a year for, I don’t know, it’s not very much for just the, you know, what we live in nowadays and how much things cost. So they ended up going with a medical cost sharing plan instead ’cause they had really no other options. But yeah, so anyway, long story long, subsidies are still in place and we are still very uncertain about whether enhanced subsidies will be extended or not. The government hasn’t really— they can’t really agree. So it turns out, yeah, we’re all just kind of sitting in limbo.

Taylor Bowker [00:31:39]:
But you know what I was— what I’ve also been telling people is, you know, this is the information I know and I can tell you, but we just have to work with what we know right now because that’s all we know.

James [00:31:50]:
So sure.

Taylor Bowker [00:31:51]:
Yeah.

James [00:31:51]:
Can I quiz you a little bit?

Taylor Bowker [00:31:52]:
Oh boy.

James [00:31:53]:
See how smart you are. How— I guess you’ve been in the business for a long time.

Taylor Bowker [00:31:57]:
I have. Yes.

James [00:31:59]:
Some buddies and I were sitting around like you do, have a couple beers, solve all the world’s problems.

Taylor Bowker [00:32:03]:
Love.

James [00:32:04]:
And someone’s like, how should we solve healthcare? Oh, God. Right? And I’m like, I don’t know enough to know even where to begin with that answer. It’s wrong now. I know that. It’s broken now. So if you had a magic wand and you’re like, we should do this, or here’s a couple of options, what would you suggest?

Taylor Bowker [00:32:23]:
Oh, I feel like this is going to be a very controversial answer.

James [00:32:26]:
Maybe. I think it— Doesn’t mean it’s right or going to happen.

Taylor Bowker [00:32:29]:
I know.

James [00:32:29]:
They’re like, Taylor said this. Yes.

Taylor Bowker [00:32:30]:
Let’s do it. I just, I mean, every other country in the world has healthcare for all and it seems to be working fine for them. So I feel like that’s always kind of my big picture answer. Obviously there’s a lot of moving parts with that. And I also know when I’ve mentioned this to people, they say, well, I don’t, you know, would you have a job anymore if that was the case? Yeah, would you? I don’t know that I would because I don’t think people would need, everyone would just have health insurance.

James [00:33:01]:
I’d hire you for something else.

Taylor Bowker [00:33:03]:
Well, good. And I, you know, I say too, I’m just— as long as everybody has access to healthcare and it’s affordable, then I can certainly find something else to do with my life. I’m okay with it. But, you know, and I like to think of myself as more of an educator above anything else. So yeah, I just— I think that would kind of be the, you know, save the saver of the solutions. But again, that’s That’s a big, there’s a lot to that too.

James [00:33:31]:
Yeah.

Taylor Bowker [00:33:31]:
Fair. Yeah.

James [00:33:32]:
But a lot of moving parts and I get that it’s a big population and there’s, I don’t know how many insurance companies there are. It seems, I know how many there are around here.

Taylor Bowker [00:33:41]:
Yeah. Right.

James [00:33:41]:
But I imagine if around here, how many around here are there in the country?

Taylor Bowker [00:33:45]:
Yeah.

James [00:33:45]:
It’s a lot.

Taylor Bowker [00:33:46]:
Again, a lot of moving parts with something like that. But yeah, it’s, I mean, it’s, it’s all a mess. No matter what the fix is, it’s, you know, matter who you ask, it’s gonna be different across the board for everybody, of course. But either way, no matter how you slice it, it’s gonna, it’s a big undertaking. So it’s, yeah.

James [00:34:04]:
I was chatting with someone and they were talking about, I don’t know, it was friend of friend or neighbor or something like that going to Tijuana.

Taylor Bowker [00:34:11]:
Oh yeah.

James [00:34:12]:
For some work.

Taylor Bowker [00:34:12]:
Yes. Yeah.

James [00:34:13]:
I’m like, wait, what?

Taylor Bowker [00:34:14]:
Yeah. I have a lot of, I actually have quite a few clients that will, you know, especially for dental work because dental insurance, it’s not, you shouldn’t necessarily not have it, but a lot of times the annual premium you pay for it is just, I don’t know, it’s not necessarily worth it all the time. I have clients that go to, you know, they’ll go to Mexico or they’ll go to Europe for a trip and they’ll, you know, make sure they make time to go see a doctor for things there. ‘Cause it’s 100 times cheaper to do things like that overseas in other places. I also have, I have some clients that, They have a house in, I believe, Cozumel in Mexico. Oh yeah. They have a dental carrier that will provide some sort of coverage outside of the US. And so whenever they go down to Mexico to check on their house or visit or whatever, they’ll go see their dentist down there and then they’ll get reimbursed for their claims through the Ameritas, which is the dental carrier they have here.

Taylor Bowker [00:35:19]:
In the States. So yeah, it’s, it’s way— it actually, it’s, it’s interesting too that you say that because this is kind of a random-ish quick story, but, um, I grew up working in restaurants. I was a waitress for a very, very long time at a lot of places, and, um, I worked at an Outback Steakhouse for a very long time. There was a, a line cook there, very, very nice guy, and I found out a couple years into knowing him and working there that that in Mexico, when he lived in Mexico, he was a dentist. But when he came up here to the States, you know, you’d have to go through— you’re not— it’s not the same like certification and qualifications as being a dentist here in America. So he was a line cook at Outback. But I was just like, okay, Humberto, can you pull my tooth in the parking lot? I don’t know. Yeah.

James [00:36:09]:
Yeah.

Taylor Bowker [00:36:10]:
Anyways, it’s just interesting how it’s all different everywhere.

James [00:36:12]:
So, so is that to say that to be a dentist in Mexico, they’re just like, show up, put your sign out?

Taylor Bowker [00:36:17]:
Well, I don’t necessarily think that, I know you, I’m sure you have to get some sort of certification and do some sort of schooling, but I just don’t know if it necessarily applies to being a dentist here. I don’t know. Sure. And I’ll, you know, I, I don’t know his situation necessarily either. Maybe there was something going on with that, but I don’t know. I just thought it was very interesting.

James [00:36:35]:
That, yeah, that makes sense. I guess my sister’s in hair. Okay. And when she moved from between states, mm-hmm, she had a license in Wisconsin and to get a license in Arizona, she had to go through all this stuff.

Taylor Bowker [00:36:46]:
Yeah. That’s how like being a health insurance broker is. Oh, You want to be an agent in a different state. Some states allow you to just, you know, okay, you have a domicile license in Wisconsin, you just have to make sure you pay your fee and we’ll give you a license here. But some states do require you to do some training, as I think honestly you should. You know, you don’t want to just be— there’s some brokers that will kind of just, they want to put all their eggs in their basket and do all the things to offer more things to all the people. And sometimes that gets a little bit much, but anyways, yeah, you have to get, you know, have a license in other states for health insurance to sell in those states as well.

James [00:37:23]:
All right. Yeah. So I was just in Florida.

Taylor Bowker [00:37:26]:
Yes.

James [00:37:26]:
And we’re in cold winter Wisconsin here. And I’m like, I kind of get the whole living somewhere warmer half the year.

Taylor Bowker [00:37:33]:
Yeah.

James [00:37:34]:
So how do you deal with insurance if you’re living in two states?

Taylor Bowker [00:37:36]:
Okay, that’s a great question. And this comes up for me a lot because also in this state we have so many people that are snowbirds, which mean they, you know, winter in Florida because it’s warmer. It— so it depends on somebody’s age and their situation. If you are under 65 and you don’t qualify for Medicare, that’s when I come into play and I assist people. Unfortunately, if you qualify and want to plan on the marketplace or, you know, through Obamacare, at least in Dane County, well, in most of Wisconsin, you are subject and tied down to an HMO, which is going to cover you specifically in a smaller network and not when you’re traveling. Now, I say that, however, um, an HMO, at least here, will still cover you if you are traveling out of the network and there is an emergency. So if something is coded as an emergency, you will have coverage for it just the same. So, you know, I often say if you’re in Florida and you get bit by a shark, that’s obviously an emergency, you’ll have coverage.

Taylor Bowker [00:38:45]:
If you’re in Florida and you get a sore throat and you go see a doctor that, you know, you’re probably not gonna have coverage for that. So it kind of depends. If you’re over 65 and you have Medicare, I have other agents that I work with for that type of thing. I don’t do Medicare, but I do know oftentimes you can get a supplement and that will cover you all over the country, any place you wanna go, which is nice. So it kind of depends on your age and what you have and what you qualify for. I do have some clients that unfortunately they kind of have to plan ahead. We’re gonna be in Florida for 3 months. Let me make sure I get my scripts for 90 days And often, a lot of times people will utilize telehealth if that is an option.

Taylor Bowker [00:39:26]:
But unfortunately, there are times people kind of have to plan ahead and it’s not all for everybody, unfortunately. It depends on what you have.

James [00:39:36]:
So if you’re going to get sick, get hit by a car too, so then it’s an emergency.

Taylor Bowker [00:39:40]:
Yeah, yes, yes.

James [00:39:42]:
Figured out the system.

Taylor Bowker [00:39:43]:
Oh gosh, I know. Again, it’s all kind of a mess.

James [00:39:46]:
Yeah, weird. Yeah. Tell me a story about Medicare. How does that get involved with this? Does that get involved with this? Sure.

Taylor Bowker [00:39:53]:
Well, well, kind of. Yeah. So again, like I said, I am not technically— I am not a Medicare agent. I help folks under 65. That is different. Yes. So Medicare is for folks that are 65 and older. In order for them to have coverage, you can either get a supplement or you can get an Advantage plan.

Taylor Bowker [00:40:13]:
Kind of depends on your situation. Obviously would advise a Medicare agent about that piece. But you can take Medicare if you’re over 65. If you are eligible for coverage through an employer, you can still keep that. You don’t have to take it. I do know once you turn 65, you also have to start paying into Medicare. If you don’t, you will get very penalized for that.

James [00:40:40]:
On your taxes?

Taylor Bowker [00:40:40]:
Yeah, they’ll, ’cause yeah, they, you know, they see your age, they see you have not been paying this, they will ding you on your taxes at tax time. I’m pretty sure, again, I’m not the expert on Medicare. I have good people that do that instead. But under 65 is what I do. And then also wanna clarify as well, I don’t know who decided this, but there is Medicare and there is Medicaid.

James [00:41:07]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:41:07]:
They are two different things.

James [00:41:08]:
All right.

Taylor Bowker [00:41:09]:
Medicare is for folks that are over 65.

James [00:41:12]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:41:12]:
Medicaid is state coverage for people who have low to no income. In the state of Wisconsin, it’s also known as BadgerCare. So.

James [00:41:22]:
Got it.

Taylor Bowker [00:41:22]:
But again, whoever decided Medicare and Medicaid.

James [00:41:25]:
Yeah.

Taylor Bowker [00:41:26]:
Was.

James [00:41:26]:
That’s awesome. We should make this more confusing.

Taylor Bowker [00:41:28]:
Yeah, please. It’s not already enough as it is. So, but yeah.

James [00:41:31]:
Interesting.

Taylor Bowker [00:41:32]:
Yeah.

James [00:41:32]:
All right. Right?

Taylor Bowker [00:41:33]:
Yeah. And also just to clarify further, I do not assist with the BadgerCare or the state coverage. That is all done through the state. Okay. However, I know enough to be dangerous ’cause I’ve been doing this long enough. You know, I can provide people with the phone number to call to apply for BadgerCare. But a lot of times if I have folks that are in between jobs and they have no income, a lot of times it’s usually BadgerCare just because you can, you’re not, you don’t have any income, you’re in between situations and you can get the same coverage you’ve always had. For free until, you know, you figure something else out or get a different job.

Taylor Bowker [00:42:05]:
So, but again, depends.

James [00:42:07]:
Gotcha. Yeah, naturally.

Taylor Bowker [00:42:09]:
Of course.

James [00:42:10]:
Is there any federal Medicaid or that? ‘Cause that sounds like it’s a state thing.

Taylor Bowker [00:42:16]:
Oh sure. No, there’s not. Not as far as I know. That would be more technically like the marketplace, Obamacare. It all depends on your income. If your income is below a certain level, then you qualify for state Medicaid. Medicaid, and Medicaid is regulated state by state. Oh, oh, okay.

James [00:42:37]:
Yeah.

Taylor Bowker [00:42:37]:
So that’s regulated. Yeah. So, you know, cuz it, you know, it’s like, like food stamps that’s regulated state by state. That kind of all falls under that Medicaid umbrella. So yeah, no, there would be kind of two separate things depending on income.

James [00:42:50]:
Gotcha. Yeah.

Taylor Bowker [00:42:51]:
But that would be managed by the state.

James [00:42:53]:
So besides prices going up astronomically over the past decade or longer, right? I remember reading this book book about this guy that had a business. It was a business book, whatever, and he was complaining about the cost of insurance.

Taylor Bowker [00:43:05]:
Of course.

James [00:43:06]:
And I’m like, when was this published? And it was published in 1992.

Taylor Bowker [00:43:09]:
Wow, really? Wow. Okay.

James [00:43:11]:
Yeah, I’m like, oh my gosh, if this guy only knew.

Taylor Bowker [00:43:13]:
Yeah, literally.

James [00:43:14]:
Probably long retired by now.

Taylor Bowker [00:43:15]:
Yeah, yeah.

James [00:43:16]:
It didn’t get better.

Taylor Bowker [00:43:17]:
No, so absolutely not.

James [00:43:19]:
Anyways, how have you seen the industry change over the past 10 years?

Taylor Bowker [00:43:23]:
Yeah, well, again, like I said, a lot of other products are being introduced to try to help mitigate costs. A lot more carriers are offering the level-funded product like I mentioned before. Really just in the last, like, year I’ve noticed that. Ironically enough, when I first started doing this, there was one carrier in the area specifically who their individual rates would actually either remain the same, or a couple years in a row they actually went down. Which is like unheard of. That’s not normal now. Other major changes. I mean, it’s hard because what I’ve also told a lot of people too, in regards to like just trying to fix everything and, you know, change everything because it’s very broken.

Taylor Bowker [00:44:16]:
You know, it took someone 2 terms in office to kind of introduce something new to, I wouldn’t necessarily say fix it with maybe a quick fix, but yeah, yeah, right. So I just again think it’s gonna take a lot longer for whoever else to kind of make a change or a big fix. Um, so as far as like major changes in the last 10 years, I guess it really is just kind of rates and other new products to help, you know, people afford things be introduced into the market, really.

James [00:44:49]:
Did the website get easier to Oh, that actually has. It did?

Taylor Bowker [00:44:53]:
Yes.

James [00:44:53]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:44:53]:
So, okay. So as a broker, obviously, I— again, my job is to help people with their Marketplace applications and figure all that out. A while ago, we used to have to sit there with everybody and, you know, watch them log into their account and go through their application with them because obviously legally as a broker, I cannot have people’s login information. That is not right. So recently they’ve introduced, I would say in the last 7 years, a website. It’s called HealthSherpa.com.

James [00:45:23]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:45:23]:
Yes. And so that is a website that is essentially the middle person between the Marketplace applications and we, the brokers.

James [00:45:34]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:45:35]:
So it’s a website that I log into. It’s my own personal site that I utilize with people’s permission. I can then look them up on the website and it pulls their application from their Marketplace account into my portal so I can see everybody’s information legally and help them with their applications. And when that first came out, you know, it was, it was the very long, cumbersome application, and every year you had to go through and through and through every time. But just in the last couple years alone, they’ve really streamlined that application, at least on the broker side. You know, as once I help somebody enroll, and push their application through and I’m labeled as their broker on their application, then every year after that, I literally set up 15-minute phone calls with my current clients and we, you know, I just say, you know, what’s changed? have, Do you is your address still the same? Is your, what, you know, what’s your income gonna do next year? And then, okay, these are your plan choices knowing that updated information. And then once we know what plan they wanna go with, it’s literally a matter of like a couple clicks renewal application on this website takes like maybe 5 minutes, maybe.

James [00:46:52]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:46:52]:
Yeah. So they’ve really been streamlining it and, you know, you can now like skip to the end at some spots. And so, but yeah, it’s, it’s, that’s, that’s definitely been helpful. They’re trying to make that better for everybody. So that’s good.

James [00:47:05]:
That’s healthsherpa.com.

Taylor Bowker [00:47:07]:
Yes. But that’s a, again, that’s a broker tool.

James [00:47:09]:
Gotcha. Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:47:10]:
Yeah. The marketplace, healthcare.gov, application is definitely not as long and lengthy as it has been in the past, but I did have to help some clients go through their application on their end this past year, just for whatever reason. And that, that, that application is still pretty intricate. But okay, you know, if you’ve done it once, it does pre-populate your info from the year before, which is nice, but it’s just a lot of clicking and a lot of the questions are very redundant but asked in different ways and still very— I still sometimes have to stop and just be like, okay, this says this and this is how we have to answer this to make sure that this is right, which I don’t know what that says about the whole process, but yeah.

James [00:47:54]:
It just feels like a question they put on the ballot.

Taylor Bowker [00:47:56]:
Yes, literally. Oh my gosh.

James [00:47:58]:
What did you word this?

Taylor Bowker [00:48:00]:
And you know, they did it on purpose too. So yeah, it’s interesting. But yeah.

James [00:48:04]:
Tell me a story about enrollment periods. It seems to coincide with pumpkin spice lattes.

Taylor Bowker [00:48:10]:
Okay. Oh my God. That’s right.

James [00:48:12]:
Yeah. Why did they pick end of the year versus middle of the summer?

Taylor Bowker [00:48:16]:
Sure.

James [00:48:16]:
Why is there an enrollment period versus just whenever you need it?

Taylor Bowker [00:48:19]:
Yeah. So, okay. So, well, couple moving parts with this. So first I should clarify that end of year pumpkin spice latte open enrollment season, that is strictly for individual coverage. Via the marketplace or the ACA for individuals.

James [00:48:39]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:48:39]:
So when you’re an individual and you get insurance, if you are outside of the open enrollment window, which runs typically every year from November 1st through December 15th, you have to have a qualifying event to enroll in coverage or change your plan. That can include, you know, giving birth, getting married, moving, losing other coverage through an employer if you lose a job or something like that. That. So if you don’t have one of those reasons to qualify to get coverage in the middle of the year, then you have to wait until individual open enrollment, which typically happens at the end of the year during pumpkin spice latte season. I’m going to start using that now.

James [00:49:20]:
It’s easier.

Taylor Bowker [00:49:21]:
Yeah, yeah. So it runs again from November 1st through December 15th, and that’s for coverage effective January 1st. And that is the time time of year that anybody and everybody again can sign up for coverage, enroll in a plan, change their plan. Carriers change their plans and pricing of course every year, so always recommend people at least go through their application, update anything they need to, and then see what their new options are for the following year. Um, why it is only during pumpkin spice latte season, I’m not totally sure. That was something that was put into place when Obamacare came out. Prior to that, people people could, you know, kind of make changes willy-nilly here and there whenever they wanted to.

James [00:50:06]:
Like any other industry.

Taylor Bowker [00:50:08]:
Yeah, right. Yes, yes. Now it’s kind of ironic because— and a double-edged sword because the way I see it now, I have been doing this for quite some time, but when I became licensed and started as a broker, it was Obamacare. Obamacare is all I’ve really known. So for me, I always say, you know, it is tough that it’s squeezed into 45 days, but I would rather it be in the dead of winter and not in summer. And, you know, outside of individual open enrollment, I do obviously still have lots of work that I’m doing, but it’s definitely— my workload is not as great. But I, you know, luckily am still getting paid for all the work that I did during those 45 days. So it’s very stressful for everybody, but I don’t know, I guess it could be worse.

Taylor Bowker [00:51:02]:
It’s not the worst thing in the world, but as to why it’s only then, I have no idea to be quite honest.

James [00:51:07]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:51:07]:
So, yeah.

James [00:51:09]:
I was just trying to understand like what’s your goal? If that’s the rule, it is. I get taxes with the April 15th. Like you gotta get all this in, taken care of and then see you next year.

Taylor Bowker [00:51:21]:
Yeah.

James [00:51:21]:
That makes sense. Yeah. But for healthcare, I’m like, I don’t know, man. What if you decide or you find out that, hey, this carrier’s cheaper. I want to change. They’re like, whoa, not pumpkin spice latte time.

Taylor Bowker [00:51:33]:
Like auto insurance and stuff like that. You’d think it’d be more along those lines. And it also gets— it is tough because I have had so many situations where people reach out to me and say, I lost coverage through my employer 4 months ago. I need coverage now. And I say, well, unfortunately, you do also, even though you’ve lost other coverage, you have to get other coverage within 60 days of losing other coverage.

James [00:51:58]:
Really?

Taylor Bowker [00:51:59]:
Outside of open enrollment, otherwise you don’t qualify. I mean, obviously we could talk about other options, but you know, some, a lot of times people too will, you know, come to me and say like, you know, I broke my arm, I need insurance now. And I’m like, well, I can’t, that’s, sorry, that’s gonna be tricky. ‘Cause also too, any other option that we could sign someone up for outside of that 60-day window or open enrollment window, a lot of that stuff is actually subject to preexisting conditions being covered or not. So again, there’s a lot of like rules rules and restrictions and regulations with all that. Um, I do also just want to clarify, um, the individual open enrollment we just talked about again is for individual coverage. Employer coverage, or coverage that you might get through your employer, those open enrollment windows and renewal dates can literally be the first of any month throughout the year. It’s dependent on the business and when the employer set up that policy.

James [00:53:01]:
So if they choose, as an example, March 1st, yeah, it’s always March every year.

Taylor Bowker [00:53:04]:
Yes. Now, a lot of people though, at businesses, just because again, you know, fiscal year, everybody loves a January 1st kind of start date, refresh date. So I do have, you know, my over 400 client policies that I have to make sure I reach out to those people and do. But then I also have a lot of groups that I help and manage that have January 1st renewal dates as well.

James [00:53:30]:
So, all right.

Taylor Bowker [00:53:32]:
Yeah, a lot of, a lot of times people think it’s open enrollment, I have to do my work stuff, but then they realize, oh no, wait, actually my employer coverage is, you know, doesn’t renew till April, so I’m fine right now.

James [00:53:44]:
Gotcha.

Taylor Bowker [00:53:45]:
Yeah.

James [00:53:45]:
You know, it’s interesting. I don’t like the January 1st stuff and I’ll tell you why.

Taylor Bowker [00:53:49]:
Okay, tell me.

James [00:53:50]:
Because you got Christmas, you have New Year’s, and it’s always New Year’s Eve when you want to be partying. $5 million, but you’re like, what was I supposed to do before taxes, tax time? Because that’s the deadline.

Taylor Bowker [00:54:02]:
Well, no, the deadline is December 15th. So technically, well, Thanksgiving, I guess, would be one.

James [00:54:08]:
Yeah, it’s just you’re piling all these holidays and like, did you do your holiday shopping? Like, no, I’m trying to make sure I don’t have to pay $5 million in taxes.

Taylor Bowker [00:54:16]:
That too. Yeah, no, I get it.

James [00:54:18]:
Priorities here.

Taylor Bowker [00:54:19]:
It’s a lot. It’s a lot. Because I, again, am in the midst of it myself personally. Than I remember, you know, first week in December, like, I gotta also get gifts for people and I don’t really quite know how I’m gonna find time to do that.

James [00:54:33]:
You’re all getting gift certificates.

Taylor Bowker [00:54:34]:
Yeah, yeah, it is. I do think part of it, like you said, is, you know, again, everyone just loves a January 1st start date for tax purposes and, you know, rate purposes and things like that. But it, yeah, it does get a little frustrating that it’s only for a short 45-day stint.

James [00:54:49]:
So, but do tell me about rates with insurance. Is that set for the year? Is that why they do all this? Do those change?

Taylor Bowker [00:54:57]:
Typically. So for individual coverage and for, yeah, for carriers, the rates for individual coverage are set for the year.

James [00:55:06]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:55:07]:
However, when it comes to group coverage that you would get through an employer or if you’re a business owner, those rates tend to update every quarter. Quarter. Oh yeah. So I have— I had a lot of groups this last year actually tried to do enrollments for December 1st, 2026. Rates have increased a lot, a lot, and they did not want that January 1st rate when they got their policy set up.

James [00:55:38]:
So, all right.

Taylor Bowker [00:55:39]:
But yeah, groups are oftentimes quarterly, they change.

James [00:55:43]:
So if their rate goes up, can they change?

Taylor Bowker [00:55:45]:
Sorry, I should clarify. So if you have a business and you want to get coverage for your employees, you know, and you’re shopping your coverage through me, I’m going to, you know, quote with all the different carriers in the area, you know, all the different plans and explain everything to you. And then your rates are going to depend, of course, on the employees’ ages. Again, kind of depends on how many employees you have, but And then it’s going to depend on what quarter you’re obtaining your coverage in. Once you get that policy set up, then those rates stay locked for the policy year from there.

James [00:56:23]:
Gotcha.

Taylor Bowker [00:56:24]:
Yeah. Yeah.

James [00:56:24]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:56:25]:
So it depends on what quarter you are shopping for coverage in, but once your policy’s in place, then those group rates are locked for that 12-month period thereafter.

James [00:56:35]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:56:36]:
After.

James [00:56:36]:
Right on.

Taylor Bowker [00:56:37]:
Does that make it a little bit more?

James [00:56:38]:
It does, it does. Yeah, I don’t— otherwise you’re locked in for a year and then prices just whatever.

Taylor Bowker [00:56:42]:
Yes, right, right.

James [00:56:43]:
And sorry, you’re stuck here.

Taylor Bowker [00:56:45]:
Yeah, literally.

James [00:56:47]:
Yeah, interesting. Have you seen deductibles go up as people try to reduce the cost?

Taylor Bowker [00:56:54]:
Yeah, well, so it— I mean, yeah, that’s just a big part of things as premiums increase increase. Deductibles and out-of-pockets and copays increase every year with plans as well. Like I mentioned kind of previously, the, you know, government and the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, they delegate where like rates can be and what they’re based off of. And then they also set every year how high an out-of-pocket can be on a plan depending on whether whether it’s a bronze, a silver, a gold, or a platinum plan.

James [00:57:30]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:57:31]:
And every year that number goes up. So it’s very, very unfortunate because not only is everybody paying more and more every year for their monthly premium, but they’re paying more and more every year for a plan that just essentially keeps getting worse and worse and worse.

James [00:57:49]:
Yeah.

Taylor Bowker [00:57:49]:
So that’s also another issue at hand. But interesting.

James [00:57:54]:
Fun. Fun.

Taylor Bowker [00:57:55]:
Yeah, you keep saying interesting and fun, and I’m like, yeah, no, it’s expensive and annoying.

James [00:58:01]:
Yeah, this should have been solved decades ago.

Taylor Bowker [00:58:02]:
Yes, absolutely, absolutely. But, you know, that’s why I’m happy and advise and educate as much as.

James [00:58:08]:
I can, because that’s fair.

Taylor Bowker [00:58:10]:
At this point, I just— that’s kind of all you can do, I guess.

James [00:58:12]:
So, right. But yeah, how do you market your business or your services, right? Sure.

Taylor Bowker [00:58:17]:
Yeah. So, um, I will— oh gosh, I’m really very grateful and very lucky. Um, I joined the business networking group that you and I are in 9 years ago now. I don’t know if you knew that, but I’ve been in that group.

James [00:58:34]:
I think you’ve told me that before.

Taylor Bowker [00:58:35]:
Yeah.

James [00:58:35]:
So that’d be right around the time you started your own gig.

Taylor Bowker [00:58:37]:
It’ll be before. No, it was before. So it’ll be 9 years in April that I’ve been in that group. Um, but I was lucky enough to get, you know, in with this group at, you know, a long time ago. And as you know, they’re just great about referring business and all that stuff. And so word of mouth has been amazing. The networking group I’m in has been amazing. I do do some networking events with chambers and things like that sometimes.

Taylor Bowker [00:59:07]:
I— the first year I started as an agent, of course, you know, had to do the whole cold calling thing, which is not fun for anybody.

James [00:59:16]:
So much fun.

Taylor Bowker [00:59:17]:
I feel like I put that time in and I did it and it was terrifying and just not great. I can talk to people and I’m not afraid of nos because that’s the worst that can happen, of course. But it’s still just very awkward and I just, I, anyways, but it’s a.

James [00:59:32]:
Topic that’s not the most fun, right?

Taylor Bowker [00:59:33]:
Yeah.

James [00:59:33]:
You want to talk about health insurance?

Taylor Bowker [00:59:35]:
No, no, literally. Do I?

James [00:59:37]:
Right.

Taylor Bowker [00:59:37]:
Yeah. That would be amazing. But no, that’s not how it goes. So yeah, just honestly networking. And at this point in my career and my business, business, it’s just a— it’s word of mouth.

James [00:59:48]:
Oh, nice. Okay.

Taylor Bowker [00:59:49]:
I don’t, I don’t do anything.

James [00:59:52]:
Zero.

Taylor Bowker [00:59:53]:
I don’t do anything.

James [00:59:54]:
You have to do social media posts or something and be like, another day in health insurance.

Taylor Bowker [00:59:58]:
I could, but— okay, but you don’t? I haven’t for a while.

James [01:00:02]:
No. Okay.

Taylor Bowker [01:00:02]:
I’m also judging. Just— no, I know. And I, and I’m— I, again, I just say I’m very lucky and very grateful that that’s just like the position that my business is in right now at this point in time. Um, also, I’m there’s not, you know, there’s not as many of me in the area as there are, say, you know, like auto agents or realtors or, you know, financial advisors and things like that. So I also just am very lucky in that sense that there’s just not a lot of me and people like me that do what I do around here.

James [01:00:33]:
So I wanted to ask you that. So that’s a perfect segue, right? ‘Cause I remember a guy that I knew or know that was in this world when Obamacare came out.

Taylor Bowker [01:00:42]:
Okay.

James [01:00:43]:
And so his world got turned upside down.

Taylor Bowker [01:00:44]:
Mm-hmm.

James [01:00:44]:
As far as I know, he’s still in the industry.

Taylor Bowker [01:00:46]:
Yeah.

James [01:00:47]:
But that had to be a change.

Taylor Bowker [01:00:49]:
Yes.

James [01:00:49]:
So I imagine, I don’t, I don’t know what I’m asking, I guess, but essentially do you have a, in the, let’s just say Madison metro area. Uh-huh. Are we talking dozens? Are we talking hundreds? How many people do what you do?

Taylor Bowker [01:01:02]:
I would say, yeah, I would say dozens.

James [01:01:06]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [01:01:07]:
Maybe.

James [01:01:07]:
Because if you wanted car insurance, there’s, I mean, just throw a rock.

Taylor Bowker [01:01:10]:
Everybody. Yeah. And you can, and the other thing too is, is when it comes to being a health insurance broker, you know, there’s a lot of agents out there in the area that are, they only wanna, you know, catch the big fish in the little pond. And that’s fine, that’s their prerogative. You know, they’re maybe motivated a little bit more by numbers and quotas and their paychecks. And that’s, I do this for a living too. There’s no harm in that. But I, there’s not as many of me in the area that focus more on the individual coverage for people specializing in the marketplace.

Taylor Bowker [01:01:46]:
Um, you know, smaller businesses, I can help. I’ve helped large businesses before too. It’s just, I— there, yeah, there’s not as many of me in the area that focus on the individual assistance for people. Um, I— yeah, I would say off the top of my head, I could maybe name 10 agents to you. Maybe.

James [01:02:06]:
Wow. In the Madison Metro?

Taylor Bowker [01:02:08]:
Dane County.

James [01:02:09]:
Okay. Wow.

Taylor Bowker [01:02:10]:
Yeah.

James [01:02:10]:
So, so hundreds of thousands of people.

Taylor Bowker [01:02:12]:
Yeah.

James [01:02:13]:
And only, yeah. Wow. Interesting.

Taylor Bowker [01:02:15]:
It’s, yeah. So again, I’m very lucky and very grateful I’ve positioned myself as such, but yeah. Yeah, I don’t, and I, I, I’m kind of at a bottleneck in my business where I certainly this year my goal is to start looking at, you know, bringing on another agent. Nice. And yep. Then, and having them help and educate, ’cause I certainly have the business to give to somebody. But so yeah, I guess I just, it would be nice to be able to have someone else at Mindful and helping other people and yeah. Yeah.

Taylor Bowker [01:02:48]:
‘Cause there’s definitely people out there that need help.

James [01:02:50]:
How big of a deal is it to get licensed?

Taylor Bowker [01:02:53]:
It’s not very hard. It’s, you know, you have to obviously do some studying and schooling, I think. So when I did it, I did it all online. I believe it was like 40 hours weeks worth of class time. And then of course the tests are more of the big undertaking. I am not somebody who’s ever enjoyed school. It was never my friend.

James [01:03:17]:
I’m right there with you.

Taylor Bowker [01:03:18]:
Yeah. Yeah. So, so the tests were the biggest thing for me because I’m not a good test taker and I just barely passed.

James [01:03:25]:
But, well, you passed.

Taylor Bowker [01:03:27]:
Yes, I know. That was the important thing. And it’s interesting too, Because I, like, the things you have to learn and know and pass on the insurance tests, I think I utilize 15% of that information every day doing this. It’s just all that stuff is very, yeah. Anyways, but yeah, I took that.

James [01:03:45]:
Oh, the certifications that I’ve done in whatever industry, I remember taking the test and thinking, when is this ever, who wrote this?

Taylor Bowker [01:03:53]:
Right. Literally.

James [01:03:54]:
Have you ever been in the industry or is this Just, I don’t know. Yeah. It feels like they looked up the index and like, just pick an obscure that I’ve never come up question with.

Taylor Bowker [01:04:01]:
Literally. Yeah. And it’s more like, like definitions and just, yeah, I don’t know. That was all kind of a lot of hoopla, but, and then I do have to every 24 months get, um, a certain amount of CE credits, continuing education to keep my license in place and going thereafter. So.

James [01:04:20]:
All right.

Taylor Bowker [01:04:21]:
That’s good. I think I, way— continuing education, I think, is way more beneficial than the actual, you know, tests and getting the license because you’re actually learning things you actually utilize and are more up to date, of course. But, um, yeah, so it’s not— it’s, it’s not hard. I’m, I’m not the brightest tool in the toolbox, and I did it.

James [01:04:42]:
Come on now. Tell me, for continuing ed, what do they teach you? What is— what are some topics that they— sure.

Taylor Bowker [01:04:49]:
So because I— so my licenses are health and life and accident. Did I say that right? I don’t even know that.

James [01:04:57]:
Accident, health accident, or?

Taylor Bowker [01:04:59]:
It’s one of the two of them are combined. I forget what they are. Which ones though? Oh my God.

James [01:05:04]:
Not car accident.

Taylor Bowker [01:05:05]:
No, sorry.

James [01:05:06]:
No.

Taylor Bowker [01:05:06]:
Okay. So it’s like, it’s, I believe it’s accident, like you might’ve heard like AD&D in disability insurance, which stands for accidental death or dismemberment.

James [01:05:16]:
I have. Yes.

Taylor Bowker [01:05:17]:
There you go. I think it pertains to that. That’s terrible that I don’t know that. But so for continuing ed, I go to an online platform, a website that offers CE programs, and then you can kind of pick and choose different topics. And then those different topics, depending on how long the course is, you know, so many credits for each one. A lot of them are, you know, like the marketplace and changes. A lot of them are are, um, a lot of them nowadays are, um, like HRAs, ICRAs, QSEHRAs. These are all different acronyms for like.

James [01:05:55]:
Different types of— Oh, you’re stacking them up here.

Taylor Bowker [01:05:57]:
Yeah, like reimbursement accounts that groups can offer to their employees now, which are becoming more popular. HSAs, health savings accounts, which are very confusing for people but very awesome to utilize if you understand them. There’s a lot of other, like even sometimes you can get CEs for Medicare stuff. It just kind of depends. But, okay. Yeah. So it’s, it’s, I mean, it’s all very obviously health insurance adjacent, but yeah.

James [01:06:23]:
Yeah. So it’s just, it’s interesting. So I came from this veterinary conference, which was based around CE for these veterinary clinics.

Taylor Bowker [01:06:29]:
Ah, okay. Gotcha.

James [01:06:30]:
And so that part I get because there’s new technologies, there’s new medications. They discovered these new things.

Taylor Bowker [01:06:36]:
Yeah.

James [01:06:36]:
Fancy new machines. And business stuff, because veterinarians aren’t necessarily notorious for being good business people. Whatever. I mean, there’s a lot going on. Yeah, a lot of things. So I get, as technology emerges, we gotta get to see— yeah, they’re saving— I’m like, health insurance, you guys are going the wrong way.

Taylor Bowker [01:06:52]:
Yeah, right. I know. Well, and you know, there’s always— even though it’s all kind of not the greatest system, um, there’s still always things that are changing and evolving. So, you know, that has a lot to do with it. Again, like I said, the ICHRA stands for Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement. Did I say that right? Again, acronyms. Yeah, sure. So again, that’s like when an employer would offer a flat dollar amount to each employee and they use that money to go get an individual plan of their own and use that money to pay for premiums.

James [01:07:25]:
So let me dig into that a little bit.

Taylor Bowker [01:07:26]:
Sure.

James [01:07:27]:
So I, as an employer, say, hey, I’m going to pay each of you you $200 a month to go towards your insurance. And so that employee goes to someone like you and says, hey, Taylor, I want insurance. You go to the marketplace or whatever, you get that insurance, and that $200, is that pre-tax or post-tax?

Taylor Bowker [01:07:45]:
So it is pre-tax. Okay. Sorry, wait. Yes, yes, pre-tax, pre-tax dollars. But there are also other, there’s always just like a lot of rules and parameters you have to follow. So if you offer an ICHRA specifically, and the employee gets coverage on the Marketplace, they actually don’t qualify for a savings on their premium at all.

James [01:08:08]:
Okay. I was just going to ask you that.

Taylor Bowker [01:08:09]:
Yeah. And then, but if you offer a QSEHRA, which is a Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement, same deal, pretax money that you’re contributing every month to each employee, they could still potentially qualify for a savings on the Marketplace. You basically just have to add on whatever the monthly amount is that you get in reimbursement onto your income and/or deduct it from your savings on your premium. That’s hard to say without it sounding confusing. It’s all confusing. But yeah, so that’s, yeah, that’s how that would work. And then the nice thing too about that and working with someone like me is I can help the employer obtain the the QSEHRA or ICHRA or whatever kind of reimbursement product they want to offer. And then on the flip side, help the employees obtain their individual policies as well.

Taylor Bowker [01:09:03]:
So it kind of all goes under one umbrella.

James [01:09:06]:
Very cool.

Taylor Bowker [01:09:07]:
Yeah.

James [01:09:07]:
Let’s dig. I know we don’t have a ton of time left, so let’s dig into HSAs.

Taylor Bowker [01:09:10]:
Okay.

James [01:09:11]:
Because we keep hearing about those.

Taylor Bowker [01:09:12]:
Yeah.

James [01:09:12]:
And from what I understand, it’s just a savings account that you have to use for health stuff.

Taylor Bowker [01:09:16]:
Absolutely, yes.

James [01:09:17]:
And is that a pretax or post-tax?

Taylor Bowker [01:09:20]:
So it depends. Naturally. Right, yes. So with HSAs, okay. So I, to first, like, I guess take a step back and explain what exactly they are, ’cause they were so confusing for me for the longest time until I started doing this and understood it better. But HSA stands for health savings account. You have to have a qualifying health insurance plan in place, which is totally separate from the health savings account in order to be able to set up a health savings account and put money into it or contribute. So you have to have the policy, which is separate from the account, and you have to have the policy in order to contribute money into the account.

Taylor Bowker [01:10:05]:
Now, oftentimes you are using taxed dollars to contribute to the account ’cause most people get paid, you know, via W-2 or however that works. It’s taxed money they’re using. If that’s the case, you put that money into the HSA, but at tax time, Whatever you contribute to your health savings account throughout the year is a deduction on your taxable income.

James [01:10:29]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [01:10:30]:
So it’s tax deductible in that sense. Now, there are certain situations where, you know, say you are self-employed and you’re using money that’s not been taxed and you’re putting it in that way, that would then be using, you know, tax-free dollars to contribute to that. And that all kind of gets reconciled when you do your taxes either way. But so either it’s gonna be tax deductible or pre-tax that you’re putting into the HSA. So there’s definitely tax benefits either way if you use something like that.

James [01:11:04]:
Gotcha.

Taylor Bowker [01:11:05]:
Yeah.

James [01:11:05]:
So I got this money in the HSA.

Taylor Bowker [01:11:06]:
Mm-hmm.

James [01:11:07]:
What can I spend it on?

Taylor Bowker [01:11:09]:
Great question. So first of all, too, I said this before, but I wanna kind of preface this in a different way. If you have money in an HSA account, you can use that money at any time for your medical expenses. You don’t have to have the qualifying health insurance plan in place to use the money. The money can always be used as long as it’s used on the correct thing.

James [01:11:31]:
So you can start it with that account? Correct. With that insurance?

Taylor Bowker [01:11:35]:
Yeah.

James [01:11:36]:
But don’t necessarily have to maintain that insurance to use that HSA?

Taylor Bowker [01:11:39]:
Correct. Yeah, mean, yeah, I you have to have the health insurance policy in place to put money into the account. You can actually technically set up an HSA whenever, you just can’t put money into it unless unless you have the, the health plan in place with it.

James [01:11:49]:
Oh, interesting.

Taylor Bowker [01:11:50]:
So the money that’s in there, then you can use for most medical expenses. You cannot use HSA money. This is a big one on your health insurance premiums. That’s a big one. You can, however, use that money to pay for your health insurance premiums if you’re on COBRA, which is insurance you would obtain if you you leave an employer, you can use that money for that. You can also use HSA money to pay for some Medicare premiums. Then you can also use HSA money to pay for medical expenses. Like I said, chiropractor, acupuncture, copays, prescriptions, what is, Band-Aids, feminine products.

James [01:12:40]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [01:12:41]:
They just added that one on there. X-rays, There’s a whole list per the IRS of things that are allowable expenses and things that are not allowable expenses.

James [01:12:51]:
Can I take that HSA and go to Tijuana and pay a Tijuana doctor to do stuff?

Taylor Bowker [01:12:56]:
Yeah, I think you could.

James [01:12:57]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [01:12:57]:
Depending on what you had done. You can’t use it for cosmetic surgery though.

James [01:13:01]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [01:13:01]:
I don’t know if that’s what you’re going with that one, but— No, I.

James [01:13:03]:
Just, I don’t know.

Taylor Bowker [01:13:04]:
Yeah.

James [01:13:05]:
Doctors or go to Europe and get some work done. Yeah, you could.

Taylor Bowker [01:13:09]:
I, yeah, I don’t know why you wouldn’t be able to, ’cause it’s— I.

James [01:13:12]:
Want cancer treated in Portugal.

Taylor Bowker [01:13:15]:
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

James [01:13:15]:
You can spend it. Okay. believe I so. And then is it, is it a checkbook?

Taylor Bowker [01:13:19]:
Good question. So when you set up the HSA account, similar to a debit account, you get a debit card for that specific account. And then once you put money into the account, you have that money on the card and then you use that card to pay for your medical expenses.

James [01:13:32]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [01:13:33]:
Some accounts are a little bit more old school where you either, you know, it doesn’t really matter, I guess, never mind, hold on, let me backtrack what I was gonna say here. In the past you used to have to save receipts and, you know, save them and, you know, put them somewhere. But nowadays, at least with the HSA account, I haven’t utilized, I have a debit card and I just use that to pay for my medical expenses.

James [01:13:56]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [01:13:57]:
And it works out great.

James [01:13:58]:
And if you were to go to, I don’t know, buy a car with it, would they just be like, hi, this is an HSA credit card?

Taylor Bowker [01:14:04]:
Right. So how that works is I mean, you technically can, but it’s not correct. You know, if you were to get audited, that’s a big no-no. So you would then essentially owe that money back.

James [01:14:20]:
Sure. Penalties, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Okay.

Taylor Bowker [01:14:22]:
Right. Yeah. Got it. I mean, it’s not, you know, you’re not being tracked that, you know, intensely with it.

James [01:14:28]:
Sure.

Taylor Bowker [01:14:28]:
But you know, just kind of like, you know, you’re supposed to also know to, to pay your taxes every year. That’s just kind of a given as a human person.

James [01:14:36]:
Right.

Taylor Bowker [01:14:36]:
Not everybody does it though when they’re supposed to. To. the, So the, yeah, you’re supposed to follow the rules, but gotcha. You could, right on, and just hope you don’t get audited. But don’t do that. Don’t do that.

James [01:14:45]:
Don’t do that. Yes, not an endorsement.

Taylor Bowker [01:14:47]:
No.

James [01:14:48]:
Is the HSA, is it an account? Is that account growing? Is it invested or something, or just like we pay 0.01?

Taylor Bowker [01:14:56]:
Right. So, um, a lot of HSA accounts do, um, grow. And then the cool thing about an HSA is it’s a true savings account, and it’s your own true savings account. So if you have an HSA through a previous employer and you leave them, that HSA is yours to take with you. Unlike a lot of people confuse another acronym, FSA, which stands for flex spending account. That is where oftentimes you’ll hear the term, if you don’t use it, you lose it. That money disappears if you don’t use it. An HSA is a true savings account.

Taylor Bowker [01:15:28]:
If you’re putting money into it, it’s gonna build on itself and it’s gonna,, you know, incur interest as well. Not interest, that’s the wrong way to say that. It does grow.

James [01:15:37]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [01:15:38]:
And then, yeah, again, it’s a true savings account, so it’s yours to use as a savings tool. And that’s pretty cool.

James [01:15:44]:
Right on.

Taylor Bowker [01:15:45]:
So, yeah.

James [01:15:46]:
So the flex thing you mentioned.

Taylor Bowker [01:15:47]:
Oh, sure.

James [01:15:48]:
Use it or lose it. If you lose it, who gets that money?

Taylor Bowker [01:15:54]:
Actually, that’s a really good question. I think it goes back to the employer.

James [01:15:57]:
Okay.

Taylor Bowker [01:15:58]:
Because they, I actually don’t, I don’t know the answer to that if I’m being quite be quite honest, because some.

James [01:16:02]:
Of that money, like, oh, I forgot I had this, and it’s December 31st and I’m partying for New Year’s Eve.

Taylor Bowker [01:16:07]:
Well, and the thing about it too is with an FSA, there are different ways it can be set up, and this is based on the employer who offers it, but it can either be where the employer contributes to it or the employee contributes to it also. I believe it’s— if it’s a case where the employer contributes to it, then the money would just go back to the employer. So it’s— that’s also why too, a lot of times I remember my family, my dad had an FSA through his job growing up. And I remember I would always hear, you know, we have to, we’ve gotta go to the eye doctor in December, we gotta go to the dentist in December, we have to use up this money otherwise we lose it. You know, you’re literally throwing away free money essentially at that rate. So you don’t want to lose it, but I’m pretty sure it would just go back to the employer. But I’ll have to double check.

James [01:16:52]:
Interesting, yeah. Health savings account, good gracious.

Taylor Bowker [01:16:56]:
All the acronyms.

James [01:16:57]:
All right.

Taylor Bowker [01:16:58]:
Yeah, you should quiz me on acronyms next time because I do know quite a few of those.

James [01:17:02]:
Are we missing any? I feel like we touched on a lot.

Taylor Bowker [01:17:04]:
Yeah, that’s fine. I think we talked about enough.

James [01:17:10]:
Where can people find you?

Taylor Bowker [01:17:12]:
So I am— our website is https://www.mindfulinsuranceagency.com. We are also on Instagram. I believe our handle is Mindful Insurance Agency. Insurance LLC.

James [01:17:25]:
All right.

Taylor Bowker [01:17:26]:
Facebook, um, Google. Yeah, we’re out there.

James [01:17:30]:
Yeah, Mindful Insurance Agency.

Taylor Bowker [01:17:32]:
Yes, and it’s mindful with one L.

James [01:17:34]:
How many does it normally have?

Taylor Bowker [01:17:36]:
Well, some people have asked if it has two in the past.

James [01:17:38]:
That’d be incorrect spelling, right?

Taylor Bowker [01:17:39]:
That’s a totally different thing.

James [01:17:40]:
Okay, so we are Mindful, not Mindful.

Taylor Bowker [01:17:43]:
Just want to clarify, right?

James [01:17:45]:
I know, that’s fair. I guess I never thought like, this is how you spell mind.

Taylor Bowker [01:17:48]:
You’d be surprised, people ask questions.

James [01:17:50]:
No, I get it. I mean, with calls on call, people add an extra S in there, so yeah, it’s all good. You gotta get the extra domain and mess around with that. So at any rate, this has been Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. We are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie. If you were watching or listening to this on the web, if you could do us a huge favor, do all the things subscribe, share it with your friends, and of course, give us a big old thumbs up. I was going to say share with your friends that need health insurance. That’s pretty much everyone, right?

Taylor Bowker [01:18:23]:
Yeah.

James [01:18:23]:
It’s just how it goes. We’d like to thank you, our wonderful listeners, as well as our guest, Taylor Bowker of Mindful Insurance Agency. Taylor, can you tell us the website one more time?

Taylor Bowker [01:18:32]:
https://Www.Mindfulinsuranceagency.Com.

James [01:18:36]:
Oh, one word. Awesome.

Taylor Bowker [01:18:37]:
Yes.

James [01:18:38]:
Past episodes can be found morning, noon, and night at the podcast link found at https://drawincustomers.com. Thank you for joining us. We will see you next week. I want you to stay awesome, and if you do nothing else, enjoy your business. And Authentic Business Adventures is brought to you by Calls On Call, offering call answering and receptionist services for service businesses across the country, on the web at https://callsoncall.com. And of course, The Bold Business Book, a book for the entrepreneur and all of Plus available wherever fine books are sold.