Health Insurance

Buddy: On-demand accident insurance for active people

 
 
Charles Merritt, the CEO and Co-founder of Buddy, which provides on-demand accident insurance to empower Americans to fearlessly lead active lives joins eHealth Radio and the Health News Channel.
Listen to interview with host Eric Michaels and guest Charles Merritt discuss the following:
Tell me a little bit about Buddy and who it’s for.
If I already have health insurance, does it still make sense for me to get Buddy?
How does a person actually go about getting insured through Buddy? What are the steps?
What happens if a policyholder is injured? What would they do and what can they expect?
What does Buddy’s accident insurance cover and what does it NOT cover?
SUMMARY: Buddy can cover your kids without an adult having to be on the policy, perfect for when they go to soccer camp or on a trip, even out of the country!
Buddy provides on-demand accident insurance for active people, from casual hikers and cyclists to amateur athletes and globe-trotting adventurers. It was founded by Charles Merritt, Jay Paul and David Vogeleer of Virginia after they saw mountain-biking friends get injured and have to start GoFundMe’s to cover costs before high deductibles kicked in. Customers pay only for the coverage they need, no more, lasting anywhere from a single day to a full year. It was this novel approach that led Outside Magazine to call Buddy one of the top outdoor innovators in 2019, and for Investopedia to name it among the five best personal accident insurance companies for 2021.
 
 
Website: https://buddyinsurance.com
Social Media Links: Facebook: facebook.com/buddyadventureinsurance  Twitter: twitter.com/iambuddystweets  Instagram: instagram.com/iambuddysgrams LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/iambuddy

Reinventing Financial Navigation

 
 
Srulik Dvorsky, the CEO and Co-founder of TailorMed, a leading financial navigation technology company that helps patients remove financial barriers to care joins eHealth Radio and the Health News Channel.
Listen to interview with host Eric Michaels and guest Srulik Dvorsky discuss the following:
What is TailorMed and what was the driving force behind founding the company?
What unique need is TailorMed solving for patients and for health systems?
What is the importance of price transparency in healthcare for the patient? For a health system?
How is TailorMed improving patient experience?
What is TailorMed doing to fight inequities in healthcare and level the playing field?
How has the patient's financial burden impacted providers, particularly at a time when COVID-19 has led to a drop in patient volume?
Srulik Dvorsky is the co-founder and CEO of TailorMed, the leading financial navigation technology company that helps patients and healthcare providers remove financial barriers to care. After serving as the primary caretaker for several family members following a cancer diagnosis, he started TailorMed with a personal mission to leverage technology to remove barriers to care. He brings to the company more than a decade of experience in the medical device industry.
 
Website: https://tailormed.co
Social Media Links: Facebook: facebook.com/TailorMed.co   Instagram: instagram.com/tailormed.co

How can you be sure you aren’t overpaying your medical bills? A Medical Claims Advocate can help you!

 
 
Susan Null, principal at Systemedic, Inc. a nationally recognized medical claims advocate based in New York joins eHealth Radio and the Healthcare and Health News Channels. Null and her company use their decades of experience detecting medical billing errors, inconsistencies, and unethical practices along with their hands-on coding and billing knowledge to ensure that consumers pay only for legitimate medical expenses.
Listen to interview with host Eric Michaels and guest Susan Null discuss the following:
What is a medical claims advocate?
Why do people seek out your services?  Why are those services needed?
What services do you provide as a medical claims advocate?
When someone receives a medical bill, what steps should he/she take to ensure that the bill is correct?
Given the Covid-19 healthcare crisis, are there any specific billing issues that people should be concerned about?

Sue Null is a principal at Systemedic, Inc. and brings more than 30 years’ experience in marketing and client service to the table. She has spent the last 14 years providing front-line support to the company’s medical billing and advocacy clients, focusing on negotiating with insurers and medical facilities and spearheading communications with insurance companies on behalf of her clients.
As the daughter of and sister to a general surgeon, pathologist, and orthopedic surgeon, Sue brings a lifetime of inside exposure to medicine, an insight used every day as she advocates for her clients. Her BA from the University of Pennsylvania, along with her early-career experience in public relations and marketing, provide the framework for advocacy efforts.
 
 
 
Website: www.get-meducated.com
Social Media Links: Facebook: facebook.com/SystemedicInc  Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/systemedic-inc  Twitter: twitter.com/SystemedicInc

Open Enrollment what you need to know

 
 
Jan Dubauskas, Vice President and Senior Counsel at HIIQ, a leading developer and distributor of affordable, web-based individual health insurance plans and ancillary products joins eHealth Radio and the Health Insurance and Health News Channels to discuss the importance of Open Enrollment.
 
Listen to interview with host Eric Michaels & guest Jan Dubauskas discuss the following:
What is open enrollment for benefits and what are the key dates?
What kinds of health insurance plans are available under open enrollment?
What happens if I decide not to enroll in a health insurance plan?
How does one learn more about available health insurance plans if they do not have one supplied by their employer?
What are 2 or 3 things consumers should look for when selecting a health insurance plan?

Jan Dubauskas is Vice President and Senior Counsel at Health Insurance Innovations, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIIQ), a leading cloud-based technology platform and distributor of affordable individual and family health insurance and supplemental plans. Ms. Dubauskas has more than ten years of experience managing legal and compliance for life and health insurance carriers. Prior to joining HIIQ in February 2019, she served as General Counsel for IHC Specialty Benefits, Inc., a member of The IHC Group whose carriers provide individual and supplemental health insurance. At IHC, she managed many of the company’s operations including legal and compliance and regularly interacted with both federal and state agencies.
Ms. Dubauskas previously served as General Counsel and Secretary for Oxford Life Insurance Company, an insurance carrier focused on providing life, health and annuity products to the senior market. Ms. Dubauskas earned her law degree from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University where she was a Pedrick Scholar. She achieved the LOMA designation Associate, Insurance Regulatory Compliance (AIRC) certificate and is a licensed life and health insurance producer in Arizona.
She is a renowned expert and has been on Fox News and quoted in top publications.
 
 
Websites: hiiq.com | agilelifeinsurance.com | agilehealthinsurance.com
Social Media Links: Facebook: facebook.com/healthinsuranceinnovations  Twitter: @HIIQInc

Finding health insurance that meets your needs

 
 
Jan Dubauskas, Senior Counsel and Vice President at Health Insurance Innovations, focused on the eCommerce division, where the company provides direct to consumer solutions joins eHealth Radio and the Health Insurance and Health News Channels.
 
Listen to interview with host Eric Michaels & guest Jan Dubauskas discuss the following:
Who is HIIQ and how do you differ from insurance companies?
What are some of the challenges people face in getting the right health insurance?
What solutions/products do you offer?
What should the average person think about when looking for health coverage?
What’s next for HIIQ?

Ms. Dubauskas is a licensed attorney with more than 10 years of experience managing legal and compliance for life and health insurance carriers. As Senior Counsel and Vice President at Health Insurance Innovations, Ms. Dubauskas focuses on the eCommerce division, where the company provides direct to consumer solutions. She previously held roles as General Counsel for a health insurance company, and as General Counsel and Secretary for a life insurance company.
 
 
Websites: hiiq.com | agilelifeinsurance.com | agilehealthinsurance.com
Social Media Links: Facebook: facebook.com/healthinsuranceinnovations  Twitter: @HIIQInc

Financial toxicity’s devastating effect on people with late stage illnesses – there are solutions.

 
 
Adam Balinsky, Founder and President of Fifth Season Financial, a financial services firm which offers solutions and products to help relieve the financial pressures faced by many patients struggling with advanced illnesses, including cancer joins eHealth Radio and the Health News Channel. Its FLAG (Funds for Living and Giving) program is designed to bridge the gap between the traditional financial assistance programs available to mitigate the direct medical and treatment costs, and the much broader financial needs of patients.
 
Listen to interview with host Eric Michaels & guest Adam Balinsky discuss the following:
What is financial toxicity and how does it impact your clients?
What’s the difference between your FLAG program and viatical settlements?
Why aren’t nonprofits and hospitals talking about this option when it comes to people who are dealing with late stage illnesses?
Is there a personal story behind FSF that you can share?
What’s the thing your most proud of when it comes to your business?
 
Adam Balinsky is the Founder and President of Fifth Season Financial. He passionately believes in the mission of the company—to help relieve the financial pressures faced by many patients struggling with advanced illnesses including cancer.
Adam recognizes that people facing advanced-stage diseases have incremental financial pressures affecting everyday life that are not being addressed. That’s why Fifth Season’s financial assistance program, FLAG (Funds for Living and Giving), is designed to bridge the gap between the traditional financial assistance programs available to mitigate the direct medical and treatment costs, and the much broader financial needs of patients. The FLAG Program provides patients with money from a non-traditional asset – their existing life insurance policy.
Adam hopes that those who use our financial assistance program are able to use the funds to maintain or better their quality of life. The funds can be used as the patient sees fit. Common uses include paying rent or mortgage bills, utility bills, medication costs, treatment costs. Others use the funds to take a dream trip—creating lasting memories with family members, to pay for in-home care, or to pay to bring family together. To date, Fifth Season has assisted nearly 400 patients and their families and provided more than $75 million in financial help to patients with advanced illnesses.
The Story Behind Adam’s Passion for Fifth Season’s Services
A year after Adam and his family moved to the United States from Canada, his wife, Tracey, was diagnosed with breast cancer. While dealing with the sobering realities of their new situation, Adam began to learn about the many ways organizations in the U.S. support patients medically and emotionally. However, he was disappointed to see the very limited structured support for the broad range of financial strains patients often face. Adam was motivated and inspired to proactively do something about it. After serving as director of Fifth Season Financial from 2007 through 2009, Adam acquired Fifth Season Financial in October 2012. He then structured and developed the FLAG program to specifically address financial needs of people facing advanced-stage illnesses. Beyond Fifth Season, Adam and Tracey (who is now five years post treatment and doing very well!) are very active in supporting cancer causes, including Gilda’s Club Westchester, where Tracey is a member of the Board of Directors.
Adam’s Expertise
Adam is a lawyer by training, having practiced law for 11 years at Baker & McKenzie LLP, where he became a partner in 2005. Adam holds a joint MBA/JD from the University of Toronto and a Bachelors of Commerce from McGill University. He is admitted to practice law in the Province of Ontario, Canada, and is in good standing with the American Bar Association and the Law Society of Upper Canada. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) from May 2011 to May 2013.
 
 
Website: www.fifthseasonfinancial.com
Social Media Links: Facebook: facebook.com/5SeasonFin Twitter: @5SeasonFin LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/fifth-season-financial-assistance

Concordia Care Inc. Providing Risk-Transfer, Behavioral Health Solutions for Workers’ Compensation

 
 
Joseph Berardo Jr., CEO of Concordia Care, Inc., a specialty risk-transfer, care-coordination company grounded in behavioral health sciences that provides “carve-outs” for catastrophic, complex and large loss cases joins eHealth Radio and the Health News Channel.
Listen to interview with host Eric Michaels & guest Joseph Berardo Jr. discuss the following:
Give us an overview of Concordia and the types of companies and organizations it services.

How do you describe the Pathways 2 Recovery model and the importance of its patient centric focus?
Please explain the Concordia distinction as a “specialty risk-transfer company” and how that capability differentiates the company in the marketplace.  

Explain the casualty sector and the relevance of Concordia for injuries related to workers comp.  
With the nation’s focus on opioid abuse, Concordia’s Pathways 2 Recovery model is positioned to provide an important solution. Tell us how the combination of behavioral health and clinical approaches advance individual recovery.
 
Joseph Berardo, Jr. has a successful track record of building progressive companies in the healthcare services marketplace, and recruiting talented, highly motivated teams to advance corporate positioning. As CEO, he guides the strategic focus of Concordia Care, Inc. to provide risk transfer solutions and coordination of care in the casualty and behavioral health marketplaces. Under his direction, Concordia Care is leveraging its specialized capabilities in managing the most complex behavioral health challenges to create Pathways to Recovery for acute and non-acute catastrophic cases.  Berardo oversees company operations in managed behavioral health programs for commercial insurers, self-Insured companies, Medicare, Medicaid, and specialized government-sponsored programs. Mr. Berardo also serves on the Board, and is an investor in, the Brighton Health Group as a result of Brighton’s acquisition of MagnaCare in January 2014.   He served for more than eight years as CEO of MagnaCare before transitioning to Non-Executive Chairman in January 2016.  Berardo began his tenure at MagnaCare as Vice President of Sales and Marketing in January of 2003, He took over as President in June 2005 and added the role of CEO in September 2007.  During his time at MagnaCare, he is credited with pioneering the movement to self-insurance for worker’s compensation and health benefits, guiding employers from conventional, fully-insured to self-funded health plans, as well as boosting employer and plan sponsor initiatives to offer customer-centric plan designs which better manage healthcare costs.  His distinguished career in healthcare services began in 1990 at U.S. Healthcare, and includes subsequent leadership positions at Mount Sinai Health System, Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Multiplan. Berardo has been named to the Crain’s NY Business “40 under 40,” and NJ Biz Power 50 in Health Care. Recognized as an industry thought leader, Berardo has authored numerous articles in trade and peer-reviewed publications.   Mr. Berardo is former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Make-A-Wish foundation of NJ and former Chairman of the Board of the Ocean Medical Center Foundation. He holds a BA in Economics from Rutgers University.
 
Concordia Care, Inc. (Concordia) is a specialty risk transfer, care-coordination company servicing insurers, government entities, self-insured plan sponsors and other managed care organizations. Through its Pathways 2 Recovery care model, Concordia aims to improve patient-centered outcomes and reduce overall cost of quality care by applying best practices in a biopsychosocial-centric approach to manage complex challenges for the group health, casualty and auto markets.  Concordia’s integrated business units include:  Concordia Behavioral Health, Concordia Group Health, Concordia Casualty and Concordia Ancillary.  Concordia holds dual accreditations from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Healthcare Inc. (AAAHC) and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
 
 
Website: www.concordiacare.com
Social Media Links: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConcordiaCare Twitter: https://twitter.com/ConcordiaCare

MedjetAssist: Your premier global air-medical transport provider

 
John Gobbels, the Chief Operating Officer/Vice President and transport expert for MedjetAssist, the premier global air-medical transport membership program for travelers which is a great supplement to travel insurance again joins eHealth Radio and the Travel Health Care Information Channel.
Listen to interview with host Eric Michaels & guest John Gobbels discuss the following:
What is MedjetAssist, and how does it compare/contrast to basic travel insurance?
What are some of the different kinds of Medjet memberships?
With the recent attack in Germany, we are reminded that travel safety is very important. How would a Medjet membership benefit a traveler in Berlin at that time? 
As winter sports season has begun, would you recommend Medjet for skiers and snowboarders?
Would Medjet cover snowbirds or students studying abroad who are away from home for an extended period of time?
 

 
John Gobbels brings over 25 years of pre-hospital and hospital service and management experience to his role as vice president and COO of MedjetAssist. Since joining the premier air-medical transport membership program in 2006 as director of transport operations, Mr. Gobbels has been responsible for complete oversight of all transport and repatriation operations.
Before moving from his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Medjet’s headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama, Mr. Gobbels spent 13 years with STAT MedEvac, the air ambulance arm of the renowned University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). During his tenure, he played integral roles in almost all aspects of the program, from base operations to communications and clinical operations.
For six years Mr. Gobbels served as clinical director of STAT MedEvac, overseeing compliance with the Commission on Air-Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS), as well as the continuing education requirements for all clinical staff. Previously, he was a flight nurse and paramedic. Mr. Gobbels began his career with UPMC in 1991 as a critical care nurse.
John Gobbels holds a Masters degree in Management and Information Technology from Carlow University in Pittsburgh, PA., as well as multiple degrees in health care.
 
 
Web Site: medjetassist.com
Social Media Links: Facebook: www.facebook.com/medjetassist  Twitter: @MedjetAssist

Get your Healthcare financially under control!!

Lydia delRossi, Manager of Aiken Health Insurance Company since 2002. a full service Brokerage source joins eHealth Radio and the Healthcare, and Health News Channels.
Listen to interview with host Eric Michaels and guest Lydia delRossi discuss the following:
What exactly is Non Obamacare Health Insurance and how does it differ from the  plans offered on the Exchange?
What made you focus on specializing in this type of coverage vs just going with the flow and enrolling people in Obamacare as most Health Insurance Brokers do?
Can you give me an example of how these type plans would benefit a consumer if they had a hospital stay - or needed expensive nuclear testing like a CAT scan?
What other resources can your company offer consumers so they can be more engaged in their own care and the health insurance  process and save money?
Duration: 14:44
Since 2002 Lydia delRossi of Aiken, SC has owned and manged Aiken Health Insurance - a full service Brokerage source for Nationwide Coverage -  Private Carrier -  Non-Obamacare PPO "Alternative Health Insurance Strategies".   She has used her sales and marketing experience over  the past 14 years to developed a source for consumers to understand alternative coverage options available to them as well as offering guidance and coverage options for them to consider for the more traditional Medicare Supp - Accident- Illness  - Life Insurance and Disability plans available on the market.  Aiken Health ONLY offers full nationwide accepted  PPO plans. She has successfully driven the growth and development of several start- up companies which have launched innovative new products into the marketplace.    A staunch supporter and active member of the nationally acclaimed  Toastmasters she is a frequent speaker at the Business School division of the University of South Carolina  on marketing and business strategies and has had used her leadership abilities to define tools and resources for consumers to use which will significantly drop their out of pocket expense and help them find the best possible medical care - regardless of what type of Health Coverage they have - or even if they have no coverage at all. The goal Lydia delRossi and Aiken Health are attaining is to give consumers the resources, tools and knowledge to help empower themselves in a rapidly changing Health Insurance and Health Care World.   
Website: www.aikenhealthinsurance.com
Facebook: facebook.com/AikenHealthInsurance
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