America's Healthcare Advocate

Small business owners and brokers , this show is for you. Todd Houston is our expert guest today and our focus is Small Group . We'll learn from Todd about Bravewind Benefits and how they bring exciting new methods and tools in and how along side of things like Green Imaging , AI underwriting tools and even sourcing prescriptions from Canada ; they bring down the cost of employer sponsored benefit...

Our guest is Shannon Schneller from Focus Hearing in the KC Metro, who will discuss both sudden and gradual hearing loss, why when getting a tested the its "the sooner the better", how hearing loss is sneaky and that even younger people can have hearing loss, Plus, what is a hearing test like? Learn more! Visit Focus Hearing https://myfocushearing.com or call (913) 754-2144 and as always if you ne...

Everything you need to know for Open Enrollment 2025 from Carolee Steele, our Medicare expert on our annual show. Doctors, hospitals, networks and all the moving parts. If your Medicare Advantage carrier is discontinuing Medicare Advantage like they are in Kansas City, what should you do? What can you do? And, what are the hidden advantages nobody thinks of? Medicare Supplement Medicare Advantage...

Each year we go over all that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is offering Federal Employees and BlueKC's Ron Miller joins us to explain the plan details. This year federal employees still call 1-800-411-BLUE for more information and they've added a special number for Postal Workers, (816) 395-2115 locally or the toll free 1-833-467-2140 . Visit https://www.fepblue.org for more informatio...

Today we have a discussion on national health care that is fascinating and will blow your mind with a doctor we call Dr Bowtie . My expert guest is Dr. Firouz Daneshgari, MD, MBA, FPMRS, FACS Dr. Daneshgari: “Our eyes are very open to this concept that 50%, more than half of what is done in our hospital based system is a waste. That is why it is a Sick Care based system . Not only do we want to el...

Carolee Steele and Maria Ahlers join me for a look at your options when your provider doesn't offer Medicare Advantage for 2025. While this episode discusses events specific to the Kansas City Metro, the content might be valuable for anyone in a similar situation of lost coverage, Medicare Supplement or Medicare Advantage coverage and our guests are qualified in all areas of Employer, Individual,...

"In the US, we have created the sick care system, the system that benefits from our people being sick. And the reason for that is that their health care is delivered through 5000 financial institutions called hospitals". Our guest is Dr Firouz Daneshgari , who has a most unique idea. He is someone who's really experienced what it's like on the inside of National Health Care systems and he has an i...

I'll tell you what these young men did was they came together, and they put a program together. They named it Zuzu's Petals. I'll let them explain the weird name later in the show but but what they did was they put this program together to take care of families that cannot afford to have a Christmas. John, Mak and Dan love Christmas so much, they created a way to share it and help local families....

More women die from heart issues each year than all cancers combined! We say: "do you have chest pain" to women and to men, but commonly in women it could felt as pressure in the chest or really any symptom from the waist on up including tooth pain and overwhelming fatigue. These are signs of a serious heart issue. That is what bothers Dr Tracy Stevens the most, that in men and women, symptoms may...

I am pleased to offer our experts from JD Power Award Winning BlueKC (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City) to lay out their new, 2025 Medicare Supplement options and tell us more about why some companies are also withdrawing their Medicare Advantage plans in 2025. Our Experts from BlueKC are: Barron Roberts , Manager of Small Group, Medicare and Individual Sales; Barb Bins , Broker Developme...

My guest Dr. Arden Andersen has experienced it himself and now his patients as well have life changing, life improving experiences to share. With him, Dr. Emilio John suffered terribly for many years, and he also has experienced a return to a feeling of wellness. To hear them tell their stories is both moving and exciting. But what are they talking about? They work at a new facility in Lenexa Kans...

How do you work ON your business, not IN your business if you're that small business owner? My guest is an expert on how to do that and why you should. He is Chad Simpson, VP of Sales for G&A Partners. They are a PEO , Professional Employer Organization and a PEO is much different than simply outsourcing HR and payroll. Here is how Chad explains it: "It can get a little bit confusing because i...

My guest for this episode is a true expert. His name is Sam Nigro , and he is a broker in Omaha, NE who specializes in individual and group health benefits. We're going to talk specifically about GigCare today and the individual market, how to navigate it and what you need to know if you are a contract worker, a “1099 Worker” who has a hard time finding affordable health coverage . You are not alo...

Our annual Labor Day Car Show show has a little bit of everything. Joining me from the Kansas City AFL-CIO is President Patrick A. “ Duke ” Dujakovich , and also from the AFL-CIO and from the organization Working Families’ Friend, VP Chris Jenkins. The Labor Day Car Show https://www.kc-carshow.com is happens this Saturday at Azura Amphitheater in Bonnor, Springs, Ks plus, we’ll discuss jobs, colle...

It’s shocking to learn that 1.2 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed each year, and our returning guest, RN Ron Hoyler, who is a Diabetes Educator at Saint Lukes Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. adds "we are recognizing more and more that preventative education can prevent or can stop some of these issues from happening before they even begin". Folks, I was shocked to hear that 33% of the Medic...

With over 28 years caring for employees, over 1200 businesses and over 500,000 employees including public, private, white collar and blue collar, LEAPCare is something employers can make available to their employees. Join me as I speak with Melvin Swafford, VP of LEAPCare and Regional Director Ryan Lilly, LEAP Care for this compelling and compassionate story of caring that you could also bring to...

Sheriff Cal Hayden brings us inside the Johnson County Sheriffs Office and we learn about some amazing facts: They received 22,257 calls in May with 95% or answered in 10 seconds or less . Contrast that with other municipalities where 911 callers get put on hold and have to wait minutes, and their response times are under five minutes, yet Cal reminds us "when you think about that five minute peri...

It comes down to lifestyle. Our food has changed. Our movement has changed. Our stress levels have changed. Our sleep has changed. All of the things that keep us healthy have shifted, and our bodies aren't responding to them well. When we shifted from growing food and making it ourselves to processing it to make it convenient to eat on the go and do all the other things we want to do in life. We c...

The Black Achievers Society of Greater Kansas City is where building Self-Esteem gaining Leadership Skills and developing Confidence and Community Connections is taught, coached and mentored. Our guests are Heather Rollins , Manager of Individual Sales at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, Grant Lewis , President of the Black Achievers Society of Kansas City and special guest Tiana Rollins ....

We are in the middle of America, literally! Kansas City is halfway to everywhere and sits at the crossroads of distribution as Interstate 35, going north and south, intersects with Interstate 70, which runs east and west. We know Fentanyl, Heroin, Marijuana along with Human Trafficking using the I-35 corridor and then being dispersed out into the communities. The Sheriff’s here today and this is:...

Whether you are wanting to lose weight, prevent Type 2 Diabetes or both, you now can consider the class of drugs described as "glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists" that work by binding to GLP-1 receptors, which in turn results in lower blood sugar levels and A1C levels and are now being prescribed to reduce appetite and help with weight loss. But there is a high financial cost and you may nee...

The Sheriff’s here today: Our Health and the Health of our Communities Joining me in studio today is Cal Hayden. He is the sheriff of Johnson County, Kansas and we’ll be discussing our personal health and highlight issues that we're dealing with in our communities in this country and how they affect community health. Kansas City is halfway to everywhere. We're right in the middle of the country. S...

If you’re a 1099 employee you are part of what’s called the GIG economy , and you know that finding good, affordable health insurance is difficult, if not impossible. In this episode of America's Healthcare advocate, I'll explore GigCare , offering a variety of affordable plans with doctor office copays, labs, x-rays, prescription drugs and major medical coverage, just like traditional employer sp...

Today my Spira Care guests are Dr. Becky Gerno n, Department Vice President and Medical Director at Spira Care and Sharon Wilkinson who is the Clinical Performance manager at Spira Care centers as we discuss Spira Care’s integrated behavioral health component designed to see that patients’ needs are met both physically and mentally.  This is a great episode, and we delve into how behavioral h...

They say that 40 cents of every $1 that’s paid for Primary Care services goes to the relationship between the Insurance company and the Doctor. So we're going to talk about a different model of primary care today. It's an alternative. It's something different, and I'm intrigued by it. And I think you will be, too. It's a model that obviously is working well because they continue to expand the numb...