Mindy Thomas

Career Chat – Mindy Thomas Interviews Meg McGinn, President/Founder of Osprey Health

Mindy Thomas:
Hi everybody. I’m Mindy Thomas and this is Career Chat, which airs every Monday at 11:30 AM and Tuesday nights at 8:00 PM the numbers of unemployed Americans are staggering and sadly people are losing their jobs, their income, and some are losing their health insurance. So if you’re one of those folks sitting on the sidelines today, please stay tune because my next guest is an expert in healthcare consulting. In fact, I hired her and I used her for my own health care needs. Her name is Meg McGinn of Osprey Health. Joining us right here right now is Meg. Welcome to the show. Meg. I’m so excited you’re here today.

Meg McGinn:
Thank you for having me, Mindy. It’s always a pleasure to see you and I really appreciate the opportunity to join you today regarding this very important subject.

Mindy Thomas:
Yes, COVID 19 has impacted individuals as well as employers. And there is a huge, there’s so much information out there, Meg. So we really need to help folks today understand what they need to know right now. What is fact, what is fiction? So let’s get right to it. What do individuals need to know that have been laid off and furloughed cause there’s a difference between being laid off and furloughed and then there’s the whole group of people sitting on the edge waiting for the boom to drop. Tell us what we need to know.

Meg McGinn:
You’re absolutely right. So just to start out with the difference between being furloughed and laid off actually can come down to a simply as whether you have been able to keep your benefits or have the, if the company has really terminated you know, employment as well as benefits. The benefits need to be really a bridge between that differential. If you are furloughed right now, you most likely might have a little job uncertainty but your benefits are intact. The employers are working hard to keep that employer sponsored healthcare in place as long as they possibly can and we can get to their options later on in the interview. But most importantly, let’s talk about those that have been laid off. Unfortunately this is occurring more rapidly. The numbers are increasing week by week. What individuals need to know is they have options. There is a federal mandate regarding Cobra employers required to offer employees Cobra for up to 18 months.

Meg McGinn:
And employees will have the option of continuing the current healthcare they have the health insurance they have, but at a rate of almost a hundred, 2% times. So the premium they’re carrying the majority of the premium and even at administrative fee if they elect Cobra, the alternative is one that people don’t know about as much as they should. And that is the ACA, the affordable care act in place, the individual marketplace. This is something that an individual can elect within 30 days of loss of coverage. They also can qualify for a tax credit and sometimes that tax credit can be up to a hundred percent of the monthly premium. I like to tell people it’s very important. Then the wording on healthcare.gov is their projected income for 2020. That’s what the individual has to evaluate. What is your projected income looking like?

Meg McGinn:
And it is uncertain times. We don’t know. So many more individuals do qualify for this tax premium. And in most cases, the marketplace plans are as good as what the employer sponsored plans we’re offering as well. So it’s a wonderful way for an individual to keep their costs down and their budgets down. The important piece, Mindy, that people don’t realize and employers don’t know to educate their employees on, is that if an individual elects Cobra, then they automatically become ineligible for the marketplace and that tax credit. So before they elect Cobra, it is really important for them to evaluate would they qualify for a tax credit and what are their options on the marketplace because they will not be available and eligible for the marketplace until open enrollment in November. So they’re gonna be paying 102% of their premiums for the remainder of the year. And for us right now that those are staggering numbers.

Mindy Thomas:
Meg, let me ask you this. How long do we have to decide whether we’re going to choose Cobra or choose an alternative plan? So say I get laid off today, April 21st, I guess it is around there. How long do I have?

Meg McGinn:
You have 30 days to elect an individual plan, you have 60 days to elect a Cobra plan. So it’s very important to when you get laid off to first consider what are my options on the individual marketplace. And that’s where we, and also the health can help. We evaluate the individuals needs for them and their family members and then make sure the providers, their access to care is almost as seamless as what they had. And let’s talk about that tax credit and if it could apply to them in that case as it does, but it might not, it might not be the alternative for everybody.

Mindy Thomas:
When you say evaluate a family’s needs, can you break down what that means?

Meg McGinn:
Yes.

Mindy Thomas:
I mean, we all, we have situations where we have a spouse and we have some children, dependents that all might have different health needs. Might, one might have a chronic condition, one might be having really a need of mental health support in some capacity. Some might just have a prescription drug maintenance drug that they need and they may need a very specific brand. You know, these very oral provider that they need, they, they’ve gone through all these specialists and this specialist understands them the best, you know, those little tiny things to, you know, the big picture is really important for that family member who you know, they want the access of care to stay the same. They want it to be consistent. And, and in this time it’s important to evaluate, let’s look at your providers. Let’s make sure everybody’s in there.

Mindy Thomas:
So your access to care is the same. Ultimately can come down just as siblings costs, you know if we have the privilege of choosing between you know, a provider a brand or a generic and all that terrific, but you know, in this time you know, it really comes down to premium as well. You can get your premium offset by tax credit. You know, it’s a significant piece of the pie with your expertise in health care consulting. I know you’re a voracious reader. You have to be, how do you stay up with all the information, all the regulations? Today it’s, it’s just seems unfathomable to me to get, to get a handle on that. How do you do that?

Meg McGinn:
Well, thank you. But that’s my job, you know, I mean we, when we go to the doctor, we expect the doctor to give us sound advice, you know, on whatever ill ailment condition we might have. My job is to understand the intricacies of everything going on in, in mid 22 years. I’ve been in this industry. What has happened in the last six weeks has been mind blowing. Not only the pandemic and what, what has surrounded that pandemic, but also legislative changes. The FIC run and the cares act that have been in place. The, the carriers and what they are, are accepting like the COBIT 19 for individuals out there, anything code related is covered at a hundred percent with any credible health plan. So people shouldn’t worry that that is unheard of in the state.

Mindy Thomas:
Yeah. In fact, when you, if you have cancer and I am a survivor these things aren’t covered. You know, there’s only a certain percentage people go broke when they have cancer, but with this at 19 everything’s covered. Meg,

Meg McGinn:
From, from the telemedicine to the primary care doctor to the emergency room to the inpatient. I hope that doesn’t happen, but to the inpatient, the ventilators that you hear about us, anything related, the insurance carriers aren’t taking on that. There’s zero cost sharing, which is really important for people. They want people to go seek care as quickly as possible. And you know, to your point, if people have a high deductible plan and they think they have to pay for these things, they’re going to be more reluctant to, to go and seek the care they need.

Mindy Thomas:
This is very important information for everyone to know. So if someone is laid off or they’re furloughed, what is the first plan on, on their agenda? What’s the first plan of attack here? What do they do?

Meg McGinn:
Well, whether you call me or you call somebody like myself that can help navigate their options, the first thing you want to do is evaluate the individual marketplace. You can go to healthcare.gov you can call Osprey help you can and evaluate what are my options and do I qualify for a tax credit? That’s the first and foremost. I think most of your viewers will be very pleased to learn that they will qualify for a tax credit.

Mindy Thomas:
What distinguishes Osprey health against other health care consulting? I mean, how do you evaluate a healthcare consultant today? Do you have to have credentials? Are there certificates? Are there degrees that they should have? Because I can imagine there’s a lot of people out there right now that call themselves healthcare consultants.

Meg McGinn:
You’re right. And when you are dealing specifically with healthcare.gov you really need a very specific credentials. You need a to be federally facilitated marketplace representative and FFN representative, which is why accreditation and Uber to work and enroll individuals on the marketplace. That’s important. You know, it’s in as far as my agency, how do we differentiate? The reason I got into this business is because I really care. I really care. I’m a mother of three. I have parents that are senior citizens. I am a small business owner myself. I understand how expensive healthcare is and I understand how critical it is for people to understand how to navigate their insurance. And what we do here at Osprey health is we put wellness before insurance and I think that’s the biggest differential. We have a corporate wellness program. We educate individuals on the wellness resources within the carriers.

Meg McGinn:
We help them continue to stay, helping to keep those healthcare costs down. And there is a world of information out there, free of charge for anybody who, who’s interested in, in in learning more about it. But we also are there as a resource navigating people through these very difficult times. We help and listen. We say, what, what are your needs in your home and let’s find a plan that fits your needs throughout the year. I don’t just forget about them. I check up on them. I see how things are going. I have a team of people that do the same. Someone gets a claim that isn’t reimbursed. We investigate, we find out why we challenge and we want to just extra mile because we really care. And I would say that’s how we differentiate from, from the masses out there.

Mindy Thomas:
And Meg, the other thing is, if anyone’s looking at Medicare now, they’ve turned 65, you’re an expert in Medicare as well.

Meg McGinn:
I am. I am, you know, I like to say that I like to follow people through the years so that I help navigate all of their options with all of their healthcare needs and and part of that and what’s near and dear to me. I, I love, I love the seniors. I really do. I, I love seeing them enroll when they’re 65, but I, I have many clients in their nineties and I feel like, you know, they’re my relatives, but it is mind boggling. It’s daunting. It’s scary for so many trying to figure out what their options are and it can get very expensive. And what I think I’d like your viewers to know who might qualify for Medicare is that there are lots of options out there. Affordable options have very good healthcare. So if it’s becoming more expensive than you could afford, definitely call us because we will evaluate and help you find the best skin that fits your budgets and your healthcare needs.

Mindy Thomas:
Yes. just to walk back for a moment, when we first met you were in business for yourself doing healthcare consulting, then you decided to make a little career pivot back then into working right back into corporate, then you decided to abandon working for someone else and you landed right back into healthcare consulting. Can you explain to our viewers a little bit about that shift? Because it’s an interesting twist.

Meg McGinn:
It really is. You know, and, and I took I was in this field for a long time and then I took a career break with my children at home. And in 2010, the affordable care act was passed. And at the time there were there were rumors that employer sponsored healthcare was going away and it was going to be an individual marketplace. And I saw the need for, for people to remind her, my resources to help people, individuals navigate their healthcare. And that’s how Osprey health was born. It was to help the individual figure out how to navigate all that is out there. And I loved it. I got into that. And it was a wonderful entering back into the healthcare, but things shifted and the employment sponsored healthcare did not go away. In fact, there were many more alternatives for employers than before.

Meg McGinn:
And so I thought, you know what, maybe it’s time for me to get back into the corporate side and and, and see how I can grow my, my business that way. And once I learned, once I joined a consulting firm and I saw how they did it and that’s where I came up with this idea that, you know, it’s not about just arriving once a year and delivering a renewal. It’s about really being a real value add to that employer throughout the entire year and keep your employees healthy, educate them on wellness so that when the renewal comes, we can give them, you know, tangible information and reporting that shows that what they’ve done throughout the year and helping Pete, their environment, a healthy working place for these families and these individuals. It pays off on the back end with, with their insurance. So I would say wellness than insurance. But I found that in the broader industry out there that my attention to wellness wasn’t was their priority for so many. And that’s when I said, you know what, I’m doing it my way and I’m going to go back and Osprey health is going to start taking care of employers and taking care of people. And we’re putting wellness before insurance and that’s, that’s why I’m here today. Fantastic. Meg, hold that thought. We have to take a short break. We’ll be right back.

Mindy Thomas:
Welcome back to Career Chat. We have an expert today here with us. She specializes in healthcare consulting, Meg McGuinn from Osprey health located in the greater metropolitan area of Philadelphia, but she works nationwide. Meg, we were talking about what individuals need to know about covert 19 and the impact on themselves. Let’s talk about how you’re helping employers. What do they need to know if they’re sitting out here watching us today?

Meg McGinn:
Great question. You know, you know, we had talked about in the first segment that in the last six weeks for everyone globally, life has changed, but for the employer you know, we entered this this year soaring, you know, the economy was just doing great. The conversations I was having with employers in January were a full of excitement big plans. I mean the world was our oyster, right? And and these, these employers now that everything has, has just come tumbling down on them and we will get through it. But what I have been so impressed with, with my clients and employers out there, they care so much about their employees and they want so badly to try to hang on and do what they can to get through this and take care of their employees. It’s very impressive. Well, one of the things that I think it’s important to share with your audience is that the traditional group employer sponsored health plan that they are familiar with there are changes, there are options out there and if their broker isn’t sitting down with them right this very minute and explaining their options, then their broker is doing them a disservice.

Meg McGinn:
And I say that because there are funding options, there are planned design options, there is new legislation that just was passed four months ago that could literally transform how an employer offers health care. To give you an idea, 19 the 1970s, the 401k plans came out for employers to do the defined contribution. Well, what if I were to tell you that now that defined contribution model is now set up for healthcare for employers. The individuals go seek their own plan and the employer pays for it basically or contributes to it just like he or she would in a, in a a defined contribution four, one K plan. This is this is cutting edge. It’s, it’s brand new out there, but it will surface as a viable, wonderful option for employers dealing with very difficult budget conversations right now. So I’m talking to them about funding options.

Meg McGinn:
I’m talking to them about these new plan designs. We’re talking about you know, how to to offer alternatives. Perhaps a small business owner can you know, let their encourage their employee to participate on the individual marketplace with the tax credit. And the employer can offer some other way to contribute or raise their salary or something. Their, their, you know, their ways to get creative and employers need that resource. They need that help right now they’re dealing with a lot. And most importantly, our job is to come in and sit down and, and show them ways that they can keep their employees employed, keep that healthcare going, and then also get that wellness, keep them, you know, try to add value for their employees by offering a corporate wellness program that doesn’t really even cost that much. So many of insurance carriers offer these wellness coaches and nutritionists and, and fair pests that are free of charge. It’s all embedded into the insurance plan and we provide help educating their employees of all of these options. So that’s how I’m helping right now. You know, just, just trying to be an additional resource for them.

Mindy Thomas:
So are you working with small businesses like say one to 10 employees to fortune 500? Who’s your typical client?

Meg McGinn:
So Osby health does really well in that small to middle market. So we say as small as two employees all the way up to 800. You know, we, we do REL well in that marketplace. Because you know, what we do is it’s our attention to detail and it’s, it’s really taking care of our clients and customizing each and every client’s needs. I mean, that’s so important. We are not cookie cutter here at all. We do everything customizable and we are creative. We really want to listen. I’m a small business owner myself, just like you money, you know, I can sit down, I feel, I am stand. I understand. So we’re all about like, what is it that you need and how can we help you?

Mindy Thomas:
I know that when I hired you after you hired me years ago, I came back and hired you because I had Supreme confidence in your ability to pick and choose based on my needs or what plan. And it was so confusing. I just wanted to shut my eyes and like wake up tomorrow. It’s a nightmare to navigate. So when we’re talking about employers right now, if they’re not talking to their broker, they should be calling you because your broker has a responsibility to inform them of the funding options and the other resources that are available right now. And if they’re not staying up with the state of the art in info that’s happening out there, then they’re going to be, could they get themselves into trouble? What could that look like?

Meg McGinn:
You know, the question before in the earlier segment and it just is worth repeating. It is my job to stay on top of everything that is going on. And you know, lot of late nights reading a lot, a lot of weekends, you know, talking to my, my local representatives about what’s happening on the state level, what’s happening on the federal level, how is impacting employers. That’s my job. And that’s the job of a broker is to sit and, and really make sure that we have a pulse on what is happening at this very moment because our, our clients, they’re, they’re running their own businesses and they need us to come in. So, yeah, I mean, I would say that the very first important question the employer needs to ask is, am I getting the, the support and the resources from my broker? And if they’re not, then it’s time to reevaluate why they’re there using that individual.

Mindy Thomas:
[Inaudible] And so you work with customers or clients nationwide?

Meg McGinn:
I do. Yup. And just so you know, it varies from state to state. Healthcare is so different, let’s say in California versus down in Texas versus New York. And here the state regulations are different. It’s really important to make sure you understand what’s happening. The health systems in the different areas of the country. Very, very different. So yeah, I do that as well.

Mindy Thomas:
Well that’s interesting because like for example, if you had a new Yorkers it wanted to move to Miami and they were on Medicare or going to be on Medicare, don’t they need to know what’s happening down in Florida before they decide to move?

Meg McGinn:
Absolutely. I mean, you raise a very good point. You know with the, there, there are two different types of Medicare options, Medicare supplements and Medicare advantage. The Medicare advantage is dependent on a network of strong network. If you have a strong network for a Medicare advantage plan, I think that’s the best bang for the buck. And then the Philadelphia region, which is where we’re headquartered, they Medicare advantage plan it’s extremely affordable and the access to care is second to none because of the strong network we have. But if you go somewhere else in the country where that network isn’t as strong, the Medicare advantage plan is a very different plan than it is here. And it’s really important to know the difference between the two. And it’s a great question. Sorry.

Mindy Thomas:
So if they started Medicare this month and they decide to move in November of this year, 2020 to Miami, can they change their Medicare plan when they move or do they have to wait until the enrollment period to change plans?

Meg McGinn:
They can change if they’re, if they’re moving permanently down to Miami, they can change it. It’s considered a qualifying event. A move is a qualifying event so that they can change. If they were a snowbird, let’s say, and they’re down in Miami four or five months of the year, but their primary residence is up here, then you cannot change your plan until open enrollment, which is in October.

Mindy Thomas:
Okay. I have another question about college students. Do they can they jump on healthcare plans right now?

Meg McGinn:
You know, it’s again, something that just, we just learned about in the last week. So many colleges offer health plans to their students and a lot of parents take advantage of that. They removed them from their health plan and they enroll them on the college plan. Well these college health plans are now terming these students because there’s nobody there. It’s important for parents to understand. You either have to get them back on your plan or they are eligible to, to enroll in, in a, an individual plan or short term medical plan. But, but the parents aren’t, are aware that their children could be truly exposed right now not being covered at all. So it is important, but yes, you can swing back onto your your, your family plan and that is as easy as contacting your member services and saying, I want to add my child or that’s something our, our customer service team does is just call we’re adding our children back on. And you can literally like flip a switch, take them on and off when needed.

Mindy Thomas:
Well, Meg, this is been an invaluable interview. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the resources and the information and the wealth of knowledge that you have offered our viewers today. Tell my viewers how they can find you if they choose to do some consulting with you.

Meg McGinn:
Well, w w Mindy, we really do appreciate the opportunity just to talk and if anybody is in need of any sort of guidance regarding healthcare, you can contact us at wwwdotospreyhealth.com or you can call (610) 727-3822, and we would be more than happy to hear how we can help you learn how we can help here, what you need assistance with and just be some sort of a support during this difficult time. Happy to do that.

Mindy Thomas:
Well, it’s been great to have you on the show, Meg. Much continued success to our viewing audience, especially our healthcare workers and our essential workers. We appreciate your service and sacrifice. Everyone. Have a happy and safe week with the ones you love. And let’s, we’re in it to win it so we will win it. I will see you here next week.