EPISODE 492: Saving Employees and Companies Money on Healthcare with Mark Fox

Hey, chiropractors. We're ready for another Modern Chiropractic Mastery Show with Dr. Kevin Christie, where we discuss the latest in marketing strategies, contact marketing, direct response marketing, and business development with some of the leading experts in the industry.

Dr. Kevin Christie: [00:00:00] All right, excited to have Mark Fox here on the line here. I, uh, was actually interviewed by him a couple weeks ago, and we're gonna turn the tables on today and discuss how, um, you know, basically how employees can get affordable, really effective care, and how employers can actually save money in, in providing that.

And so as we dive into that, first, uh, introduce yourself and also CBG.

Mark Fox: Uh, thank you, Dr. Christie. It's great to be on your show. Um, my name is Mark Fox. I'm president of CBG, and our mission is to radically change how healthcare is purchased. Uh, we recognize that, uh, the traditional health insurance model has a lot of misaligned incentives, and so we've gone out and created a custom plan for employers to realign those incentives and really put patients back with providers.

That's really the key. So that's our mission. We're changing healthcare one employer at a time, and I wish I could claim, you know, all the credit in the world for this strategy, but it [00:01:00] wasn't originally mine. Mm-hmm. Uh, it actually started, uh, with uh, a gentleman named Tom Emrick. Um, o- 20 years ago, uh, he was hired by Walmart, uh, because they were spending an enormous amount on healthcare, and at the time, Walmart was the largest employer in the country, and they only made about $6,500 in revenue per employee.

So, uh, you know, controlling healthcare cost was a big deal for them. Um, business-wise, they also had this thing called Dollar General knocking on their market door, and Dollar General was really owning, um, that space because Supercenter Walmart was a very big overhead. Uh, so Walmart, uh, had to figure out, "What do we do with this?

How do we fund it?" So they were able to help fund the strategy of the neighborhood Walmart through their healthcare dollars. Tom Emrick, over the years, had saved them over a billion dollars on their healthcare spend, and that didn't happen by accident. It happened because they were proactively [00:02:00] managing the frequency and severities of their claims.

So that's our mission. That's what we do, and, um, that's kind of how we got started back with, uh, Tom Emrick and Walmart. We've taken those same strategies and vendors. We've brought them down market, uh, for employers.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah, and, and we connected because of a, a local company to me, and, and we're providing chiropractic for that particular company, uh, through this, uh, this plan that we're gonna ta- discuss here in a second.

So that's how we've connected, and it really, um, reignited a flame for me because we've had, uh, on-site wellness for, you know, 15 years. We got out of it around COVID for various reasons with insurance, uh, a- and stuff like that, but it was a bread and butter of ours for, for a while, and I saw a lot of the benefits, uh, of that.

And so let's actually dive into, you guys have what's called the Free and Clear plan, and that's what you offer to the, to the companies. So let's, let's start with that, and let's, uh, dialogue around it

Mark Fox: Yeah, the free and clear plan is, uh, really a game changer. It's, it's the needle mover that [00:03:00] employers have been looking for for decades.

You know, they have that little voice in the back of their head. They're like s- there's gotta be something better than what I've been told for, like, the last couple decades. Mm-hmm. And, and that's the key is the free and clear plan. Uh, what it is, it's a relationship driven health plan, um, that works with local providers to assist in providing healthcare at no cost to employees.

So that's no deductible, no co-pays, no co-insurance. Um, we kinda joke but not joke, they just show up with their ID, they can leave the rest of their wallet at home, right? Um, so if an employee is not concerned about how much it's going to cost them, then they don't delay in care. That means we're able to catch things sooner in the care cycle, right?

We don't have to wait for things to snowball effect and get worse. Uh, so the free and clear plan is absolutely massive for the employee to save money 'cause they don't have to worry about, "Well, how much is this gonna cost me?" They can just go get care, the care that they need. They can go see the physician [00:04:00] and get that taken care of.

For the employer, because the process of negotiation has already taken place, they don't have to worry about how much is this gonna cost the plan. So all of the claims that happen in the free and clear plan are significantly less compared to in-network pricing. Mm-hmm. Uh, we did a study on it, and our in-network, uh, pricing models are over 65% higher than the claim inside the free and clear plan.

That's a big needle mover.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah.

Mark Fox: Big, big, big.

Dr. Kevin Christie: For sure. For sure. And so I wanna, uh, break this down a little bit for, for our audience. And so you're gonna have companies that, uh... Would this work if they are self-insured companies and/or they obviously just pay a particular large premium for the, to have insurance?

Mark Fox: Yeah, so self-insured is, is kind of the vehicle. Yeah. Um, if, if they're fully insured, they could still implement our free and clear plan if they wanted to, but the insurance company is not gonna give them a discount for doing it. So [00:05:00] maybe they're just paternalistic and they wanna give their employees better access, they certainly can, but their insurance company's not gonna give them a discount.

Whereas if you're self-funded, you're able to remove those claims from your major medical health plan, so when you come to renewal, the underwriter doesn't even see them, so re- your renewal becomes more favorable, more predictable year after year. Um, self-funding is, uh, sounds scary on purpose because those words were actually, uh, created by the big insurance carriers.

It sounds scary to be self-funded, whereas fully insured sounds safe, right? And inexpensive. So... And expensive, yeah. And that's what it is. I mean, with fully insured, you're paying upfront all of the claims whether you use them or not. With self-funding, you get a portion of the savings, meaning the claims dollars that were not used.

That doesn't mean you don't have an insurance component. There's still an insurance component built into your self-funded plan that capture risk. So your overall risk is [00:06:00] still at or less than what you were paying with fully insured. So why wouldn't you wanna save money, right?

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah.

Mark Fox: Yeah.

Dr. Kevin Christie: No, it makes a lot of sense.

And so obviously, uh, there's a lot of good research on, um, you know, what the cost of healthcare has become. Like, it's just insane what it's cost for traditional healthcare. And when you can mitigate that, you're gonna cost the employer quite a l- quite a f- few dollars short of that, right? So- Yeah. Yeah ... it, it's been pretty- Absolutely.

What are some of the things you've seen from a, a numbers standpoint of- Yeah ... of what this is allowing for employers to save?

Mark Fox: Yeah, so a lot of employers think that premium is their number one problem when it comes to insurance. It's not. Um, it's the result, but it's not the cause. When we really step back and look at it, healthcare costs are the cause of why we have high premiums.

Right. But yet there's so many [00:07:00] insurance brokers out there who wanna bring an insurance product to employers to solve a healthcare problem.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Mm-hmm.

Mark Fox: Now, we don't need another insurance product to fix a healthcare problem. We've been trying that for decades. It's not been working. We need a healthcare solution to fix a healthcare problem.

Um, and traditionally, and this is, this kinda ebbs and flows a little bit, but usually average across the board you have about 5% of your employees spending 50 to 60% of your entire healthcare budget. So instead of focusing in on 100% of your employees, you really only need to focus in on the high dollar claims, right?

Mm-hmm. So 5% of your employees who are spending all the money, they're also the one that need the most care. They need the most guidance, right? And quality of care. So you certainly don't wanna generate savings just by reducing access or reducing quality of care. Uh, that doesn't work well. Mm-hmm. So when you increase access, when you increase the quality of care and you work directly with top-notch providers, you're actually [00:08:00] saving money.

It's kind of, you know, it's kind of crazy in the healthcare world, and you know this to be true. Some of the most affordable care happens to be some of the highest quality, because that physician does that procedure over and over and over again. They become very, very good at that procedure instead of being a jack of all trades.

And so because they're so good at it, they become efficient at it, and their price point is a lot lower. Well, employers don't have that ability to shop if, uh, they're with a big insurance carrier and they haven't taken the time to look at a custom health plan. Um, so yeah, that's really the numbers. If you're looking at 5% of the employees that really need the focus, if you mitigate those claims, you move the needle significantly in the other direction.

Mm-hmm. Um, and so like I mentioned before, our claims on average are 65% less. So could you imagine having a cancer claim who's, you know, typically, you know, a couple hundred thousand dollars on a plan now being less than 100,000, now [00:09:00] being less than 50,000 because we mitigated that cost? And that employee could actually focus in on their care instead of having to worry about how much it costs them because it, it was zero out of pocket.

Yeah. Now think about the domino effect on that too, Dr. Christie. Like- Mm-hmm ... that employee's not gonna go anywhere. They're gonna be more productive once they're, once they're healed. Um, they're gonna be happier, so mentally they're gonna be in a better space because they're not having to worry about the bills that are coming in.

So there's a lot of soft costs that we don't really think about, but that's a big, big deal for employees. Uh, I think it's, uh, another thing that just blows my mind is these employers tr- try so hard to give their employees raises, and then those raises are eaten up by higher premiums at renewal, at open enrollment.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yes.

Mark Fox: And it's like, "Wait, what, what am I doing here? I got a raise and now it's gone."

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah.

Mark Fox: Um, so when, when you're actually lowering the cost and the frequency of those large claims, uh, your employees get to retain those raises, [00:10:00] and they can actually stay ahead of the curve.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah, it makes sense. I have a f- a buddy that's been in Corporal forever, and he does have five kids, which adds to it.

But he used to not- Yeah ... pay anything for his company insurance, and now he, it's costing him, I think he pays, like, 800 a month. But the company pays some of it, so, uh- Yeah ... at least they're paying some of it. But he's like, "I never used to have to pay 800," and he's like now he's got a huge deductible in-network plan.

And so it's got- the plan's gotten worse, and the out-of-pocket to him has gotten higher, and that's just, that's a common story that I'm sure you're seeing.

Mark Fox: Oh, yeah, absolutely. CMS cames, comes out with articles all the time on the average cost of health plans for, for a family. The last one I looked at I think it was, like, $26,000, um, per year, and that's not even that rich of a plan.

Mm, yeah. The American, the average American cannot afford that. They can't.

Dr. Kevin Christie: It's, it's crazy

Mark Fox: We've gotta do something

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah, and I love how you kinda, you know, f- 'cause people would say, "Oh, wow, that must seem like that would, um, you know, [00:11:00] cost the employer a lot of money by having a free and clear plan," and, and 'cause you, I loved how you said this isn't something where we restrict access.

'Cause theoretically, one way of decreasing insurance costs - the employer is by restricting utilization of healthcare. You're actually increasing it, and that's gonna save because they are going down a entry level of healthcare that's actually more effective, more cost-affordable. And so when the company might be spending money on a free and clear plan, that money is way less than what they would be spending on their self-funded, uh, traditional plan, correct?

Mark Fox: Oh, absolutely. Matter of fact, outside of the claims themselves, there's no cost for the company to implement free and clear, right? So they're only paying for what's used. There's no markup on that. CBG does not get paid on that, right? So we, that's, that goes back to our original conversation in the beginning where we talk about aligned incentives.

You have to build your health plan where the individuals that are getting [00:12:00] compensated are not compensated for costs to increase, but are compensated for quality to increase, access to increase, and cost to decrease.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah.

Mark Fox: That's how you gotta structure that, right? So on the free and clear plan, yeah, we- we're not sacrificing access or quality just to generate savings, because we've tried that, too, right?

E- everybody was on a high deductible health plan with an HSA. That was a thing, right? So if you put money aside, you don't have to pay the taxes, - we all know that doesn't work. We've tried it for so long, and yet our premiums still keep going up. Why? Because we've done nothing to address the actual claims.

Yeah. And what we think, and this is, this is, blows my mind as well, we think that the billion-dollar network that we hired to negotiate discounts on our behalf is actually there on our behalf. No, no, no, no. No, no. They've n- they, we've h- like, think about that. What e- what, how else do we consume anything in this world like that?

We hire someone to negotiate a [00:13:00] discount on our behalf, but yet we're not allowed to see that discount.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Mm-hmm.

Mark Fox: And we're not allowed to know the quality of that physician. And then once we start asking questions, then the insurance carrier goes, "Oh, well, that's proprietary information. Sorry." But we hired you to do it.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah.

Mark Fox: So then you have the issue where someone with cash, and I'm sure you can appreciate this, with no negotiation experience can walk into a facility and get a much better price than the billion-dollar insurance carrier.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah.

Mark Fox: Why is that? Well, we all know the answer is because they actually don't wanna lower costs.

Yeah. Their business model doesn't allow it. If they actually lowered healthcare costs, then their revenue would drop. Yes. And that's because of the MLR rule, right? So as most- Yes ... of the audience knows, right, so because of the MLR rule, they're forced to keep the cost of the claim high so that way their percentage is of a bigger pie.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yes. And that is the thing I learned maybe seven years ago. I should have knew it before, [00:14:00] and that actually shocked me that now the insurance companies over the last, what is it, maybe 10, 15 years are incentivized to increase the cost because of the percentage, 'cause they're capped at what they can... Is it profit?

Mark Fox: Right. Yeah, they're- they're capped on, and they would argue, well, part of that's administration as well. Yeah. Okay, let's just simplify it. Let's, let's simplify it to profit, okay? They're allowed to keep anywhere from 15 to 20% profit depending on the state that they're in. Yeah. And in order for them to keep their shareholders happy, they have to have that capped percentage of a bigger pie.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yes. It,

Mark Fox: it was the government's way of saying, "Hey, we need to control healthcare costs, so let's limit how much profit a health insurance company can make." Really good intentions, absolute horrific outcomes.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Which describes- Because it caused- ... much, much of the government.

Mark Fox: Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, they just, they, they go in with good intention, and then they convolute the scenario.

So it caused health insurance companies to take a step back, and they're like, "Well, okay. Well, if our, if our profit margins are [00:15:00] capped and we gotta keep our shareholders happy, we need to make sure this is of a bigger pie." So they went to the doctors' as- uh, associations, hospital associations, you know, a lot of these private equity-owned groups, right?

Dr. Kevin Christie: Mm-hmm.

Mark Fox: And they said, "Hey, you guys wanna make more money. We do, too. How about you raise your prices, and we'll continue to pay those claims?" And that's been going on for decades, right? Um, so that's one big cause of why healthcare's been so expensive.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Mm-hmm.

Mark Fox: Um, so the MLR rule really needs to be revamped. Um, the second-biggest issue outside of just, uh, the MLR is also vertical integration.

So you have these major insurance companies, you know, UnitedHealthcare has, like, 3,400 subsidiary organizations.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Mm.

Mark Fox: They own a bank. Like, why does UnitedHealthcare have to own a bank?

Dr. Kevin Christie: Mm-hmm.

Mark Fox: Right? Um, they employ, like, 10,000 physicians, more than any healthcare organization in the United States.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Mm.

Mark Fox: So they, they literally own every avenue of the healthcare [00:16:00] experience, the pharmacy, the pharmacy benefit manager, the TPA.

They even own a portion of the, of the organization that's responsible for electronically moving your prescription from the physician to the pharmacy. And lo and behold, that software company, guess where it's located? Washington, DC, of course. Right across the river.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah.

Mark Fox: Yeah.

Dr. Kevin Christie: That's

Mark Fox: wild. This is what we're dealing with.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah, that is wild. So, ultimately, you know, the, the, the employee can utilize a free and clear plan with, with great doctors, which we'll talk about types of specialties, uh, that you may offer, and then they are gonna get better care. They're gonna... It's gonna cost less. And then obviously by going to these types of doctors and having education around that, it typically mitigates the cost anyway, like less surgeries, less all the things that are big-ticket items, obviously.

And so if we can... You know, and there's been good research. I'll just take my profession. There's been great research that shows when people see chiropractors first for MSK issues, [00:17:00] they usually cost a lot less than if they see, say, orthopedist first, right? Is that, uh- Right ... something that you guys have noticed?

Mark Fox: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Because you're breaking down the barriers to healthcare, right? Mm-hmm. And so now employees can start early 'cause they don't have to worry about dipping into their deductible. That's really what it comes down to. Yeah. And then it snowballs, and then all of a sudden they're at the orthopedist instead of- Yeah

starting with you, right?

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah.

Mark Fox: So- Mm-hmm ... in order to start at the chiropractor, we need to catch it early, and we also have to put in benefits that allow access to that employee at no cost.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah. It

Mark Fox: has... There has to be a carrot, right?

Dr. Kevin Christie: Mm-hmm.

Mark Fox: Um, especially for men. I, I, I as a guy, you know, sometimes I put on, uh, I put off healthcare more than I should.

Yes. So, so in order... You know, so we need that little bit of carrot. I don't have to worry about how much it's gonna cost. I can just go see Dr. Christie, and boom, he's gonna take care of me, right? And, and my employer, they pay for it at 100%. So you mentioned the employer that we've partnered with, that's the idea.

Let's give our [00:18:00] employees better access to care, break down the financial barriers, and catch these things early. So yeah, absolutely. We see, we see that savings because we're able to catch them early. And then in, in cases where it needs to go higher into the, the care navigation, then, then it's there as well.

So maybe they need physical therapy. Maybe they are a candidate for surgery, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. And, and what's beautiful about what we also do is most plans, even if they have step therapy, where it's chiropractic or physical therapy, um, um, and then going to see the specialist, we actually have one step before the specialist, which is stem cell treatment, right?

Mm. So they extract stem cells from your hip, they put it into a more concentrated version, and they inject it into your knee, and your body regrows cartilage on its own. So that's self-healing. So no, no surgery, no drugs. Your body self-heals using its own stem [00:19:00] cells. That's amazing. And not only is that higher quality, they have a 97% success rate on that program.

97% success rate. And the cost of it is, is extremely low. You're talking, you know, anywhere from 3 to $6,000, whereas a total knee replacement is any- is wildly priced- Yes ... anywhere from 15 all the way up to $45,000, right? Depending on where you go and what day you go. So yeah, catching it early, partnering with chiropractors is, is way better for employers.

Um, and they really, really need to consider finding a chiropractor in their area, partnering with them on a direct pay basis-

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah ...

Mark Fox: and catching those claims before they snowball into a much bigger claim, which only increases premiums.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah. And, and I'll say I, uh, I won't discuss the variables, but you guys are very fair on the reimbursement too, which is, which is very nice.

I think that's something that someone might be thinking listening. He's like, "Oh, well, I wonder what the reimbursement is." And it's very competitive, which is great. More than competitive. Yeah. [00:20:00] So I commend you on that as well. Um, aside from, from chiropractors, what are other, some other specialties that you try to put around a, a company that they can s- uh, use this free and clear plan?

Mark Fox: Yeah, so the short answer is yes. Yes. Um, it, it, you know, as many as we can wherever we can really. And, and the reason why is because the, the m- the more the merrier. The better access we can provide, the quicker employees are to go get care. Um, however, um, we do like to look at the data. If the employer happens to have claims data, if they're already self-funded, if they're fully insured, we have a different way of collecting that data, um, because your fully insured carrier won't give you a look at data 'cause they wanna hide it.

Um, but we have a unique way of extracting that. Um, so the data will tell us exactly where that employer is spending money, and we start there. That's kind of the lowest hanging fruit. Um, if I were to wear a blindfold, I would say specialty pharmacy is the lowest hanging fruit of every health plan in America, and we have a program that sources those drugs, um, dimes on the dollar.

[00:21:00] Um, brings those in significantly less cost, and in many cases even for free to the plan, the employer, and the employee. Nice. Um, so yeah, it's, it's very important to look at where the data is 'cause that will guide the free and clear plan build out for that employer. However, um, we partner with a number of different organizations.

We have a partnership that offers imaging nationwide at no cost to employees. MRI, CT scans, you name it. Th- any type of im- imaging that they need, no cost there. Um, we also partner with, uh, surgeons and facilities for surgeries. So could you imagine surgeries that are needed that, you know, um, maybe I'm ha- I have a hernia, need to get that repaired, no cost.

I don't have to worry about that, and I don't have to travel. I can use a nearby facility. That's amazing.

Dr. Kevin Christie: That's

Mark Fox: great. Um, we also have, uh, dur- uh, we have, uh, durable medical equipment, uh, that we provide at no cost to employees, um, mailed to them. Now, if they need crutches or a wheelchair [00:22:00] immediately, it's not a great solution, but, uh, there's a lot of durable medical equipment outside of those that is needed that can be mailed to them.

Um, we also have a diabetic program where employees can get diabetes supplies at no cost. Uh, we have a sleep study program where they can get lab result or lab quality results from the comfort of their own bed.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Nice.

Mark Fox: Um, and I can testify that one's amazing. I've done a lab sleep study with wires all hooked up to me.

I couldn't sleep at all. It was terrible. I wasn't in my own bed. I hated it. And like three months ago, um, I, I did the at home sleep study program where we use it for even our clients, and absolutely loved it. I slept like a baby. There was very few wires at all. It was very comfortable to wear. I didn't feel restricted, and I got those lab quality results.

Um, and we also have a nonprofit organization. Our nonprofit's extremely unique, um, because in the case, let's say we have a weird case where for some reason [00:23:00] we can't find a medical solution for it- Um, our nonprofit will pick up that person at no cost and cover their medical expenses for a year. So that particular employee, because of their, uh, strange medical need, it's going to be a high-cost claim if we don't address it.

This, uh, uh, nonprofit will pick them up and cover their medical costs for an entire year. They don't pay any co-pay, no deductible, no co-insurance, and no premium for an entire year. Yeah. Um, now that's medical based, so they have to apply. Um, it's not income based, it's medical based, so they have to apply- Mm-hmm

with the nonprofit. But that is a major needle mover for employers. That's huge.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah.

Mark Fox: Yeah.

Dr. Kevin Christie: That's, that's awesome. That's amazing. Um, one of the things I wanted to touch on, 'cause there's just a lot of benefits, and obviously we talked a lot about the actual savings that companies have that they can measure, um, which, you know, we always want, they always wanna measure, which is good.

And you have the direct savings that you're, this free and clear plan is, is offering them. But [00:24:00] there's certain things that... You know, you mentioned the word soft costs, and, you know, whether it's absenteeism or presenteeism that companies battle all the time, this is gonna help decrease those, uh, inherent costs.

But I imagine that you're, you're seeing, uh, employee retention's gotta be improved. Because if I had a free and clear plan, and I had, you know, had that, and I, I mean, I would... Why would I wanna leave unless I was g- you know, given a raise of a, a million dollars or something, right? Like, are you seeing that?

Right.

Mark Fox: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Um, here's an example, and I cannot claim them because they're not a client of ours. Okay. But I'll, I'll use them in an example because the listeners can go Google this and look them up and, and really resonate with their story. Um, Rosson Hotels, right? So you have the hospitality industry with one of the highest turnover rates, um, among most industries, right?

Mm-hmm. Very, very hard to keep talent and to keep employees there. Um, Rosson Hotels and Resorts has, uh, the unique ability to say that they are the [00:25:00] number one in retention in the entire industry. Mm-hmm. And it's because of their health plan. Mm-hmm. So they put in a strategy very similar to the free and clear plan.

They opened up their own medical clinic, so that, you know, that's a good segue into something I'd like to talk about as far as, uh, on-site care in, in just a moment. Yeah. Um, so they opened up their own medical clinic. They then partnered with nearby employers-

Dr. Kevin Christie: Mm-hmm ...

Mark Fox: to help fund that medical clinic. So now they can consume healthcare for the employees literally at no cost for the employer or the health plan.

Um, and then they took what I call, we call at CBG, call it healthcare dividend. Basically, they take a portion of the savings that they've generated and put it into a good cause. For them, uh, they decided to put together a college, um, fund, and they have put over 400 of their own employees and students through college at no cost.

Yes. Uh, that's the power of savings that you can have, um, and retention that [00:26:00] you can seek when, uh, you really look at healthcare as a business unit. I, I think Warren Buffett said it really well, uh, that GM was a healthcare company who made cars on the side. Um- Yes. Good ... and I'm paraphrasing. That's not a, that's not an exact quote, but that's very close.

Um-

Dr. Kevin Christie: I've heard

Mark Fox: that. It's a

Dr. Kevin Christie: good one.

Mark Fox: Oh, yeah, yeah. So I think employers i- really need to realize they're in the healthcare business whether they like it or not.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Mm-hmm.

Mark Fox: And they really need to partner with nearby providers, such as chiropractics, to really take care of those needs and catch things early. Um- Mm-hmm

and, and I guess that kind of brings me over to onsite care. Yep. You have the ability to, um, share in the, the cost savings and the cost of onsite care with multiple employers.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Mm-hmm.

Mark Fox: When you relocalize healthcare in your area, you keep the dollars local, but you also are able [00:27:00] to save a ton of money, and, and Rosin is, is a...

or Rosin is a very good way of, uh, demonstrating that. So you have that onsite care. I'm curious on, on what you've seen- Yeah ... uh, in the onsite care world, especially when it comes to chiropractics.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah. It's been great, and, you know, we were brought on by ADT and Tyco and Royal Caribbean. Um, uh, one of the ones that stood out to me is Parker Aerospace.

We were out there going over... I was going over to Naples, Florida, which, uh, I was living in Fort Lauderdale at the time and practicing in Boca. It was a lot, but they would bring me over there one day a week and, and then they added it to another half day, and they had a similar situation where it was a wellness benefits that supplemented their insurance, and they could use it for, like, chiropractic, um, muscle work, uh, acupuncture, things like that.

So they had me coming over doing something called active release or muscle work, and yeah, it p- it paid well. The employees loved it. I would be, I would be there from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. stacked with people, but then, [00:28:00] like, they would... You know, we would go over and say, "Look, this person doesn't need it anymore.

This per-" Like, we would have to open up spots, so it was onto us to, like, you know, make sure that the right people were getting it. Um, and it was great, and, and people, the, the employees loved it. The companies liked it as far as the service we were offering, and then, yeah, they were seeing the benefits from it financially, for sure.

Mark Fox: Yeah, I think that's a, that's a big, big opportunity, not just for employers but also for chiropractors. That's an entire business model- Mm-hmm ... um, that just in general I think independent practitioners could take better advantage of. I mean, they, they already are seeing these business owners and, and C-suite executives i- in their facility anyway, right?

Mm-hmm. Um, coming in. They're already clients. I- if they're able to show them what a partnership could look like directly, not only has, uh, that chiropractor just gained a whole bunch of clients by talking to one decision-maker, um, but they're [00:29:00] re-localizing healthcare and they're lowering costs for that employer.

And then of course like you had mentioned, soft costs as well. Um, so I think that's, that's an amazing opportunity for chiropractors to really take advantage of.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah, and what we found too is, 'cause a couple... a few locations were by our regular locations, and so we would get referrals to our main practice from their friends and family members.

I'm not sure with the free and clear, does that just cover the employee or does it cover their immediate family at all or?

Mark Fox: It covers whoever's enrolled into the health plan. So they're- Yeah ... they're dual enrolled. So if you have an employee with, you know, a family of six kids and a spouse, uh, all... and they're all enrolled in the health plan, they're all automatically enrolled into the free and clear plan.

Uh, it doesn't cost the employee anything to be enrolled. They're automatically enrolled. If it's only the employee that takes the health plan, then only the employee has access to the free and clear plan.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah. No, it makes sense. That's, that's perfect. So, but yeah, I... and I'd, I'd love to discuss it more on the on-site thing because, you know, I, uh, I know you guys are [00:30:00] growing and you, you had mentioned before we recorded that you're, you're federally based, so it's like you're not restricted by any state lines as far as what you're offering.

Do you want to speak to-

Mark Fox: Yeah ...

Dr. Kevin Christie: to some of that a little bit?

Mark Fox: Yeah, absolutely. So, um, you know, a lot of insurance plays out there and products that are off the shelf are governed by that particular state's Department of Insurance, right? Yeah. So in certain states like New York, California, there's a lot more red tape, a lot more regulation on what can and cannot happen, um, which is not good for employers 'cause they really need the flexibility.

At the end of the day, the employers and the employees are the ones who fund healthcare.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yep.

Mark Fox: They are the funders. Uh, and so they should be able to hold the purse strings and the power because they're the ones w- writing the checks. So, uh, regardless of where employers are on a custom plan, self-funded plan basis, it's federally regulated.

Um, state departments of insurance try to stick their nose in it a little bit, [00:31:00] uh, but ult- ultimately it's run by the federal government, um, which means that, um, it's a little bit more predictable. And believe it or not, uh, there's less tape. Uh, so that provides a lot of flexibility for employers. Uh, regardless of where they're domiciled in, uh, they can take advantage of a program like this- Yes

and know, hey, even if my employees are spread out... Like, we, we had one employer group, they said, "You know, we have, like, 200 employees roughly, and they're all in different states 'cause we're in a virtual company. We don't have a brick-and-mortar store, so we can't do a direct contract arrangement with a nearby hospital.

Can you help us?" Abso-freaking-lutely we can.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Mm-hmm.

Mark Fox: Yeah, so it doesn't matter where they're located. Now, we don't do international healthcare. Frankly, you don't need help on international healthcare 'cause it's so much more affordable . Exactly. Um, the United States is where the problem is.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah.

Mark Fox: Uh, so yeah, I, I appreciate you bringing that up.

We're, we're agnostic on any state. Now currently we have, um, we have domicile headquarters in eight different states. Now, actual locations of [00:32:00] their employees is spread out all over the United States. Yes. Um, so but, uh, we're, we can go in any state in the union because, uh, of that federal, federally regulated, uh, opportunity.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah, and like I mentioned before, I, I'd love to help you guys out if you get a location, and I got a pretty good, uh, network of chiropractors throughout for sure. But, uh, even more, I wanna challenge our audience, and one of the things that, uh, you can do is if you do know a company and you know you have patients, a lot of our chiropractors have patients that are decision-makers at companies in their area.

Um, this could be a conversation you the chiropractor could be having with a company, and then get on the horn with Mark, and, and they facilitate it and do all the legwork and set the whole thing up, and then now you got a chiropractor in place there, so, um-

Mark Fox: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. We, we would welcome that.

We would love to partner with, uh, anyone listening. Um, it's a great opportunity. It, it's really a win-win-win scenario. You're realigning incentives, you're relocalizing healthcare, and you're... We [00:33:00] actually are, are doing the right thing for once in the healthcare space, right? We're actually helping patients, and they're not having to worry about the financial burden.

Mm-hmm. And that, that just feels so good. I can sleep so much better at night- Yeah ... knowing that we're, we're part of this change. It's, it's at... The, the testimonials we get from these employees i- is stunning. They, they come to us in tears, uh, thanking us for the free and clear plan on how they were dealing with this ailment and how they were able to get it fixed and how it improved their marriage.

Now they're able to exercise. Now they're able to lose weight. Now they're no longer dependent on insulin, and all these dow- domino effects that they tell us. Um, when you actually look at the healthcare strategy as a healthcare strategy, not an insurance strategy, uh, employers start to win big.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah. Well, it's, it's cool you're doing.

I'm excited to be a part of it here locally, and then, uh, we'll continue the conversation.

Mark Fox: Thank you, Dr. Christie. Appreciate

Dr. Kevin Christie: it. Well, Mark, yeah, if they... if someone does wanna reach out and they've got maybe a connection or a [00:34:00] company, uh, how could they, uh, reach out to CBG or yourself?

Mark Fox: Yeah, so our web address is cbghealthplan.com, and, uh, I'll give you guys my, my email address.

There's no problem you can reach out to me because I like to talk to providers all the time. It's mark@cbghealthplan.com, and that's just M-A-R-K @cbghealthplan.com. And, uh, if, if I don't help you directly, I'll certainly get you in touch with one of our team members. Uh, but I would love to kick off the conversation and see where we can help you and your organization grow and also help the, uh, employers around your area, um, take on this thing called healthcare and make it better for their employees.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Awesome. Well, I appreciate your time today, Mark.

Mark Fox: Thank you, Dr. Christie.