229 | Melissa Blatt: Empowering Culinary Careers with Flexible Healthcare Options
Are you feeling trapped in your current job because of health insurance concerns? You're not alone.
Many culinary professionals find themselves stuck in positions they've outgrown, solely due to the fear of losing their employer-provided health coverage. But what if there was another way?
In this eye-opening episode, I sit down with insurance specialist and avant-garde artist Melissa Blatt to explore an alternative approach to healthcare that could revolutionize how culinary professionals think about their career choices and health coverage.
Key Insights on Health Sharing Programs:
- Understand the fundamental differences between for-profit insurance and non-profit health sharing
- Learn about the potential cost savings and flexibility offered by health sharing programs
- Discover how these programs can provide more freedom in career choices for culinary professionals
- Explore the concept of "fair medical pricing" and its impact on healthcare costs
- Gain insights into the importance of being an informed healthcare consumer
Why This Matters for Culinary Professionals:
As someone who has felt the weight of being tied to a job for insurance benefits, I know firsthand how limiting this can be for career growth and personal satisfaction. This conversation sheds light on options that could allow chefs and other culinary professionals to pursue their passions without sacrificing quality healthcare coverage.
Take Action for Your Health and Career:
- Educate yourself on alternative healthcare options beyond traditional insurance
- Consider how health sharing programs might align with your career goals and health needs
- Explore resources for comparing different healthcare options (we provide a helpful link in the show notes)
- Remember to be your own advocate in navigating the complex world of healthcare
Whether you're a seasoned chef looking for a change or a young culinary professional just starting out, this episode offers valuable insights that could reshape how you approach your health and career decisions. Don't miss this opportunity to expand your understanding of healthcare options and potentially open new doors in your culinary journey.
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00:00 - Introduction: The Healthcare Dilemma for Chefs
00:31 - Meet Melissa Blatt: Founder of Indie Pop
00:48 - Exploring Alternative Healthcare Solutions
01:02 - Chef Life Radio: Empowering Culinary Leaders
01:52 - Melissa's Journey: From Arts to Healthcare
04:37 - The Reality of Healthcare Costs
05:58 - Understanding Health Sharing Models
06:52 - Navigating the Complexities of Health Insurance
17:13 - Indie Pop: A Marketplace for Independent Workers
20:51 - The Importance of Dental and Vision Care
22:31 - Faith-Based Health Shares: Myths and Facts
27:31 - Core Values and Vision of Indie Pop
33:28 - Conclusion: Taking Control of Your Healthcare
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And so I'm really thrilled to bring onto the show Insurance specialist and all
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around avant-garde artist, Melissa Blatt.
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Hey, Mel,
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good morning or afternoon, wherever you are.
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Exactly.
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And I, this is a very interesting question or a topic of conversation
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for me because I know in my career I have felt trapped in a current place of
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employment because my insurance was tied to my employer, and I know that I think
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we're one of the only industrialized nations that still does that.
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And so I was really excited to learn about you and what you've been doing in regards
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to serving this particular community.
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But first, before we get into indie pop and its specificities, I was curious
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to know if you could just give us a a broad brush of your career and whatever
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got you into insurance 'cause I don't think it was your primary career, right?
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I didn't when I was little, no one.
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I never answered, oh, I wanna be in healthcare when I grow up, but not as
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a doctor or this was this, I feel like it chose me that it was a challenge
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that I faced and I couldn't let it go.
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But yeah, I have I've had a career in business development and marketing
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and, started on the East coast and now I live in the great state of
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Arizona and, but I've lived on, lived in LA and I've done a wide variety of
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things in a bunch of different cities.
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But I think I'm most passionate about what I'm doing now because it really
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is impacting people's lives and.
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For someone to say I can leave my nine to five and do go out
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on my own, is very empowering.
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And you're right, the United States has it where people stay at particular
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jobs for benefits and some of the benefits I. Are not that great.
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And you're still paying out of pocket, or you're still very limited and restricted
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in, in, in how you approach healthcare.
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And so you were you had I think a career in in the arts for a long time.
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Motion picture TV and stuff like that.
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Yeah.
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And I don't know how people are employed in that particular market segment, but I
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would imagine that you had a good career, you had great pay, you had good benefits.
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And then I. What happened?
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There's certainly something that had to happen to you Yeah.
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To where you're like, oh my God there's an underserved market here.
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So it I left LA and I left the entertainment business about 15
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years ago and ended up in, in the tech world, which is really exciting.
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And then I went out on my own to do biz dev for lots of different.
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Employer.
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So I was classified as a 10 99 contractor.
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Which that word 10 99 is I think a lot of people out there can resonate that
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you might be hired, especially all the shift workers out there that have the
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side gig, you still, that's your 10 99.
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And that's when I had my wake up call.
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That I was excited to go into healthcare.gov and see, 'cause I kept
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seeing all these great ads for affordable healthcare and I didn't really know
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what to expect, but I thought my expectations were actually pretty high.
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I had sticker shock when I realized what I was presented with, which
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was, if you're familiar with those metal plans out there, the bronze,
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the silver, gold, and platinum.
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It was in my price range, a bronze HMO.
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So an HMO means I have to get a referral every time I wanna see a
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specialist, like a dermatologist.
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And it's hoops, it's more hoops.
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So that's why you'll see a PPO is probably more expensive than your HMO.
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And but what really got me was the $9,000 deductible.
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So that would mean that if I broke my leg, that's what I would be responsible for.
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And it goes by your earnings, your age, your employment status, and your location.
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And it's underwritten by an insurance company, which is a for-profit business.
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Correct.
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So anyway, that is when I had the wake up call.
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Wait a second.
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This is not going to work for me.
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This is, I don't want a $9,000 deductible.
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I don't wanna change doctors.
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I don't wanna have to call my doctor every time I wanna see a different doctor.
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So I just started exploring what was out there in the market and we're
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so used to the word just insurance.
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That.
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When I found that there was something, another model that it didn't have
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the word insurance, but it was still healthcare, I was really skeptical at
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first because I'm like what is this?
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Why isn't this taking over?
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Why?
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But it's that whole idea of cost sharing is.
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Is newer.
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And it has a really different approach to managing medical needs,
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and that's where you become a member of a large group or community that
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shares the cost of medical needs.
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And it's a managed nonprofit, so it's completely different.
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The funds are there to be shared amongst the people in the
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community and based on fair market.
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Rates.
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So I know I just talked a lot.
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Do you wanna enter?
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Sure.
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You have Yeah.
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What's bubbling in your mind right now?
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I think the differentiation and the reason this is so prevalent to me
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is I just went through my yearly signup or reign up for healthcare.gov.
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I've been on the marketplace for several years and have watched
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how the costs have gone up.
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And very rarely do people really talk about it's just not your monthly premium.
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And I qualify for a certain amount of help from the government there's
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the premium that you pay and they have all these other words that are sewn
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in there, like co-insurance and copay.
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And so typically speaking, it's just not when you're looking
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at say anywhere like clearly.
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The lower your deductible, the higher your plan.
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So if it's a $5,000 deductible, those plans are typically in four, $500 ranges.
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And as it gets, as the deductible gets higher, the price comes down
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because they know that they're gonna have to pay out less over a course
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of a year based upon your kind of contribution to that particular plan.
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So the thing that first jumped out at me was, and did you
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wanna make a comment about that?
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No, you're absolutely right.
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But even the, that the difference between a premium
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and a deductible is very good.
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The one that always, yeah.
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The one that always gets me is co-insurance.
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Aren't I already paying for insurance?
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And so there's all kinds of caveats depending on the particular procedures
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and whether it's, as you said, whether it's in-network or out network.
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But the thing that's, that jumped out at me was this idea that healthcare.
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Is for profit and health share is nonprofit.
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So can you just dive into that a little bit?
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Because I'm pretty sure that a lot of folks.
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Or like what do you mean?
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Yes, profit burden?
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Insurance is the transfer of risk, that's the definition.
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And there's underwriting involved.
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So obviously in the state of New York, you're gonna have different numbers
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than in Des Moines, Iowa, because your population is different and they have
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to go by the zip codes and the age of the population, and it has to be
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underwritten to determine the rates.
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But the only way I think, or what I've learned to make money is they either raise
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rates or they deny claims, which right.
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That is the worst thing to think about is you get insurance to be
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in place for when something bad happens, and if it's not there for
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you, then what are you paying for?
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But the reality is that most of what the people that we talked
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to in the last five years is.
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It's now insurance has become sick care where it's just there for you really if
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you break your leg or you're hospitalized.
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But more and more people want to be proactive in their health.
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They want things like IV therapy or the red light therapy.
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Red light therapy has be, has really been something that people have
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sought that says it's really helpful.
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Physical therapy more than just a few sessions.
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If it's very odd that somebody could have a, an insurance package
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that allows for them to have in-home nursing and and physical therapy for
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a minor condition or a, yes, like a minor condition, but somebody that
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maybe has like a major condition.
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They only will allow two hosp, two nurse visits and like
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two sessions of PT something.
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It's just, it doesn't make any sense.
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But yes, we want WellCare and a lot of the preventive services that
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you see that are a CA compliance.
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So what is a c?
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A Affordable Care Act.
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And they said, we're gonna give you all of these things like the screenings, age
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appropriate screenings, mammograms at 40, colonoscopies at 45 immunizations.
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But if you talk to your doctor in that annual wellness exam about something
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outside of the scope, it could be coded as diagnostic, and then you're responsible
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for it and it makes you second guess what you wanna talk to your physician about.
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Especially if you're on a very tight budget.
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You shouldn't really have to be thinking about these things when you are there.
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To really dig deep into what is, how are you so that we can detect
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things early enough so that it doesn't become a chronic condition.
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Correct.
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Western, go, please finish.
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It's just,
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It's very messed up.
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Yeah.
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So with health sharing or cost sharing, or what we call it is
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membership because that's really what you're becoming a member.
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Of a community and in your membership, what are your benefit?
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That's what you get is your healthcare benefits.
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That's that's what you get.
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But they're based off of fair medical pricing.
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So there really is a price for everything.
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Doctor's visits, biopsies gallbladder removals in your zip
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code, a fair rate, reference-based pricing of what it should cost.
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And when people actually know the figures out there that some
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surgeries are really 6,000.
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You might think, wait, if I pay cash for this, it is a lot less than my deductible.
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So a lot of people in this last year, this has really increased.
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We're hearing more and more people, one, they're switching to direct
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primary care doctors, which are doctors that do not take insurance.
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Usually they only take a membership so that you have access to them.
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And we're also seeing people that are paying cash for a lot of medical
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things out of pocket, just paying cash.
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Yep.
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But I guess that's where HSAs come.
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Come into play.
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That's
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why that has health savings account really soared is health savings account.
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That's correct,
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yes.
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Yeah.
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And from what I understand, HSAs are like a triple threat insofar as yeah.
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Not only do you get to pay your costs, but there's tax savings and it
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also increases in value over time.
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But I also get that if you have a certain plan, healthcare plan,
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you're not eligible for an HSA.
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Which is weird.
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You can set up an HSA, you can have one through a bank and set
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up a health savings account.
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But the IRS in order for you to claim pre-tax for your for your
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taxes, it should be compatible with an insurance plan or a health share.
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That is, it's called HSA compatible, which usually has a high deductible and you're
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gonna be responsible for your preventive care before you reach your deductible.
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So there's a lot of out of pocket.
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That's why the government is saying we're gonna give you this tax break
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on it 'cause you're paying a lot.
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Self pay rates until you rate your deductible
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And I don't if people are tuning in because we, you think this is gonna be a
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bashing about our current healthcare.
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System.
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That's not what we want to do.
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What we wanna do is provide alternatives because a lot of people don't know
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that they have an alternative.
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Now, before we get into that I wanted to round back to fair medical
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pricing because you mentioned that phrase and that perked up my ears.
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Who determines what a fair medical pricing is and how is that?
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There's a, it's a book.
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That's a good question.
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I think if you look at if you go to your zip code and you look
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up the average cash pay rate for an MRI, you're gonna see right.
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You're gonna see a rate.
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And many people are blown away if they need to get an MRI because a lot of
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their insurance plans might say they have an $850 copay to pay for their
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MRI, even though they have insurance.
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But if they go straight to the imaging center, it could be 300.
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That's exactly correct.
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Yep.
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And this is where we just try to educate people that as consumers.
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We shouldn't have to be experts in all the language that are in our
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policies, but it's become that way.
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Like you mentioned at the beginning, co-insurance is a percentage.
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You are going to split with the insurance company.
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And this could be on top of your deductible so that you think you reach
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your deductible, but you still have this.
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Particular co-insurance carried with you until maybe what is
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called your max out of pocket?
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Correct.
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Your max that you would spend in a calendar year.
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And that's where I caution people that if you see a $1,500 deductible, great.
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Okay.
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Looks good.
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Just keep reading to see if you had to have hospitalization or a surgery.
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If you have co-insurance.
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Yeah.
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I, and I think the one of the things that really inspired me initially
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about our conversation is that you've really set yourself up as a.
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Resource for information.
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Yeah.
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Like you've set us up with the very own Chef Life radio page which we'll
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give that address out where you can go and get a lot of information about this.
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And it's endemic in the hospitality industry.
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That people are either underinsured or they're not insured at all.
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Young people I was the young buck once and thought I would never need insurance.
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So maybe those first couple years I went without.
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And that really is a risky thing because most of the injuries that
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are occurring in the hospitality industry are re repetitive motion.
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Where if you've been on your feet for 10, 12 years you've been.
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Pivoting on your hips.
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I just talked to a friend of mine who just went through a full hip
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replacement, and typically that doesn't happen until a little bit later.
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Yet I have two adult daughters who I've been constantly hounding for
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the last three, four years that they need to make sure that they have
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health insurance because typically women's health is a little bit more,
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complex than men's health.
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And and not to say that one is better or less than, but
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they didn't have any option.
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Like they didn't have, they couldn't afford the marketplace and they've
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created their own economy, their gig workers and do a lot of different stuff.
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And not necessarily one company enough to create sign up for their health plan.
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But it worries me my one daughter has implants breast implants, and she
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started complaining that one was hurting.
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And what do you do with that?
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It's scary to.
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Be without insurance for any length of time.
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And I think part of kind of the indoctrination of some companies is
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like, Hey, you got great benefits here.
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Oh I, for sure.
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That has been a top talent to keep and retain top talent is offer benefits.
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Really good benefits.
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So let's break down.
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First, I don't think we've ever gone over the name in Depop and Yes,
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please.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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So that stands for independent population.
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Those are all of us that are on our own trying to obtain
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and afford quality healthcare.
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As a 10 99 LLC small business owner.
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And what Indie Pop is it's a marketplace that we handpicked specific health
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shares to go into this marketplace.
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So if you think of it as you have healthcare, healthcare.gov as a
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marketplace for insurance through your state, you could go to ind Pop.
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We work in all 50 states and we have open enrollment all year long.
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So it's very flexible for people on your timeline.
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The difference is that.
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With these plans, what we hear mostly from people is, especially like
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what you just said and especially men or young men in their twenties
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are, they think they're invention.
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They do because you really haven't been touched by life.
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Sure.
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Where and if you're working out and you take your vitamins and everything
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and you're healthy, you don't, you never think something you're.
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If you got sick you could get right over it.
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But I always ask them, because male, young males are one of the
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top surgeries for young males that are unexpected, is your appendix.
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Oh.
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So I said, do you still have your appendix?
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And they said, yes.
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And I go, have you talked to it lately?
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Is it doing okay?
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And they laughed at me.
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But it's true.
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You have no idea.
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That's true.
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If your appendix is going to give you trouble and it's still one of the top
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surgeries that happen, that's out of the blue, you can be completely healthy.
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Look up what an appendix removal is in your area at a hospital.
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If you paid cash, just take a peek.
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Now, we had somebody on one of our indie pop plans and we have multiple
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plans that people can choose from, and they're all different because
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it's not a one size fits all.
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Type of blanket of a healthcare system.
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Not everybody wants mental health in included or prescription or these are
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standard things that should be, but we have plans that have additional benefits,
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and then we have the basic, so that just protects you from the that big
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appendicitis or something like that.
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But he was a, he is a young guy, mid twenties and completely healthy.
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His girlfriend called me outta the blue two months ago.
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Hey, in the hospital.
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Is he okay?
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He spent two days in the hospital with an extreme infection that he couldn't kick,
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and he's on a plan that is at 1000 out of pocket for the entire medical need.
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Very transparent, very set.
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That's much different than if you have ever had a medical emergency
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or a surgery with insurance.
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I think you're still getting bills like over a year later.
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Oh, sure.
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We're like the staggering figure of only 12% of Americans know how to read their
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medical bill and really the odds that it's going to be wrong the first time.
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Actually, we've been told, throw away your first medical bill.
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It's not right.
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Really if I could just provide some value, even more value here, is
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that if you do, if you are faced with a, that you have a high deductible,
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you had to go to the ER for a migraine or sprained ankle, please appeal.
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If they're making you pay your deductible, your de your full
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deductible, try to appeal it.
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Because you can appeal, you can say no.
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So yeah, there are PE one people don't really know that they can appeal.
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Two, really look at your medical bill and question, is it coded?
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Did I really see these doctors?
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Did they come in?
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Were they in my network?
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Am I being charged for that?
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Different, you have the right to do that, and you have the right, most
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hospitals have no surprise bill act.
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So you shouldn't have these obscene, crazy bills.
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I think the one thing that a lot of people overlook when they're
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thinking about insurance they'll opt in for health insurance, but
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they won't opt in for dental care.
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And there's more and more evidence out there that
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the mouth is I. The gateway to your microbiome.
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Anything happens in there.
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There's all kinds of blood infections that can happen
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with broken teeth and Yeah.
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And bad implants.
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And that's something that pops up eating blueberries and nuts and
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all of a sudden you crack a tooth and you think, oh no that's okay.
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But the longer that goes un unresolved.
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Increases your risk of heart disease and all it, it's staggering.
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I just this, 'cause we never talked about this before, but I just
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reading about this, it's really crazy that you're bringing it up because
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they're linking some infections that they see in mouths or.
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I don't wanna give root canals a bad name, but no.
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We're doing more studies about this, that show to Parkinson's
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and muscular and neurological.
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Absolutely.
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So I'm doing more research on this myself, but yes, the mouth is a
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great tell, tell, sign your tongue what's going on in your body.
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And dental oral hygiene is yes.
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It's a big one.
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And we do have a, we do have a dental and vision program that is also not
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with insurance, but a membership and it doesn't break the bank.
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It starts at $8 and 95 cents a month.
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Perfect.
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Can't go wrong with that.
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And it works in 48 states.
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Yeah.
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I wanted to just quickly mention my brief experience with HealthShares.
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I was working with a company and they decided to offer health shares
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as a. Kind of a, an alternative to their basic health insurance package.
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And when I started doing some investigation about it, it seemed to me
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that the organization was faith-based.
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And so they had some very clear dues and don'ts about the fact like, listen,
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you can be part of our group you can't be smoking, you can't be drinking, da.
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To be honest, I thought at that exposure that's all health shares were and
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probably something that I couldn't access.
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Because of course I don't want to have my claim denied somewhere
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down the road because I smoked 10 years ago or whatever it was.
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But you told me that's not necessarily the case with all health shares.
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Yes.
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And in fact, we don't have any faith-based health shares
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in our marketplace at all.
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A faith-based health share is, yes.
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It's a, it's out there.
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Usually you have to declare your your religion and they have guidelines.
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It's, they have a statement of faith, and if you abide by that statement of faith
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then you know they should pay your claims.
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If you don't, then they can.
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Oppose or deny.
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But yes, we this was a big factor A again, we vetted all of our
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plans to be no annual lifetime caps, no statement of faith.
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They work in all, mostly all 50 states across the United States.
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So we look for things that were that I myself could enroll in.
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Sure.
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And and so we.
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We have a very specific partnerships with companies that adhere and
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continuously do the right thing.
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They're out there.
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We don't again, like we're not poo-pooing insurance.
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We're not gonna, sure, I'm not gonna poo other health shares either.
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We just chose it this time.
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That the statement of faith was a little too gray for us.
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And I think to your point not to draw aspersions or anything like
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that, but to be well informed I think is probably one of the best things.
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And again, I really wanna thank you for setting up our Chef
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Life radioPage@chefliferadio.com slash indie pop.
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Because I don't like what information out there, it's almost like overkill because.
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There can be so much information out there that it becomes mind numbing
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and you don't really know what the analysis paralysis by analysis.
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And so to clear it up in a very simple and straightforward way, which you seem
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to have done very successfully to me, is like a great service to be put, to
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put it bluntly, because we've got a lot of stuff to think about in our industry,
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a lot of other things to focus on.
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And to not take the time to really understand what's going on with our
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healthcare coverage whether that's reg traditional healthcare or healthcare,
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I think is incredibly important.
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And so I just wanna say thank you because I know there's a lot of people
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out there who feel, again, just like I was, that feeling stuck and trapped in
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a job that may not necessarily serve me.
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But I got people who depend on me, so I need to make sure that there's
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healthcare coverage for them and.
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I just wanted to throw this comment out and see how it lands with you,
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but it seems to me that what you're doing provides a great deal of agency
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for someone in our industry in that they can chart their own course, like
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they're not bound to a job because this is healthcare that I've gotten on my
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own, or for coverage that I've gotten on my own, which would mean that I might
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want to take a bigger risk insofar as my career is concerned because I'm not quite
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bound to any particular organization.
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I. Or entity.
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So our, one of our core values is we believe in people and their dreams, which
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means that if you decide at some point you've been in an industry where you've
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been working for someone as a W2, but you wanna go out on your own, that you can.
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Be it be it a personal chef that is it's your own company, what,
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whatever it is that you are not bound, that your benefits are coming
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from a a very specific source.
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And that's the only way that you can get it.
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So this is an option for people that are also being laid off right now.
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I was just reading about more layoffs.
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Alternative to Cobra.
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If you're offered Cobra and you can't afford the Cobra,
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Cobra can be very expensive.
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Way
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expensive for sure.
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This
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is flexible.
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It's month to month.
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And so it's, again, it's just another option out there that is not
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mainstream, but I believe in the next five years it will be more, prevalent
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in the United States as a healthcare option as more and more people are
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looking for, I want WellCare and I just need something in place for
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the those high cost medical needs.
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These are really really great plans.
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Yeah.
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Can you talk a little bit more like what are your core value sets for indie pop?
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Gosh.
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So the number one, the number I hope I don't miss one, but we bel
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sorry leave your ego at the door that it was taken from one of the
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tech companies that I worked at, and I just absolutely love it because I.
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I, in my career, I have worked with people older than me and much younger than me.
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My last manager in tech was 18 years younger than me, and I had to swallow
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my ego because I had to learn.
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But what I realized was I learned from him, and if we approach things
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as the glass half empty where we can absorb and we can add to the cup, then
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you know, we are in a place where.
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Where we're just listening to each other more than saying I know best.
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There are cases where obviously there are people that are experts that
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you know but it's just a matter of coming to the table with just leave
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your ego at the door and just listen.
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We do the right thing in insurance.
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There is, we're very transparent.
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If somebody is not a good fit for Indie pop or any of our plans, we let them know
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because the last thing I want somebody to do is end up with a surprise bill.
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And we are really there to help escalate if anything goes off
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track, it is still healthcare.
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This isn't magic.
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This is it.
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I don't have the unicorn plan yet.
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Our healthcare system is still far from being anything perfect.
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But we innovate and constantly improve.
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I think that there's always as fit.
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You have to stay agile and you, and things keep changing.
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Every day, something changes and you have to be able to change with that
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and be able to constantly innovate and improve on what you have.
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I have a couple other questions.
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One of which strikes me is we have an elder population, we have folks who are,
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towards the end of their careers and maybe aging out of traditional healthcare
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and be looking at something like Medicare does he shares, provide any opportunity
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because that's not being cheap either.
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No, but that's just it.
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At the age of 65, you are eligible for Medicare.
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Got it.
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And so these health shares don't need to be part of that at all.
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'cause you're gonna have, it's through the government part A, B, C, and D.
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So no health shares are 18 to 64.
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You'll age off at 65.
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I do urge people that are in their sixties because it gets quite expensive, even the
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age over 50 rates start to really go up.
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That a lot of people that are in that age group.
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Can still explore these health shares as a, as an option.
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So it's just yeah.
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No part with Medicare.
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Yeah.
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And starting and establishing and running indie pop, what has that meant for you?
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Oh my gosh.
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First of all, anytime you are trying to trail blaze something that's never
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been done before there is no path that I'm following in somebody's footsteps.
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So it's.
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It's like, what?
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I don't know.
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I really don't know.
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And I am, I'm learning as I go, but when I hear those words from people like,
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where were you five years ago, Melissa?
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This plan has been great.
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Or I had my baby for a thousand dollars.
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That wouldn't have happened with insurance.
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Or I was able to go out on my own or not take that cobra that was $900 a month.
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Those are reinforcing words, but I have a bigger vision for
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helping really change and impact our healthcare industry because.
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This is so important to Americans to be able to have WellCare instead of
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the sick care and not break the bank.
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And I think it's time that we really explore a hundred year old insurance
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that we've had and say, okay, we don't have to throw it all out, but.
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We gotta make it better.
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Like we gotta be, there's 57 million self-employed people that
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are slipping through the cracks of our system because we are paying
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just the most for healthcare.
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And was that vision always big enough for you to power through your dark moments?
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Was there a moment where you're like, shit, I like this is too hard.
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Like I should probably give this up.
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Because as you said, trailblazing in a new area.
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Yeah.
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I, like there have been moments where I felt like bark barking
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into the wilderness and never hearing anything back.
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And so I, I was just curious if you had gone through a moment where you're like
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maybe I could be doing something else.
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When you look at the, it's like David and Goliath.
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Me and David,
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my little slingshot.
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Because the industry is so big and there's so much money in it, trillions
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and trillions, that, yes, it can be really daunting, but I would say at the
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core of it is I'm so passionate about this and I, again, I didn't choose I
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think that's the other thing is that I.
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I did it.
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I just, I couldn't shake it after I went into the marketplace to see that, I'm
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like, this is what's out there right now.
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This is what we're faced with.
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I'd have to change my doctors.
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It's very disruptive and it's expensive, and I just, I couldn't shake it.
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And I think when you get to that point where you are mad.
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Can you either complain about it or do something about it and I chose,
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I'm gonna do something about it.
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And I've stayed with that mission.
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I've had a few advisors out.
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Some of my indie pop advisors say You have not.
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Back down, like you have really stayed true to your mission the entire time.
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Like being, educating and giving resources and making sure that each offering is
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up to our our highest gold standards.
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And we just want people when they come to us to trust us that we have vetted
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this to our, the best of our ability.
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We put our stamp on it and we say, Hey, this can be a really good option for you.
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And for those listening who have been intrigued.
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Enough to be this until the end.
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What are one or two steps that they could be taking right now if they're so inspired
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in their own, like first of all, you don't have Yeah.
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To become an
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advocate for their own health.
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So if you don't have healthcare, I urge you to really look at something
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to have for at least major medical, you're those high cost medical needs.
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That's where the stem of the bulk of major, of debt comes from.
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I would urge you to really try to find something.
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And then number two is you can always come to Indie pop and look at FAQs.
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If you'd like to just get a better understanding about things to look
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out for in your healthcare plan.
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You could always meet with one of our people to compare something
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that you might have and say, am I missing something in my plan?
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And just see if something you should stay with or move away from.
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Great.
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And for those listening, you could go to chef life radio.com/indie pop
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for that very special landing page that's got all this information and
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also links for everything, including booking a call and just asking a
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question and be the dummy in the room.
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Know what you don't know and be willing to find the answers for
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yourself because you have to be your own best advocate in this.
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If not there are plenty of people who are gonna tell you what to think.
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And you need to find out what you actually think and believe in.
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Mel, any last words?
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What are you looking forward to in this year for Indie pop?
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Oh, there's so much.
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No really it's exciting because we're working with more and more providers,
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doctor offices that really enjoy working with our plans, and so that's exciting.
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My vision is to see that indie pop accepted here provider offices.
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And creating more resources.
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We added physical therapy.
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I urge you guys you're on your feet, you're doing chopping
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motions, you're doing standing motions, you're doing whatever.
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Register I iPad motions myself.
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I'm like sitting constantly.
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Not good.
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But free assessment, free first visit with virtual pt and you
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have nothing to lose there.
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And see if there's some exercises you can do to help.
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E alleviate, alleviate some of the pain no one should live with pain.
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Totally get it.
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Yeah.
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Thank you so much for your time, Mel.
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It's been a pleasure and I can't wait to catch up to you later in the year
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and find out how everything's running.
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Yes.
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Thank you for your time and please, we are here for you.
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And we really want to make healthcare, put that care back into it again.
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So that you're not just an ID card anymore, but you're
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a real human needing care.
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Male, black.
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Indie Pop, I-N-D-I-P-O-P, and you can view the resourcePage@chefliferadio.com
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slash indie pop.
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Thank you very much, Mel.
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Thank you.
