How My Health Literacy Videos Are Saving Money For A Food Bank In Florida
Emily Shageer saved $900 on one bogus bill and then dodged another for $10,000. Educating employees with The Never Pay Pathway videos is paying off.
Emily Shageer’s story highlights three awesome things about showing working Americans how to save money on health care.
Emily is the human resources assistant at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. The charity, located in Orlando, has an essential mission. It distributed enough food last year to provide 81 million meals! I’m proud to partner with them and RosenSure, their health benefits advisors, to educate their employees with The Never Pay Pathway health literacy videos.
The videos present the money-saving principles and actionable tips from my book, Never Pay the First Bill, in a way that’s fun and engaging for employees. It’s a way to bring the empowerment to scale – to protect the pocketbooks of working Americans and transform the health care system.
Emily is 29 and expecting her first child, so she’s been going to the doctor and undergoing a lot of tests. She shared that The Never Pay Pathway videos helped prepare her to navigate the upcoming issues she was about to encounter. Which brings me to the first awesome thing her story highlights.
It’s possible for every working American to save big money on each health care encounter.
These health literacy videos teach people to be vigilant and engaged when they get a medical bill. So, when Emily received a $900 bill for bloodwork, she gave it a close look. The bill said it had been run through her insurance plan and that she owed the money, but Emily felt skeptical. My book and videos teach a key principle: You must ensure your bill is accurate and fairly priced before you pay it. That includes checking to see if it’s been properly processed by your insurance plan. Emily looked and sure enough – the lab hadn’t sent the claim to her insurance plan. She got it redirected and the plan covered it 100 percent.
BOOM – $900 saved!
In another case, Emily received a statement for a $10,000 test. But when she looked up the billing code – something else I explain in the videos – the code was for a fertility test. But she hadn’t undergone a fertility test. Sadly, patients are often charged for services they did not receive. Emily notified the company that processes Second Harvest’s claims so that the problem could be corrected.
BAM – she and her health plan just dodged a bogus bill for $10,000. Way to go, Emily!
Which brings me to the second awesome thing about teaching these principles to employees.
People feel empowered when they learn how to navigate the health care system.
Emily said she’s often asked to pay a copay when she goes to her lab for bloodwork. But now she’s on alert. Her plan doesn’t require a copay for lab work at one particular chain of labs. Thus, when they ask for a copay at the front desk, she doesn’t hand over her money. She tells them to bill it to the plan, which covers the tests 100 percent, with no copayment.
It’s empowering to understand how the system operates. It allows the patient to dictate the terms to the often uninformed billing representatives. That’s something Emily said she’s heard from other Second Harvest employees who have watched The Never Pay Pathway videos. “The feedback I’ve gotten from everybody is that the videos are very eye-opening and that they feel empowered,” she said.
Unfortunately, most employers do not empower employees when they roll out their health plans. It’s no wonder employees aren’t savvy about navigating the health care system. They haven’t been taught!
Much of the practical health care knowledge in my videos has been a revelation to employees. Some Second Harvest employees told Emily they didn’t realize they should go to an urgent care facility instead of an emergency room, if possible. Applying that knowledge saves big money for employees and employers.
“It’s all about that education and being informed,” said Carolyn Grant, the RosenSure benefits advisor for Second Harvest. “It gives you an upper hand and gives you the power.” Carolyn believes so much in The Never Pay Pathway videos that RosenSure paid for them for Second Harvest. The videos are “a fun way” for employees to be educated, Carolyn said. “They don’t have to read anything. They don’t have to sit down and listen to anybody. It’s quick, it’s fun and it’s engaging.”
The Never Pay Pathway is a big help to advisors like Carolyn who are committed to bringing down costs while improving benefits. Carolyn said she knows she’s not able to provide a thorough education about the health care system on her own. “I can only teach so much in an enrollment meeting,” she said.
Which brings me a third awesome thing about empowering working Americans to save money on health care.
Empowering employees also saves employers money and has tremendous potential for disruption.
Boosting the knowledge of employees can save employers money, Carolyn said. Informed and engaged employees might see something on a bill that could save money for themselves and the health plan, Carolyn said. Maybe they see a medical bill for an inpatient visit that tallied one day too many in the hospital, she said. Or perhaps it shows the patient had bloodwork when they did not. “Bills often have errors,” she said.
Saving the health plan’s money is important to Second Harvest because it’s self-funded - meaning the nonprofit bears the cost of the benefits. “Your videos are reinforcing a lot of things that are true of our plan,” Emily said.
For example, the Second Harvest plan works with a company called Green Imaging, which contracts directly with independent imaging centers to bring tremendous savings on CT scans, MRIs and other tests. I feature Green Imaging in a video and show how going to an independent imaging center can save huge amounts of money. Getting that message across will save the employee and the health plan money.
Now for the bigger picture. This work of educating and empowering employees to change the way they engage with the health care system is just getting started. The Never Pay Pathway videos can bring it to scale.
Imagine if working Americans knew how to find fair prices for medication and medical tests and procedures. It would reward the fair-priced providers and penalize the price gougers. Imagine if they routinely demanded an itemized bill, with the billing codes (as is their right under the HIPAA law). Billing departments would learn to provide them. Imagine if they sued price gougers regularly in small claims court. Doctors and hospitals would be incentivized to be fair and careful with their billing practices. Imagine if everyone who qualified for financial assistance applied for it and got their bills forgiven. They and their health plans would save millions.
The Never Pay Pathway videos cover these topics and more in an engaging format. I’m thrilled to see them working for Emily and the Second Harvest team. Let’s keep it rolling!
Contact us at neverpay@marshallallen.com for more information about the videos.
The Never Pay Pathway Health Care Curriculum
I love to see working Americans have their mindset flipped by effective health literacy education. Our health care system isn’t broken. It was designed this way. It’s no accident that employers and working Americans keep paying more than they should for health care. But employees are not powerless.
Does your organization sponsor health benefits for your employees?
Want to see them get equipped to be savvy health care consumers?
I’m looking for bold employers to equip their employees with my Never Pay Pathway health literacy videos. They’re based on my book, Never Pay the First Bill, and the knowledge will transform the way your employees engage the health care system.
The videos are an ENGAGING resource that will save money for your employees, their families - and your health plan. Let’s stop overpaying for our health care, shall we? Email me at neverpay@marshallallen.com for more information.
