The New Nomad

Health and Security Technology to keep you safe and secure with Brett Estep | TNN43

February 14, 2022 Andrew Jernigan and Allen Koski Episode 43
The New Nomad
Health and Security Technology to keep you safe and secure with Brett Estep | TNN43
Show Notes Transcript

Choosing a health insurance plan or travel can be complicated but it is vital for travelers to know what kind of coverage they need and what they might need in their journey. The good thing about insurance packages is they have almost everything you need; from medical to evacuation to canceled flights. You just have to fully understand what they have to offer. Getting advice from experts on what exactly your plan covers and analyzing your needs would be the most efficient and effective way in purchasing your insurance. Brett Estep,  Chief Operating Officer of Insured Nomads, would be happy to enlighten you about their policies and what’s in them for you.

Our hosts, Andrew Jernigan and Allen Koski, together with Brett, talked about what a good insurance policy can do for our travelers when it comes to their security and well-being. They have discussed how technology has brought breakthroughs in the accessibility of healthcare for people who are on the go. Take the time and effort to do some necessary research on insurance plans to find the best quality, and most cost-effective to meet your needs and financial situation. In the long run, you’ll be thankful you did.


[6:01] Virtual healthcare is the future

[10:13] Using technology to keep travelers from harm's way

[16:20] Travel insurance revamped

[20:53] Digitally integrated payments are the solution for travelers

[22:27] Staying human in the midst of evolving technology

[34:00] Innovation for a better healthcare experience


GUEST BIO:

Brett Estep, Chief Operating Officer has represented industry-leading brands in global insurance, benefit consulting, and technology over his 25-year career spanning 4 continents and countless cultures. He believes remote work was thrust into the spotlight resulting from the global pandemic and providing vast capability with an intuitive and simplified user experience will redefine an industry begging for dramatic change.

“Brett’s business acumen, keen insights, and passion for driving innovation that empowers the globally mobile to live, work, and play with peace of mind are just a few of the reasons his leadership of our operations is integral to our continued success,” said Allen Koski, President of Insured Nomads.


Brett Estep Links:
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/in/brettmestep
Website: https://runningremote.com/speaker/brett-estep/
Website: https://www.coverager.com/insured-nomads-appoints-brett-estep-chief-operating-officer/


Follow Insured Nomads at:

Instagram: @insurednomads

www.insurednomads.com

Allen  

Welcome to The New Nomad podcast today. We have a guest that Andrew and I both know quite well, Brett Estep will join us. He's the Chief Operating Officer of Insured Nomads. He's got a very interesting story to share with us but also, we're gonna have a great conversation, something a little different today. As we were speaking, recently, we're talking about COVID-19 has really ignited a different virtual healthcare revolution and Brett's been very instrumental in bringing those pieces together. We've been getting questions from people, and what does that mean, for those who live that location independent lifestyle. And we're going to share with you today what we think that means. And what Brett's vision for the next one, three and five years in that area. Andrew, are all bringing my co host, Andrew Jernigan, and are we've seen so much changes in the last year and a half since COVID-19. I mean, even something along the lines of, you know, we've seen people take a podcasting, we've, we have zoom meetings, like we haven't before, but on the healthcare space, there's also a huge move to like virtual mental health, virtual support, etc. And you've been a great leader in this too. I mean, you've got to be saying yourself, what about what a huge amount of change we've just seen in the last 18 months?


Andrew  

Yes, you know, hi, everyone. Thanks for joining us again this week. It's it's that thing of what are we going to face next, as we evolve; the products, the services, and the expectations everyone has for this new global workforce. You know, we've been all three of us, Brett that will be joining us in today's show, we've all been in, in the expats international space for years. But the expectation is new and different now. Health has been in everyone's face, but also the duty of care, the well being. And more than ever, we've had requests for people saying, hey, why don't you guys offer a policy to ensure my $3,000 laptop, or I've been a opponent for years of cancellation insurance, of trip cancellations just because I thought you know, it's a rip off, it's expensive, how often are chips actually delayed or cancelled. Now, in weekends, where you have 1000 flights cancelled, or you have a pandemic declared, and you have countries that throw red flags in your way, cancellation is more important than ever. So yeah, this is gonna be interesting as we talk about these changes. I know we're all joining from different places around as we're globally dispersed team working remotely. So it's, it's gonna be good having Brett with us today.


Allen  

Well, it's interesting. And we'll bring bread into the conversation because working with Brett, I've learned so much about artificial intelligence, cloud based technology, integration of partners that also bring things to to app. But at the end of the day, what I've really learned is, it should be easy to find, easy to use. And when you need it, it's there at your fingertips. So we'll bring Brett in, Brett join us. Great to have you join us. Where are you joining us from today?


Brett  

Good afternoon, gentlemen. Nice to be with you. And congrats on the success of the podcast here, The New Nomad. I am joining you from Midwest US in St. Louis, Missouri.


Allen  

Excellent. And I, I have mentioned that, Brett, you've, you've been traveling around the world and you've been supporting nomads of all different varieties for many years. Share with us a little bit of your background, and what has gotten you to this point today that makes you really excited about supporting this new digital healthcare revolution. And the folks that are out there looking for the support of that revolution.


Brett  

Yeah, quickly. Background is international business by education and corporate benefits and insurance by trade. I have spent 25 years in this line of work. And I found myself in global about halfway through my career. And I saw that there was a big opportunity. I think a lot of the corporate clients that I worked with viewed global as a bit of a black box. And the more I understood about it, the more I believed that, you know, it wasn't as cumbersome as people thought. And in cracking that code, you can add value and build businesses and products and provide solutions. The you know, my arrival at Insured Nomads. It was it was interesting because I found myself in what we affectionately referred to as job transition in mid 2020 during the pandemic. And so I reflected on how this has shaped history before and did I want to realign myself with brands, businesses and roles that I had typically seen? Or did I want to be involved in an industry that was a successful byproduct of the pandemic? And I chose the latter. And I think at Insured Nomads with, you know, the communities that we support and the reality of today's world, it's the right place at the right time.


Andrew  

Well, this is, you know, Brett, it's an honour really to have you with us, as we've brought on thought leaders to build this company. And and you are one of those, you know, what, what do you think is the, the driver as in InsurTech? And I think you've, you've said recently, it's almost travel tech, in with some of the things that you've you've put into play, it's bringing on FinTech components as well. What do you think is some of the drivers of that? Is it the, the dormancy or the complacency of that you felt? Or, you know, what, where do you think the industry is leading us in that direction?


Brett  

I think the industry, and I appreciate your remarks. I think the industry for a while has kind of kicked around the idea of this notion of virtual care. But I think one, the pandemic, to the spotlight on remote work. And three, the easy integration with technology, everybody communicates with the devices in their hands in their tablets that they carry in their offices. And I think, you know, I am a self described techie, I don't have the language behind it. But I understand the ease and efficiency that the technology can drive. And I think there is a a huge appetite for people to be able to gain access to information quicker. And if you can do that in the healthcare environment, close access gaps to care, which is where I think some of the international virtual care started many years ago and do that with a user experience that is simplified like most of the successful platforms are, it's really a unique opportunity to, you know, support that virtual care demand that I think we're seeing.


Allen  

Right, you've really educated me to the importance of some of the geo positioning tools, relative to support for something like a panic button, or information being pushed out to somebody to keep them out of harm's way, really a more proactive approach than we've seen in healthcare in the past. And I'd love your comments about how is that built? And how do things happen in real time? And how do we even sweep the web to see that something is happening somewhere, and or something has changed. It's always amazed me how you've educated me in those areas.


Brett  

I mean, these days, everything is happening in real time, you know, good or bad. And one of the opportunities that I saw pretty quickly. And Allen and I know you and I hail from very similar pedigree is that the constraints of a lot of the big brands that are successful to date, or the, you know, corporate infrastructure, technology platforms. And when Insured Nomads was founded, we had none of those constraints. And so everything could be built in a new environment to use your terms, the cloud based environment, which is what all of our technology is built on. And the way in which we deploy artificial intelligence and machine learning, which I think is absolutely the way it's already making very significant impacts in the world of technology and other industries. But instead of us as an example, if we were going to source data from some of the world's most credible data sources, the historical ways to buy API feeds and integrate that into an in house database and find a way to monetize that. What we have done is kind of taking the opposite approach and use machine learning to sweep the entirety of the net, and populate the information from public sources. And again, it goes through I'm not going to bore you with the tech speak, but we have a multi process authentication so that we know that the information is valid before it makes it to our editors. And then everything is GPS. It's it's GPS enabled, because I think so many of the applications that people have in their own technology environments, are tracking them for purposes of marketing outreach, or alignment with different communities or social events. And I think that's the way in which things are working these days. So why not deploy a solution for an individual or a corporate client that allows us to know where they are and keep them out of harm's way? I think this this current situation with the pandemic and global uncertainty, the more people travel, the more I think they are going to need to know what type of risk if any, are they headed into


Andrew  

Well said, well said, you know, because it's most people are feeling like they're not going to get ill or injured. They've they've spent so much time overseas or they don't within their home environment. Right. So it's it's integrating things that are keeping them out of harm's way preventative. I think in in the preventative sense, there are a couple of things that, that you and Allen have really pioneered with offerings. So it's, what do you think is the the one that stands out to you the most in the aspect of preventative?


Brett  

preventative care, I think, when it was legislated in the United States to be free with the Medicare Modernization Act some years ago, I think it got a needed spotlight, because I think that there is a significant care avoidance. And we're seeing more and more of that, because of the pandemic, the pandemic, I think people were avoiding care. And I think we run the risk of a tsunami or kind of a whipsaw effect in the healthcare systems, both in the US and around the globe. And so I think from a virtual care perspective, giving people access very efficiently, in a way in which they currently use to diagnose some of these things that were otherwise overlooked because of the pandemic I think will hopefully improve the general health and reduce cost burdens for employers and individuals alike. The other thing that I would say to as it relates to this video, you know, virtual ecosystem is mental health. I was reading an article sometime back that was indicating that loneliness would be deemed the new smoking. And when you couple loneliness, with a global pandemic, and an environment of lockdowns and social isolation, on top of many societies tend to deal with anxiety and depression as is without those additional headwinds. I think we as a business, we as a community, and we as a society need to think very carefully about how we approach mental health and make support services available. Years ago, I was doing speaking engagements at a prior role. And there is very specific statistical evidence that says people that travel outside of their home country are two times more likely to feel anxious and nervous and three times more likely to feel trapped and depressed. And so knowing that, and then you couple that with a global pandemic and lockdowns in isolation, we better have a resource available to support the mental health needs that I think we see now. And we'll continue to see into the future.


Allen  

I think that's, you know, mental health is is something that we've gotten some great feedback that we really support people on. Because you're right, there is a lot of anxiety when people travel. But the other thing that ties in that we've gotten a lot of feedback on was the panic button, the immediate access, and I continue to get questions. And maybe you can share with our audience how that works. Because they're like this, it seems like a miracle that I can be halfway around the world, in a situation I feel compromised, and then grab the app and hit the panic button. How do people reach out to me? How do they find me? Is there a tower that pings? What happens? But people are very comforted that they have that security blanket and I would love you to share with the audience because I continually get questions about the inner workings of the panic button, because they're so happy to see that there.


Brett  

so quick story, and then I'll get into that. My mother in law recently booked a trip. And she had shared with me that she used a travel agent. And I, one, didn't realise that they still were in existence, but apparently they are in doing quite well these days I hear. But the reason that she chose to use a travel agent was for peace of mind knowing that she could contact somebody in the event she needed help. And so it was that simple reality alone that I immediately kind of guided her to, selfishly what we do. And and I think that that need to my prior comment is is absolutely there now more than it ever has been. So inside our ecosystem, we do have a panic button. And to talk a little bit about some of the data science that goes behind the scenes. You know, privacy is really important. We're in a heavily regulated industry with insurance and so we have to mind our P's and Q's as it relates to data privacy and protection. And there you have options to suppress your GPS availability. But let's say you Turn it off completely. And then there is an event and you hit the panic button, we will know where your last reported location was within a few feet. And the technology programming is such that it overrides your privacy preferences to turn back on the GPS during that panic button incident. And then it will ping the tower, you know, based on proximity every 60 seconds when otherwise we ping it every three minutes, until that crisis is resolved. Let's say for example, somebody is on holiday where there is no Wi Fi or internet signal, all of the information is all of the critical information, so safety and security information is downloaded behind the scenes. And so it's there whether you have connectivity or not. And we even have the ability to communicate through SMS if there is not a valid signal. And then it's constantly being updated with your movements. So even though we might not know within plus or minus 15 feet, we'll know where you last checked in.


Andrew  

Oh, wait, wait. So what I've seen this in the past, it's been one of those key employee only benefits that you know that for those large corporations, you're saying that this is in every product that you guys have built,


Brett  

every single policy, everybody has access to the same technology ecosystem that seems to be growing and changing by the week, which is something that we're excited about. And oftentimes, and Allen, I know has experienced this too, in order to get the portfolio of services that I think is provided in the ecosystem that we offer, you would have to be an executive, you would have to be somebody that is a highly compensated individual, with reason to make these expenditures in a corporate benefit programme. But this applies to anybody that's taking a two week vacation to anywhere around the world up to somebody that would buy a more longer duration comprehensive international medical plan. But yeah, long way to say 100% of our policyholders get access to all of this information.


Andrew  

So that comes in it's it sounds like the traditional duty of care, travel risk management, but yet it has more. It's got the reimbursement for flight delays. It's got the airport lounge, it's it's got the mental health, it's it's more than just the crisis responder, isn't it? And that's, that's through an annual membership that is paired with the product. So this is this is very different than the strictly medical, whether it's travel, medical or global health insurance company extremely different. 


Brett  

Well, you mentioned a couple things. So the duty of care piece, we are currently working with corporate clients that want to offer just the duty of care piece, I think, you know, for those that have paid attention to what duty of care is it's not notional. It's something that represents a significant liability for the corporate clients that we support and I've worked with over many, many years. So that is an option, you know, to make available but if you look at the scope of things that are included in the ecosystem, a couple comments that I would make were we've got a community support, so that remote workers location independence and corporate groups, if they find themselves in a new land, to live into work, can they get connected with people that can help them find a paediatrician or find a tennis class or find a yoga studio? Yes, we can. But then all of the other features that you've indicated, like lounge access and mental health and full integration with financial services, like MasterCard, pay card network, all of these are in specific response to what our customers have demanded. And to me, it represents a bit of a departure from some of my prior roles in that the internal marketers were defining the value proposition externally without necessarily listening directly to the voice of the customer. And this, we our, our feet are firmly on the ground as it relates to listening to the people that support us.


Allen  

But you you brought up something I thought was interesting that, you know, you talked and kind of slipped by there quickly, the MasterCard pay card, and obviously one of the issues that we hear from people that would go to, let's say, Costa Rica for a year, if they have medical costs, you know, they would love to have, you know, those being directly reimbursed or easily paid as opposed to, alright, I'll pay it local currency and then mail it to my insurance company or, God forbid, fax it in the old days. And there are still people doing that. Help some of the folks out there understand some of the, you know, the revolutionary new steps, which don't seem revolutionary to us, but the revolution and if you've come from an old world insurance company that helped people get their claims paid a lot easier. And certainly you know, people don't want to be sitting there waiting for months and months and months for for claim reimbursement,


Brett  

faxing, I think the only people still faxing or travel agents. So I think it's a great question. The so the financial services industry kind of leaned into integrating technology and what they do. And if you reflect back on when they were marketing for banks that allow you to use your smart device to make deposits of checks, we to just carry that forward with our relationship with MasterCard, so that in your digital wallet, on your smart device, should a health care provider clinic or pharmacy except that form a currency, then you simply pay for it, like I pay for my groceries down the road with my phone? The sowhat in that is that, you know, the the old Pareto principle, I think applies in our world in that it's only a small percentage of the population driving a significant portion of the cost burden. The rest of it, you know, it's relatively acute, it's low dollar items, it's a prescription here, it's an office visit copay. And then keep in mind, we support a tremendous amount of volume in non US markets, where the cost per unit of healthcare is a lot lower. So our ability to take that pay and claim or reimburse or chase process out of it by allowing them to pay for it on a, you know, digitally integrated payment card it just makes all the sense in the world. And quite frankly, I couldn't get it done in prior lives. But back to the comment that I made at the outset that we came here without constraints. And so long as we have the capital and the time, then we can invest in those solutions that I think the market is seeking from us.


Andrew  

Well, Brett, I know that there's a there's a lot coming down the pike and I know that you've told me about some of these things, what's the most exciting thing that will be integrated next within your, with the ecosystem? I know Allen, you're you're driving a lot of that innovation. But what's the one thing within that the Insured Nomads community ecosystem that that excites you most,


Brett  

um, the community piece, I think is going to be very important because as much as we continue to talk about Tech Tech Tech, and it's going to be incredibly important. One of the things that's paramount to our business is staying human. And I think with everybody queuing up their zoom meetings, and being virtually distant from just about everything, the more we can introduce human ideas, human interactions, and human context, into a technology ecosystem, the better. And so I think community is going to be incredibly powerful for us. The exciting piece about the platform itself, whether it is, you know, the capability from an API integration to various partners, the partnerships that we have through affiliate relationships, and whether it's hospitality industry and Planes, Trains and Automobiles, I'll say that it really is limitless in that regard, and as to is the creativity on the integrations that we can put into the ecosystem. So you say which is my favourite? Well, I think it's community. But it's favourite this week, because I have a strong feeling that is we continue to, you know, integrate new partners and new features, that the sky is really the limit. And we are going to continue to work with our customers and our partners to see what unmet demand is there. Is it tax? Is it relocation support? Is it pet support? Is it education for children? And so anytime we identify a very specific need or demand, we absolutely have the flexibility to integrate it in the platform that we offer today.


Allen  

So Brett, if if I was listening to this podcast, and my I really didn't understand insurance, but my sister was going for, let's say, you're gonna go to an Airbnb for a month in Costa Rica. Would you have a product for them? Or my sister was going down there for a year on a digital nomad visa? Would you have a product for that scenario, too? And how are they different?


Brett  

Yeah, you bet. You bet. Great question. So we do we have shorter duration coverages from an insurance perspective. So let me get outside of the technology ecosystem for a minute, shorter duration travel coverage. And so I would almost view that is accident injury or illness. So I need something if the wheels fly off. I don't need anything for you know, my maintenance, physical therapy. If I'm going to relocate to another destination, and I'm going to be there for an extended period of time, which you know, if you look at the surge in digital nomad visas, and you look at the mobility, you know, you and I participated in an event the other day that said that work from anywhere was searched on Google in excess of a trillion times, people are going to leave their place of citizenship. And I think they are going to embrace a remote lifestyle. And for those individuals that choose to do that, we have the, you know, what I would call cross border health insurance, which is going to look and feel a lot more like a corporate benefit offering or an offering provided by your state or government. So it will include, you know, the preventative, the routine, the maintenance, the acute, or even elective, you know, types of coverage.


Allen  

What's your feeling on the need for evacuation coverages? I've heard people say, Well, yeah, it's I know, I need health care evacuation. But is there things for natural disasters and security evacuation? And of course, the answer is, is yes. But people are still confused about what that all means is, is that also built into the infrastructure should somebody want that type of support, because it is expensive to obviously leave somewhere with a medical issue, or quickly if there's a natural disaster, or civil disturbance?


Brett  

Yeah. So I guess, depending on where you get your information. Today, and I think in the near to mid term, I personally think there will absolutely be a need for non medical evacuation, probably on par with a medical evacuation. If whether it's La Palma, or St. Vincent, or the earthquakes, or political uncertainty and civil unrest, in addition to the pandemic, and so on, there is a massive risk that is changing daily. And that's why I am very excited to have support inside our infrastructure to pay attention to a dozen different types of threats that exist around the world. Set another way, maybe my wife would let me go without it but I would not go without that type of support so that I know for certain, I get to come home to my kids.


Allen  

So it's been really interesting kind of building this infrastructure. And other questions we have that come from people is how do you direct us to care? And I think that this is something that's great that you've built into the infrastructure that, you know, in the past, you really don't want to go to your, you know, hotel concierge and say, hey, where should I go? I need to go see a doctor. Because there might be an ulterior motive. There may not be culturally, you know, right for you, it might not be the best facility in town. And of course, we've learned over the years that there are probably 200 hospitals or clinics that handle about 80% of the non local people coming through, whether they're business travelers, travelers, leisure travelers or expats there have. Is that something that's built into the community that people can look to, and certainly, you know, get the best direction to care and support?


Brett  

Yeah. So what's interesting to note, and the short answer is, yes, it's built into our platforms, built into the community resources. But this idea that the healthcare infrastructure in non US countries is like ours, is just completely inaccurate. And anybody that spent time in this industry or in this side of the business, can understand and appreciate that. And one of the biggest mistakes, I think, or opportunities from non US healthcare systems is they look at the West and they say, that's a fundamental example of what not to do. When our healthcare infrastructure was established, it was, in essence, they build it, and they will come. And it is a very bloated model that I think is part of the reason why we have such an expense burden here in the US. What many other systems around the world have done, have been specific about the resources they develop, based on the burden of disease in their community, as opposed to building it all and waiting to serve needs that may never arise. So we do look at some of the fundamentals, the Joint Commission International, which is globally recognised as an accreditation of minimum. But then also to your point, we have the insight to know which facilities are most commonly used for 8 out of 10 International healthcare claims. And then how can we guide people in more of a TripAdvisor fashion, as opposed to giving them an alphabetized list of facilities that essentially mean nothing to them. So that's where the community component comes in. So that it's not, this is the American Hospital in Dubai. But what feedback from the communities do we have, you know, as an organic group that can help somebody understand that system if they are unfamiliar with it?


Andrew  

Well, Brad, we've reached the point in the episode where I've got to ask you that question that we get to ask every guest and I'm excited to hear, you know. What is an overlooked person, place experience, even book? And and you could throw in two things if you want to, but that you would feel that our tribe, our listeners would one need to know about?


Brett  

That is a great question, gentlemen. So I'm going to take this into two areas. One's nostalgic. Well, they're both kind of nostalgic, and overlooked book. And this will date me is a book called The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And I think it's significant for me, because when I have an opportunity to share that with my child and children, it really becomes a much more magical interpretation of what that is because I reflect on it. The second in terms of experience, I wouldn't say it's overlooked because I think it gets plenty of attention. But as a man without a tonne of discretionary time on my hands. My wife and I thoroughly enjoy Napa, California. Reason being: we're foodies. We love great food, and we love wine. And we love great weather. And every time that we've been out there really has been just a memorable vacation.


Allen  

That's fantastic. And I that's actually where we, my wife, and I went on our honeymoon. It was a wonderful experience. And it's quite beautiful up there. Excellent choice, my friend. Where can people learn more about you, as this episode concludes? I'm certain that you're going to continue to innovate. And I'd love to have people either reach out to you learn more about you. But also if people have great ideas that would help them have a better health care experience, or there's a new location that's opened up a new technology that helps the location independent people, you'd be a great person for somebody to reach out to. How could they reach you? 


Brett  

Yeah, and I would encourage the listeners to do that. As much as we pride ourselves on paying attention to as much of the market as we possibly can. We're human, we can't see it all. And we're constantly looking at partnering with partnering or integrating or simply learning about what is available. And so reach out to us you can find me on LinkedIn. linkedin.com.com/brettestep, and then there is a way to connect with us on our website, insurednomads.com.


Allen  

Fantastic. Well, thanks again, Brett. And, Andrew. As always, whenever we talk to our good friend here, we learned something new, let this is the time that we share, what do we learn today, I'll let you go first.


Andrew  

Let's see, I want to read that book, The Lion, The Witch, ann the Wardrobe, that's one of those where I want to get that. So that's, that's one of the takeaways, I'm intrigued by this, you know, some of the things he shared, you know, they're the membership that that he elaborated on, that's that duty of care and, and how that's being embedded in different environments. So it's, this has been really good, just I love what is coming out of the Jeuveau Innovation Lab and the team at Insured Nomads. As it's a pleasure to work here with you, too. 


Brett  

Now, the pleasure is mine.


Allen  

isn't it in. Likewise, and I mentioned this one thing that I think's tremendous that I learned constantly from Brett is, if you have an open mind to innovation, and you don't have too much sunk cost already into it archaic or old method, you can move very fast, and you can innovate and you can build things in this environment. And you have a lot of people who are very bright, that are happy to partner and build a better support system for our location independent people out there. And we're going to continue to do that. So look forward to further episodes as we continue to innovate. Once again, we really appreciate people listening to The New Nomad, the podcasts or people that are location independent. And we also look forward to feedback that you might give us as you want to have a better health care experience out there. So continue to travel safely, and we look forward to catching up with you again in the future. Cheers.