Good Neighbor Podcast Northport
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Good Neighbor Podcast Northport
Mark Batson: Revolutionizing Employee Benefits with Customizable Health Plans at Iron City Benefits
What if you could offer your employees health plans that are not only cost-effective but also completely customizable? Join us as we explore this game-changing concept with Mark Batson, president of Iron City Benefits. Mark shares his insights on how these innovative health insurance and 401k plans are tailored to meet the unique needs of businesses and their employees. Learn about the significant cost savings and flexibility that come with Iron City Benefits' portable health insurance plans, and why educating businesses and employees about these alternatives is more crucial than ever in a post-pandemic world.
Mark also takes us through his inspiring journey from running a PNC insurance agency to expanding his offerings across 16 states. Discover how these customizable benefits can transform your business by not only saving money but also retaining top talent. We also provide details on how you can easily connect with Iron City Benefits and start making a difference in your employee benefits today. Don't miss out on this enlightening conversation that offers actionable insights for any business owner looking to enhance their employee benefits program.
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This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Patricia Blondheim.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, patricia Blondheim, and today our good neighbor is Mark Batson and he is the president of Iron City Benefits in Hoover. Mark, how are you today?
Speaker 3:Doing well. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:Well, let's start out by telling our listeners a little bit about Iron City Benefits Sure.
Speaker 3:So we are an employee benefits broker here in Hoover. We handle everything from health insurance to 401k, to workers comp, all the way down to ERISA compliance.
Speaker 2:All right. Can you tell us a little bit about the history of your firm and what motivated you to focus on employee benefits, especially health benefits? You to focus on employee benefits, especially health benefits.
Speaker 3:Sure, we have a product that is 40% to 60% less than the marketplace plans with equal or better benefits, and right now everyone is looking to save money businesses and individuals as well. So we have the ability to help put money back into the business by saving money on health insurance. A lot of people don't know about.
Speaker 2:So how has the demand for comprehensive health benefits evolved in recent years? You know there's post-pandemic and now we're in. You know we're in an economic slowdown. Can you kind of expand on that?
Speaker 3:The demand is very much needed. It's a need that everyone wants to offer to their employees and a lot of people don't realize that there's other avenues to take besides the marketplace, and we have the ability to shop it around. We have one product that is, like I said, 40 to 60 percent less, and it's helping businesses out.
Speaker 2:What about? You know we're living in a new world post-pandemic the world of the solopreneur, in a new world, post-pandemic the world of the solopreneur, and also where our local businesses are having trouble finding and retaining employees. Does what you do figure into all of that?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. This plan that I have is actually portable, which means on the front end, if you have a 90-day probationary period before your benefits kick in. With this price points being so much lower, the new hire can actually pick it up day one and start paying for it themselves. And then day 90, we actually add them to the list bill and whatever arrangements the employer has for that employee to pay for it, they take it over.
Speaker 3:We invoice them, the employer itself, and then on the back end, if they leave or get terminated, they have the option to take this policy with them at no rate up and we just remove them from the list bill. So it's very helpful. They don't have to worry about picking up Cobra, which everyone knows.
Speaker 2:Cobra's outrageous so what you're saying is that not only is it a different price point, it's a whole different. The way I see it, it's a whole different concept. It's not a hostage policy, it can belong to the individual who owns it and that right, there is a benefit beyond what you normally get in employee benefits. Am I correct?
Speaker 3:100% correct. Each person is individually honor-ridden, even on the group plans.
Speaker 2:So how do you help your customers customize health benefit packages to meet the diverse needs of the workforce?
Speaker 3:since we're talking about that, so, with each plan being individually underwritten and customizable to whether they want to put in a quarter of a million, half a million or a million dollars per annually If that's what they want their max benefits to be we have the ability to adjust the numbers of the maximum benefit that they want or feel like they need and saves them so much money, so you're not paying for things you really don't need as an employee. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Well, mark, what was your journey? What got you here, into this interesting place?
Speaker 3:So before I owned a independent insurance agency and the PNC world. So I started dabbling in it several years ago in the health insurance and I really saw a need for it. And goodness, it took off and has expanded now, within two years, to 16 states that I'm in with this one product because it's helped save so many people, so much money.
Speaker 2:So, Mark, what challenges do you see in educating employees about their health benefits? This is what you're talking about. You're talking about offering something that's outside of you know what we regard as normal here in Alabama, and how do you help employees or employers improve communication about those benefits.
Speaker 3:Yes, we handle all brochure meetings. We go over the entire policy from start to finish with each client and we can do it via.
Speaker 2:Zoom.
Speaker 3:We can do it in a group setting or we can do it in someone's back office somewhere. If maybe I had a meeting this morning with a local restaurant at 745, before they even opened. We're about to pick them up because they had no idea of the options available out there.
Speaker 2:Right, I mean, we're all. I'm a local business owner and I know up to the point where I met you, I felt like, um, I was kind of a hostage to the um, what is traditional here, right, which is, uh, a couple of providers that um, and they who also appear in the um in the affordable healthcare package, right, uh, the, we weren't. I wasn't aware we could branch out successfully into other companies that might offer uh a greater benefit to my business. So I'm trying not to do this without picking out any uh certain providers, but you go, you go beyond that and you, really, when we met you educated me about that. So, for the listeners, let's talk about what it is that you have.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I have the ability to shop every product except the major one here in Alabama that has the stronghold on Alabama. The product I have. It's so customizable that it's able to the benefits from going and swapping over like I saved one client $130,000 by swapping to us annually on 35 employees here in Birmingham and the ability to just help the client and let them educate them. That, hey, there is. There are other options out there besides the major ones.
Speaker 2:So I'm just going to fire off. You know, the question that I asked you when we met outside of this podcast, which is but is that coverage any good right?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. It's equal or better than the normal benefits of the ACA plans normal benefits of the ACA plans.
Speaker 2:Am I going to be able to get my doctor to buy into this plan, or is my doctor automatically eligible for this plan? Do I need to find a provider network? There's all these questions when we get outside of the known. Which is the one major company that works inside of Alabama? Right, they're the known. Now I'm going out into the unknown. I'm afraid of things like provider networks. Am I going to be able to get the doctor that I use to buy into this plan? Do they need to buy into this plan?
Speaker 3:Tell us about that. Yes, absolutely. This is one of the largest PPO networks in the country. I mean there are 13,000 physicians in network here in the Birmingham area all along. So finding a physician in network is not an issue at all. And even then if your physician is not in a network, it's a one page form that the office manager can fill out and have the doctor sign and we can put them in network if they're willing.
Speaker 2:I'm going to branch out into some unknown territory. As far as compensation for the doctor goes, a lot of doctors are now not even taking some of the larger insurance companies because their compensation contract has become so onerous to them that they're no longer making money with the current offerings inside of the state of Alabama the large companies. So do they have a better deal through these companies that you represent?
Speaker 3:Yes, these are defined benefit set numbers for the physician. These are all so, in essence, if your physician pays charges $120 for a doctor visit and the plan pays $125, by law the client actually gets that $25 difference in the check to them. And that goes all the way down to the procedures and everything else that goes along with doctor visits.
Speaker 2:Mark, tell me a little bit about you. Know how you feed yourself. What do you do? What do you do for fun? What makes you tick?
Speaker 3:Oh goodness, anything outdoors. I'm an outside guy. I hate being in the office, but unfortunately that's my job. I do love to ride in my Harley. I get on it and ride just about every weekend or every cool afternoon that's out there. I just love to get on and go.
Speaker 2:I did a recent interview with someone who does motorcycle education and rides for veterans, specifically veterans who have PTSD and he stated that that a one hour ride has the same benefit for your mental health that an hour of aerobic exercise has. Now, that's pretty outstanding right?
Speaker 3:I believe that 100%, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm sure it gets your heart beating. It's not going to. It's not going to outdo a hundred or an hour of crunches, but it is something that is so beneficial for your mental health that they're actually using that for veterans with PTSD.
Speaker 3:That is awesome.
Speaker 2:Love that. So tell me a little bit about you. Know a challenge that you have encountered in your life and we I'm sure they're every day for you but there might have been one that sort of just redirected your life in a significant way your life or your business.
Speaker 3:So as far as the live event, I actually had a heart attack two years ago, coming up in December, and spent three days down here at UAB Hospital and cardiac care unit Completely changed my outlook. I mean, when you're that helpless and not been able to control what's going on, kind of changes your outlook on life.
Speaker 2:Never take anything for granted. That's also for me. For me it was. For me it was cancer, but but same experience Suddenly. It wasn't really from professionally. For me it wasn't really about what I did anymore, it was about why I did it.
Speaker 3:Yep Exactly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's key, that's huge.
Speaker 3:Being able to help people and just. You just never take life for granted. When you're that close to death per se, you just don't take it for granted anymore.
Speaker 2:It's what I call the gift.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So, mark, let's finish out by giving our listeners a takeaway. What would you like them to remember about Iron City Benefits?
Speaker 3:That's the whole reason I formed this. Iron City Benefits is to help people and educate them on the other options that are available, and not the top three, two or three that actually have Alabama under wraps.
Speaker 2:Anytime I can help save someone money and present equal or better benefits. It's a win-win for everyone, I agree, and that phone call will cost you nothing. So let's give them some contact information and make it easy for them to find Iron City Benefits.
Speaker 3:Sure IronCityBenefitscom or 888-244-4849.
Speaker 2:And I will link to everything in the description down below, and I'm encouraging my listeners to reach out and meet my friend, mark Batson. He's a great guy and it could change. It could change your business and it could change your life. Mark, thank you so much for coming by and sharing Iron City Benefits with us today thank you for having me.
Speaker 3:I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpbirminghamcom. That's gnpbirminghamcom, or call 205-952-20148.