EP 452: How A Health Insurance Educator Helps Families Cut Costs

What makes AJ Spradlin with Active Insurance Group a good neighbor?

Health insurance can feel confusing, expensive, and worst of all out of your control. But what if you actually understood the few key levers that determine what you pay? We sit down with AJ Spradlin of Active Insurance Group, also known as Active Insurance Guru, to break down the parts of medical insurance most people were never clearly taught: deductibles, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket maximums. Once those click, everything changes, you stop guessing and start making confident, informed decisions.

AJ shares what he sees every day working with individuals, families, and self-employed clients across DFW and beyond people trying to balance real coverage with real budgets. One of the biggest takeaways? Your plan might not be as “fixed” as you think. In some cases, families don’t actually need to stay on one single plan. Strategic splits like when one spouse has strong employer benefits and the other is self-employed can create major savings without sacrificing protection.

What sets AJ apart is his approach. It’s not about pushing a new plan, it’s about doing a true needs analysis. Sometimes the best advice is to stay exactly where you are. Other times, it’s about adjusting your structure to better match your life. Either way, the goal is clarity, not confusion.

You’ll also hear how AJ built his business through referrals, why he chose to specialize in health insurance, and how to connect with him on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn at @activeinsuranceguru.

If you’ve ever felt unsure about your health insurance or wondered if you’re overpaying, this conversation will give you answers you can actually use. Subscribe, share it with a friend who needs clarity, and leave a review to help more people take control of their coverage.

To learn more about Active Insurance Group go to: https://activeinsuranceguru.com

Active Insurance Group

619-767-8807

Transcript

Welcome To Good Neighbor Podcast

SPEAKER_01 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

What A Health Insurance Educator Does

SPEAKER_02 0:10

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a medical insurance guru? Well, one might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing our good neighbor, AJ Spradlin, with Active Insurance Group Guru. AJ, it is lovely to have you on today. Now we are so excited to learn all about you and your company. Can you start off by telling our listeners just a little bit more about what it is that you do?

SPEAKER_00 0:36

Yeah, no problem, Sophia. Also, thank you for having me on the show. Um so I work in the health insurance space, uh, more of an educator in the realm of uh insurance. So go over different people's plans that they have with their with their families through a corporation, if they're self-employed, uh just giving them overall a um a different viewpoint that they may not understand on how the insurance world works. Um, I actually have a lot of clients that have multiple plans in their one family. What I mean by that, uh, you'll have some families out there like teachers or um public servants that have great insurance for themselves, but adding their family can become costly. Uh so at those times, depending upon their financial situations and um if they're self-employed, other things like that, there may be other uh avenues for them to help get them some uh essentially tax breaks, but also um helping them get covered for a better, uh, more cost-effective route.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Now, AJ, it's clear that you are passionate about what you do. So tell us a little bit more about your backstory. What really got you into this industry in the first place?

Who He Helps And How

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Okay, yeah. So that's uh long story short, I had my Series 7 Health and Ethics P and C Series 63 licenses. So I was a one-stop shop for small business owners, for anything financial and health related in addition to property and casualty for you know anybody that was out there. Uh, I learned that I knew a lot about random things and I didn't know a lot about a small amount of things. And so at that point, I didn't like having a lot of knowledge for a grand scope of things. I wanted to bring my knowledge to a more central unit. And I found that health insurance is pretty uh cut and dry in the sense that it does this and it does that. Uh in the sense of, hey, you have a deductible, you have co-insurance, you have a max out of pocket. Those are the things that you have to hit, and that's how your insurance covers. Whereas the market, you know, that can fluctuate with how trends are going, you know, war in Iran, all these other things that are going on. Um I didn't like having responsibility railways financials, in addition to, you know, potentially not knowing enough about their business to give them the right casualty insurance um for if they're, you know, uh, you know, property and on those things, if they had a you know, a plumbing company or something like that, trucks and all the the space that they would need that for. So health insurance was able, I was able to hone in on that, um, give a better perspective for for me. And I was able to help people a lot more uh that way. And it just gave me a better uh conscious feeling for myself.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Now, AJ, we are going to switch gears and talk about growth for a second. Now, we've kind of seen a little bit more about where your heart for this business comes from, but let's talk about your heart of the business for a second. Now, we know marketing is the heart of every business. So, you know, today who are some of these families that you'd really like to help and how are you attracting them?

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Um, so it really just depends on everybody's situation situations. I said before, the majority of my clients right now are uh self-employed individuals. Um, I actually have a lot of clients in the Texas DFW area. Uh, I've been put into a lot of Facebook groups. Um, one of the big ones is up in Prosper. Uh I've had just trickles over the years of people just putting my name in there and one particular uh development for new homes for people that have been moving into the area. Uh in addition to that, I also have I'm licensed in 30 states. So I do have all across the board, I can talk to people as far east as Florida and as far west as Nevada. Um with all the different things I'm able to do, there's a lot of like moving pieces between states as well. But having somebody to talk to about what their financial situation looks like, what their health insurance situation looks like, there may be something they haven't heard before that brings light to them. But also with what you're saying about how I'm finding these people, a majority of the clients that I'm getting is from the referral base that I have because I am very straightforward with what they can get, what they can't get. And a lot of people find that humanity in me and they've referred me to their friends, family, colleagues, uh, so on and so forth.

Referral Trust And Multi State Licensing

SPEAKER_02 4:55

Well, AJ, it's clear you have a lot of knowledge on your industry as well. So have you ever thought about having your own podcast for your business before?

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Not necessarily a podcast for my own business. Uh, thank you for hosting over here, Sophia, but uh being introduced to something like this would be uh more um I guess beneficial to me, I would say. The podcast in my realm would be very almost cut and dry unless I was bringing on a lot of different individuals that you're doing yourself, you know, with the small business owners in the area. I I'd rather be featured in something like this myself than having my own because the amount of time that it would take, I don't know if it would be as beneficial as me having this one-on-one interaction with you today.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

Now, switching gears, you know, back to your business for a second. You know, what is that number one takeaway you would like our listeners to gather from learning today about active insurance guru?

Should AJ Start A Podcast

The Big Takeaway More Options

SPEAKER_00 5:54

Uh, just that there may be other options. Um, a lot of people out there, you know, they're always looking for something that's more cost effective. They're looking for something that may have better coverage, they may be happy with where they're at, but they don't realize that there's another avenue that could potentially give them a tax break. It really just depends. So for me, getting to do essentially a needs analysis in every family, every company, every individual that's going uh that I'm talking to, I can tell them, hey, you're in the greatest spot you can be. Or, hey, you know what, we might want to look at these other things over here. Um, whether that be, you know, splitting the family up, like I said previously, with uh how anyone that has a government entity-style job, like teachers, firemen, policemen, they have fantastic insurance. But I know the teachers in the DFW area, their pricing to add their families is significantly higher than they would even expect. Um, and I have been able to help not all of them, because not every situation is the same, but I've been able to help a majority of those individuals that are seeking help because their spouse is self-employed and they're able to use tax benefits and other things that they weren't aware of for getting off of the company insurance onto their own.

Splitting Family Plans And Tax Breaks

Where To Find Active Insurance Guru

SPEAKER_02 7:00

Wow. Now, final question for you today. With all this great information that you have, where can our listeners go to learn more about active insurance guru?

SPEAKER_00 7:10

So I have my uh Instagram page, I also have my Facebook, and you can also find me on LinkedIn. All of them are the hashtag or the at symbol of active insurance guru. So that's your traditional spelling, active insurance and guru g-ur, excuse me, g-u- can't speak. Um, but that's that's pretty much it. That's the best way to find me, or you can just find me on my Facebook page at AJ Spradlin. And uh it's two letters A and J, and then Spradlin's S-P R A D isn't dog l-in.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

Well, AJ, I really appreciate you being on the show today. We wish you and your business the best moving forward.

Nominate A Local Business

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP Frisco dot com. That's GNP Frisco dot com or call four six nine two two two two two two two two two two two two one nine three four five.