Harlon Pickett is the founder of Eagle Care Health Solutions. Harlon shares his transformative journey from corporate America to pioneering innovative health care solutions as an entrepreneur. After a corporate layoff pushed him to start his own business, he faced the stark reality of health care costs and took matters into his own hands.

Harlon now advocates for affordable and accessible employee benefits, highlighting alternatives like direct primary care and custom health plans. He underscores the importance of rebuilding trust and relationships in health care, showing how these solutions improve employee satisfaction, reduce turnover, and enhance competitiveness for small businesses. Craig and Harlon explore how great leadership involves stepping beyond traditional systems, challenging norms, and putting people first.

This episode inspires leaders to rethink what’s possible when innovation meets compassion in problem-solving.

Want to learn more about Harlon Pickett's work? Check out his website at https://eaglecarehealth.com/.

Connect with Harlon on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/harlon-pickett/.

Key Points with Time Stamps:

• [00:00:51] Introduction: Harlon Pickett, founder of Eagle Care Health Solutions, discusses his mission to innovate in health care.
• [00:02:32] Entrepreneurial Beginnings: Harlon shares his shift from corporate life to entrepreneurship after being laid off.
• [00:03:40] Health Care Realities: Harlon recounts the high costs of health care as an entrepreneur and how it inspired his career pivot.
• [00:07:12] Small Business Challenges: 90% of U.S. businesses with fewer than 50 employees struggle to provide affordable health care.
• [00:13:04] Direct Primary Care: Harlon explains this innovative, membership-based model that improves access to care.
• [00:20:28] Leadership Lessons: Building trust and personalized relationships in health care leads to better outcomes.
• [00:26:01] Employee Benefits Impact: Affordable, customized plans reduce turnover and absenteeism in small businesses.
• [00:30:12] Shifting Perspectives: Educating employers and employees on non-traditional health care solutions.
• [00:33:04] A Competitive Edge: Marketing better health care plans as a recruitment advantage.
• [00:34:05] Closing Thoughts: The unsustainable health care system demands innovative leadership and solutions.

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;30;20
Craig Andrews
I was in a coma for six weeks while the doctors told my wife I was going to die. When I woke up, she told me the most fantastic story. My team kept running the business without me. Freelancers reached out to my team and said, we will do whatever it takes. As long as Craig's in the hospital. I consider that the greatest accomplishment of my career.

00;00;30;23 - 00;00;51;10
Craig Andrews
My name is Craig Andrews and this is the Leaders and Legacies podcast where we talk to leaders creating an impact beyond themselves. At the end of today's interview, I'll tell you how you can be the next leader featured on the show.

00;00;51;10 - 00;00;58;24
Craig Andrews
Today I want to welcome Harlon Pickett. He is the founder of Eagle Care Health Solutions.

00;00;58;24 - 00;01;08;26
Craig Andrews
Harlon is a leader and advocate for insurance and health care industries. He's been championing innovative, alternative finding solutions that challenge traditional,

00;01;08;26 - 00;01;14;05
Craig Andrews
insurance models. And he's paving the way for more affordable and personalized health care options.

00;01;14;05 - 00;01;16;03
Craig Andrews
Anybody that knows my story, I,

00;01;16;03 - 00;01;18;04
Craig Andrews
knows that I.

00;01;18;06 - 00;01;43;02
Craig Andrews
I saw the dark underbelly of the beast. Didn't like it. And so I've been looking for people like Harlon to come on layers and legacies. Part of the reason is, if you own a business, you want provide health care for your your employees, and the costs are getting outrageous. And the good news is there's people like Harlon. They're providing alternate solutions to really bring down the cost.

00;01;43;02 - 00;01;47;04
Craig Andrews
So listen, it's going to be a neat conversation. Harlon, welcome.

00;01;47;07 - 00;01;50;19
Harlon Pickett
Hey, thank you so very much, Craig. It is an honor to be here, sir.

00;01;50;21 - 00;01;51;11
Craig Andrews
So,

00;01;51;11 - 00;02;04;16
Craig Andrews
one of the I think one of the funniest things you said in the green room was nobody, you know, nobody wakes up and tells her teacher, I won't be an insurance agent when I grow up.

00;02;04;19 - 00;02;04;27
Harlon Pickett
But,

00;02;04;27 - 00;02;05;25
Harlon Pickett
That's true.

00;02;05;25 - 00;02;12;07
Harlon Pickett
They said nobody ever. Right. Can you see the little kid all dressed up in a suit with a tiny like. And his little,

00;02;12;07 - 00;02;21;25
Harlon Pickett
briefcase, and he's he's ready to go start making those house calls like we did back in the day. But that's that's, That's exactly right. Who wakes up and says, I want to be an insurance agent?

00;02;21;25 - 00;02;29;22
Harlon Pickett
Most all of us that fall into that realm got here by accident or just ended up here in some crazy way.

00;02;29;24 - 00;02;32;23
Craig Andrews
Yeah. So how how did you get here? What was your.

00;02;32;23 - 00;02;39;14
Harlon Pickett
Path? Well, I was in corporate America for about 19 years till corporate America decided it didn't need me anymore.

00;02;39;14 - 00;02;55;09
Harlon Pickett
That journey was, very interesting. I got to do some pretty cool things in that job. But what I learned is that, man, insurance and all those benefits, they were so affordable. It was so awesome, man. Apparently paid anything for my family to have health care.

00;02;55;14 - 00;03;20;08
Harlon Pickett
It was great. And so I was not prepared for when I became an entrepreneur. See, the wonderful thing that happened to me is that corporate America didn't want me anymore. Because while you know, they have just enough good, good benefits and they have just enough of a salary to keep you there. But changes in the industry that I was in meant that I was no longer needed.

00;03;20;10 - 00;03;40;15
Harlon Pickett
And I'd always dreamed of having my own business and being an entrepreneur. And so it gave me that opportunity. But what you're never ready for, and as I've learned over my years, is I've helped many other people that have been pushed away by corporate America. Are has decided to take the plunge on their own, is you're just not ready for what individual health care looks like.

00;03;40;18 - 00;04;08;10
Harlon Pickett
You're not ready to take this on your own and it is. It's quite a wild world out there, and it's the Wild West and you're just, you know, for, for, for example, we paid, you know, less than $200 a month for my family of four. Whenever I was working. After I left, I was getting quotes and 800 to $1000 range for my family of four, or without understanding that the company was paying that big apiece.

00;04;08;10 - 00;04;30;00
Harlon Pickett
I thought all these people, these crazy insurance agents, I've always heard you guys were crooks, and now I'm seeing that you're trying to charge me $800 a month for my family's health insurance. So I did this crazy thing, Craig, I said, I'm not going to listen to y'all. I'll sell myself some insurance. I studied for two weeks, took the test, passed the test, got a partner with some insurance company and said, Holy crap, this stuff's $800 a month.

00;04;30;03 - 00;04;32;27
Craig Andrews
Wow. You know, for me,

00;04;32;27 - 00;04;41;14
Craig Andrews
you know, I've bought my own insurance a couple times, but the, you know, the last time I left a job that had,

00;04;41;14 - 00;04;52;08
Craig Andrews
had insurance, I went out and I bought a high deductible plan for myself. It was $89 a month, and I loved it. It was great. And it's just gotten insane.

00;04;52;09 - 00;04;55;21
Craig Andrews
It's gotten insanely expensive.

00;04;55;23 - 00;05;18;19
Harlon Pickett
Yeah, it really has. And remember, I didn't even know what I should be shopping for whenever I left because my entire career, I was used to going to the doctor for 0 or $2 or $5 or $10. So whenever I left home, when I thought I had to have that same kind of plan because I didn't know any different, and I promised, my wife told me I needed to have that kind of plan, too.

00;05;18;19 - 00;05;18;29
Harlon Pickett
Right?

00;05;18;29 - 00;05;41;09
Harlon Pickett
With with two young kids at that time, I was there's no doubt we were over insured. But without anyone to explain that to me and explain that I was paying all of this money every month just for the right to see my doctor for $10, that if you really do the math, it makes no sense whatsoever.

00;05;41;12 - 00;06;03;27
Harlon Pickett
But I didn't understand it. And most people don't. Most people want to want literally. They want to pay extra so that they can go see their doctor for less. And it makes no financial sense whatsoever until someone explains it to them. And then all of a you don't always get to see the light bulb, Greg, but sometimes you get to see that light bulb go off and they're like, oh, I get it.

00;06;04;00 - 00;06;20;09
Harlon Pickett
But you know who's in the same situation? Employers. Employers are paying all this money so people can have a certain name on their card when that makes no difference. And in fact, many times it prohibits who their employees can actually see in the health care that they have.

00;06;20;09 - 00;06;22;07
Harlon Pickett
Available to them.

00;06;22;10 - 00;06;44;16
Craig Andrews
You know, it's a tension. I mean, I, I don't know, I'm sure there there's some just cold hearted people out there that don't want their employees to have health insurance. But I think, I mean, most great leaders I know want to provide great benefits for their employees. And then they start looking in the cost and they're like, I don't know how I can run a business, right?

00;06;44;18 - 00;06;50;13
Craig Andrews
I don't know how I can keep the business running and provide these benefits.

00;06;50;15 - 00;06;55;01
Harlon Pickett
Well, because it's almost impossible the way the cost has went up,

00;06;55;01 - 00;07;12;04
Harlon Pickett
it's, you know, over 90% of the businesses in the United States are less than 50 employees. So if you look at that number and you say, okay, so what does that mean? Why do I care? Because if you have less than 50 employees, you're not required to provide by law.

00;07;12;06 - 00;07;35;18
Harlon Pickett
You're not required to provide insurance. Well, most of those companies unfortunately don't or many of them don't be consistent. And so your point, they simply cannot afford to do it. And if they offer something, it may not be that great a benefit. You know, we we have a huge number of people in this country that are on HSA compatible or high deductible health plans.

00;07;35;21 - 00;07;58;02
Harlon Pickett
Those are designed for people then to open up a separate account to keep money in there to pay for their medical expenses, because an HSA does not cover anything until you've met your deductible. The problem is, very few people actually open the account and fund it. The reason why so many people are on HSA is because that's the low cost plan.

00;07;58;04 - 00;08;19;12
Harlon Pickett
And so when employers are offering that, they really believe they're offering a good health plan and access to health care to their employees. But we've gotten to the point now where 61% of Americans do not go to the physician unless they're sick. So people are not even getting their preventative care, see an HSA or a high deductible health plan.

00;08;19;14 - 00;08;44;07
Harlon Pickett
They still allow you to get your preventative care at zero cost. However, what we have found out is many people do not understand that they're they say, okay, everything I do, I've got to pay the first dollar until my deductible. So they don't understand that your preventative is still covered. So they're skipping women or skipping mammograms and they're well on an exam, skipping their annual physicals.

00;08;44;07 - 00;09;08;05
Harlon Pickett
They're skipping their colonoscopies when they're due, even though they would be covered 100% because they don't understand how these plans work. They see that deductible of 5000, 6000, 7000, $8,000. They're like, I don't even have health insurance. And they really don't. They're functionally uninsured. I know you've heard that term before. They might as well not have anything. It's a it's a tough deal to be.

00;09;08;07 - 00;09;19;11
Craig Andrews
Well, I remember back in 2010. Yeah. So I'm here in Austin the headquarters of Whole Foods, you know, and John Mackey was still the CEO of Whole Foods. And

00;09;19;11 - 00;09;28;27
Craig Andrews
and he published something in the Wall Street Journal, and I think he got labeled a right wing nut job. You know, the founder of Whole Foods,

00;09;28;27 - 00;09;29;21
Craig Andrews
for pushing it.

00;09;29;21 - 00;09;52;17
Craig Andrews
But he had I forgot, I think if you worked, it was either 20 or 30 hours a week at Whole Foods, you had a company health plan. It was a high deductible plan. And if I remember correctly, they had a health savings account that the Whole Foods would fund to the tune of $1,800 a year. And so that was money to go see the doctor.

00;09;52;17 - 00;10;04;10
Craig Andrews
And he told the story about how he basically his employees loved it, especially, you know, part time employees had coverage which doesn't happen elsewhere. And,

00;10;04;10 - 00;10;13;10
Craig Andrews
but he said one of the really neat things was he had unleashed a army of competitive shoppers on the health care industry.

00;10;13;13 - 00;10;40;13
Harlon Pickett
And whenever the company funds it that way, it works very, very well. So when you see a company, the problem is let's let's go back to what you said earlier. They can hardly, in many cases afford to provide benefits. So how are they going to be able to fund these plans as well? Whenever it is an HSA that is funded by the company, that puts everything completely in a different light, because then people have this bucket of money that they can spend.

00;10;40;17 - 00;10;59;28
Harlon Pickett
And if he was spent, if he was giving them $1,800, that's a beautiful thing, because most people will never even spend that much. They'll never spend that much in an entire year, which is why no one ever reached their deductible when they have the higher deductibles. So if the employer is truly providing access to health care like they are in this way, absolutely.

00;10;59;28 - 00;11;21;14
Harlon Pickett
The employers are going to be super, super happy because now they have the funds to actually do it. That's a very, very well set up and well thought out plan. And the reason is, is because when you do have that higher deductible, it's another thing of course, companies struggle with. This is their answer. Many times whenever the premiums are fixing to go up, they say, well, let's raise the deductible.

00;11;21;19 - 00;11;47;02
Harlon Pickett
Let's raise an additional, well, you can only raise the deductible so much before, once again, people don't have access to health care. But if you're following that up and let's just say you're taking your savings and you're putting that in a fund where then they can use that to access health care. Two thumbs up on that one, Craig, because that's a well thought out, well, well-designed plan that's going to allow people to actually access the health care that they deserve.

00;11;47;04 - 00;11;57;10
Craig Andrews
Yeah. So for the businesses and what was that stat you mentioned? Would you say 80% businesses.

00;11;57;10 - 00;12;00;27
Harlon Pickett
Or less, 90%, 90% of businesses or less than 50?

00;12;00;29 - 00;12;11;10
Craig Andrews
I didn't know that. That's wild. And so they're not required by law to provide health care. But again, I think a lot of the people want to provide health care.

00;12;11;10 - 00;12;19;29
Craig Andrews
And but the costs have just gone insane. What are the options? You know, what are some of the choices that, you know, people buying businesses that one provide this?

00;12;19;29 - 00;12;23;13
Craig Andrews
What are their options to do something for their employees?

00;12;23;15 - 00;12;56;07
Harlon Pickett
It's a it's a great question. I want to go back for just a second and hit one thing. While they are not required by law, many of them realize that they're required to be competitive. Yeah, right. So that's what they run into is they have to provide benefits, especially in some industries where they have no choice if they want to get quality personnel and keep them, they've got to they've got to provide quality benefits.

00;12;56;09 - 00;13;04;16
Harlon Pickett
And is what's interesting to me is I'll go back and answer your question now is the variety of things that are now available.

00;13;04;16 - 00;13;23;13
Harlon Pickett
I'll start with one that if you haven't, if you're a small business owner and you haven't looked at this one particular option, this is a game changer. And that's direct primary care. So direct primary care, advanced primary care a membership based model that you can either pay for or partially pay for for your employees.

00;13;23;13 - 00;13;31;25
Harlon Pickett
That gives them true access to health care, where they can actually go back and rebuild a relationship with a physician.

00;13;31;25 - 00;13;41;01
Harlon Pickett
These these membership, this this model is amazing. It will make a huge difference in the health of your employees and their happiness. Then,

00;13;41;01 - 00;13;50;11
Harlon Pickett
happy, employee healthy employees at how healthy employee. One of the big differences that people see is the fact that they can see a doctor.

00;13;50;11 - 00;13;54;08
Harlon Pickett
Same day next day. Give you a crazy example.

00;13;54;08 - 00;13;56;06
Harlon Pickett
In contrast to a health plan,

00;13;56;06 - 00;14;18;26
Harlon Pickett
recently was speaking in Chicago and Becker's payers, and I was talking about direct primary care and talking about how we build plans around direct primary care. And the same day next day opportunities to see a physician. When we were done with that, a young lady came up to me from one of the blue crosses, Blue cross, Blue Shield Independence in Philadelphia, and she had started working there just a few months earlier.

00;14;18;29 - 00;14;30;28
Harlon Pickett
And she said, the first thing that I noticed when I got on our plan, so she was on a Blue cross Blue Shield independence plan, is that I had a hard time finding a primary care doctor, and no one can see me for 4 to 6 months.

00;14;31;00 - 00;14;33;25
Craig Andrews
Yeah, yeah, I mean, that's crazy.

00;14;33;27 - 00;14;47;27
Harlon Pickett
What? And I said, and that's one of your plans, that's one of the plans that you endorse and say. Oh, and she just kind of hung her head. She goes, but can I get one of those that you're talking about? I said, yes, ma'am. And I found her one, and she signed up for one, and she's already seeing that physician.

00;14;48;04 - 00;15;07;07
Harlon Pickett
So those are the type things that are possible. And people don't know Greg. They don't know that these are out there. But if you could do one thing, if you could only afford to do one thing for your employees, that's the first direction I would go. But yeah, there's there's a plethora of other things you can do, and I'll be happy to talk about those too.

00;15;07;09 - 00;15;13;14
Craig Andrews
Well, and something I heard and maybe you can validate this because I've seen the direct primary care,

00;15;13;14 - 00;15;26;13
Craig Andrews
model, and it's fascinating, except I'm pretty healthy. I just don't go to the doctor that much. But I saw something said, hey, if you wake up sick,

00;15;26;13 - 00;15;29;05
Craig Andrews
in some case, you know, you may not even have to go in.

00;15;29;06 - 00;15;40;03
Craig Andrews
They'll do like a quick little telemedicine I even saw I think I saw one person say, occasionally we'll just come visit you. Do you see that happening much?

00;15;40;05 - 00;15;43;11
Harlon Pickett
Yeah. There's there's absolutely various different models out there. And

00;15;43;11 - 00;15;53;03
Harlon Pickett
I do want to point out that this is not concierge medicine. Concierge medicine is very expensive, in many cases around $6,000 a year per person.

00;15;53;03 - 00;16;03;11
Harlon Pickett
That's also called executive, medicine. That's not what this is. This is an independent physician who has stepped away from the traditional model.

00;16;03;14 - 00;16;11;00
Harlon Pickett
Typically they do not accept insurance in any way, shape or form. They only have a, a panel of their own,

00;16;11;00 - 00;16;24;14
Harlon Pickett
their own members. Usually you're not going to have anyone that has more than 1000. Typically they're around 600 to 800, which is why you can get appointments so quickly. But yes, they utilize text messaging.

00;16;24;14 - 00;16;26;14
Harlon Pickett
How would you like to have your physician's phone number?

00;16;26;14 - 00;16;29;00
Harlon Pickett
Because we see it all the time. Almost everyone that we,

00;16;29;00 - 00;16;43;13
Harlon Pickett
work with that we partner with, they're giving their personal phone number out to their to their members so that if they have something going on, once again, to your point, they wake up and they're not feeling well. Man. Feeling pretty rough this morning. I think the allergies got me Doctor Craig.

00;16;43;17 - 00;17;00;15
Harlon Pickett
And so he's like, okay, you know, when you get up and around, give me a shout or you want to do a quick call or how can I help you, whatever that is, whatever that looks like with that physician. You go through that process and it to your point, no one's going to drag you out of bed, get you to come into the office.

00;17;00;15 - 00;17;07;21
Harlon Pickett
No one wants your sick tale in the office anyway, right? I mean, come on, you stay at home. Let's take care of you. They're. They can call you in prescriptions.

00;17;07;21 - 00;17;08;08
Harlon Pickett
You know,

00;17;08;08 - 00;17;27;09
Harlon Pickett
we have a direct primary care. My wife was going to the dentist to get some pretty major work done, let her physician know, and he called her in a little bit lower level pain medication just to get it through a couple of days of that pain medication that wasn't the dentist that was her primary care physician letting her know, hey, I've got you back.

00;17;27;09 - 00;17;38;09
Harlon Pickett
I understand what's going on. Let me help you out. So there's so much having that relationship like we heard about in the old days, like we saw in the old movies with the doctor showing up with this bag. Right?

00;17;38;09 - 00;17;45;03
Harlon Pickett
Taking care of folks. Everyone calls them on the phone. Those days are back again if you want them to be.

00;17;45;03 - 00;18;06;19
Harlon Pickett
There are physicians, especially in metropolitan areas. There's tons of them. But you'd be amazing. Amazed how many there are in some of the country settings as well that these physicians have stepped away, got rid of that middleman, say good bye, insurance company. Let's do this back and have that personal relationship. So people actually have health care.

00;18;06;21 - 00;18;14;09
Craig Andrews
Well, when I'll tell you how much the desire is for that. So you live in San Antonio, is it San Antonio or.

00;18;14;13 - 00;18;15;15
Harlon Pickett
That's correct. Yes, sir. Yeah.

00;18;15;20 - 00;18;31;21
Craig Andrews
So I'm in in Austin and I know people who go to a doctor in Marble Falls, which is like 45 minutes to an hour away from Austin. I'm on the west side of Austin, so it's 45 minutes, but it's a direct primary care where

00;18;31;21 - 00;18;36;12
Craig Andrews
part of the draw is that the doctor's not bought and paid for by Big Pharma.

00;18;36;14 - 00;18;46;29
Craig Andrews
But the other part of the draw is the doctor listens to him and when they say, hey, I've got this, I need this, they don't get the runaround. They don't, you know, they don't have,

00;18;46;29 - 00;18;57;07
Craig Andrews
all that hassle that comes from the impersonal relationship. They have a very personal relationship where their doctor knows them and responds to their needs, and they're willing to have a doctor.

00;18;57;07 - 00;19;01;06
Craig Andrews
It's basically an hour away just to have that benefit.

00;19;01;09 - 00;19;22;25
Harlon Pickett
And, well, the frustration that people have. And if you're an employer, think about this because this is this is your employees, the frustration people have with waiting for months to see a doctor. I finally get in to see them. I wait two hours and the waiting room. I get in and I talk to the nurse about all the stuff that's going on.

00;19;22;27 - 00;19;37;06
Harlon Pickett
Okay? The doctor comes in in a whirlwind and says, I see you've got that. Did I do that? Okay, today we're going to address that today. I need you said another appointment to talk about these because we can only talk about this today. So here's what I recommend. Wait, you didn't ask me any questions. This is what I think got.

00;19;37;09 - 00;19;39;22
Harlon Pickett
No, no, I know what's going on.

00;19;39;22 - 00;19;51;11
Harlon Pickett
The doctor and they tell you what's going on, they either do one of two things and this is all they can do here. Correct. Because they only got 5 or 7 minutes. And you're lucky if you get that. We're going to get you some new medications. This one doesn't seem to work.

00;19;51;11 - 00;20;12;17
Harlon Pickett
And or we'll put something else along with this one are we're going to refer you to a specialist, because my buddy that I played golf with, he is one of the best neurologists you've ever seen. And I think that he's going to be able to help you. Now, let's be honest. You're just getting your quota met through the health system that you're working for to refer to specialist.

00;20;12;19 - 00;20;28;15
Harlon Pickett
You can take care of it just like direct primary care does, but you don't give it the time. And the reason is, is because that system says that you have to see 40 to 60 people a day. So you got to turn to them, baby, you got to turn them are you're never going to get through. And that's what actually happened.

00;20;28;15 - 00;20;53;07
Harlon Pickett
So when they have the opportunity to sit with a doctor and their appointments are 45 minutes to an hour to an hour and a half, many, many, many direct primary care, your very first visit is an hour and a half long as they go through everything and there is nothing off the table. There's nothing taboo because people withhold information, vital information from their physicians, because there's no relationship there, there's no trust there.

00;20;53;09 - 00;21;14;26
Harlon Pickett
But once you have built a relationship and you're sitting there talking to someone all of this time and you realize how highly trained and not just highly trained, but how much they care about you, you're more likely to talk about these things and really get to the root of what the problem is, and actually get healing, not just treatment healing.

00;21;15;03 - 00;21;31;12
Harlon Pickett
Let's get to the root of the problem, but solve the problem. Instead of just putting lipstick on that pig, because that's what almost medicine does. Now it's just put lipstick on a pig and hope that it turns into something else. And unfortunately, it turns into something bad, you know?

00;21;31;12 - 00;21;41;13
Craig Andrews
And I've run into that a little bit where, you know, and you know, my story. And for those that don't, you know, I, I was on ventilator for six weeks.

00;21;41;13 - 00;21;44;09
Craig Andrews
I just went, well, 20, 25 days. First time,

00;21;44;09 - 00;21;48;07
Craig Andrews
I think 8 or 10 days a second time. But, you know, I survived,

00;21;48;07 - 00;21;50;23
Craig Andrews
Covid and there's not many of me walking around.

00;21;50;23 - 00;22;07;19
Craig Andrews
And so when I go talk to a doctor, when I'm seeing a new doctor, the first thing I tell them is, don't treat me like the rest of your patients. I'm not normal. My body's not normal and all that. I mean, as a matter of fact, Saturday I was at an event and I met a,

00;22;07;19 - 00;22;13;18
Craig Andrews
met a doctor, and we were just kind of chatting about something, and I said, yeah, I was in a coma for six weeks.

00;22;13;18 - 00;22;34;15
Craig Andrews
And he said, from what I said, Covid. And the guy gave me this wild look, and he was like, you're seeing a ghost because nobody survived, right? And so when I go into a doctor, my physiology is different. And it's funny, some of these doctors, I say, don't treat me like everybody else. I'm not like everybody else. The what?

00;22;34;17 - 00;22;40;11
Craig Andrews
The doctor that I go to now is like, no you're not. No you're not. And he gets it.

00;22;40;11 - 00;22;54;18
Craig Andrews
Others where they're like, no, no, no. You know, I'm like you said, I'm the doctor. I know. But that's it takes a deeper, more personal relationship. It takes the right person, the right doctor who's willing to listen. And,

00;22;54;18 - 00;23;07;26
Craig Andrews
I like that, you know, the the idea of getting back to having a relationship with your doctor, you know, where they know you, and you're getting more than that little five minutes.

00;23;07;28 - 00;23;39;21
Harlon Pickett
It's it's life altering. It really is. It's life altering. Because now you have someone that really has your care and interest that they're interested in you. They your care is at the top of their mind that, you know, I think about one of the in particular, one of the primary care physicians that we work with, one of the DFCs, if something's going on and they know that office knows that's going on, they're sending you texts.

00;23;39;21 - 00;23;42;00
Harlon Pickett
Just checking on you. How are you today?

00;23;42;00 - 00;24;03;00
Harlon Pickett
In in the case of, like, my, my wife's direct primary care physician, she had that work done. He called her in a pain medication on Saturday. This past Saturday, he texted her and says, how you doing? Wow. Your doctor just checking in. How are you doing that? Well, that's such a small thing.

00;24;03;00 - 00;24;25;16
Harlon Pickett
No, no, folks, this wasn't her mom. This wasn't her husband. This wasn't, you know, her. Her cousin. This was her physician checking on her after something was done that he didn't have anything to do with. Right. He knew she had dental work, and he sent her a text asking, how are you doing?

00;24;25;18 - 00;24;27;14
Craig Andrews
Well, that's. Yeah.

00;24;27;16 - 00;24;29;24
Harlon Pickett
That's what it's all about.

00;24;29;27 - 00;24;47;14
Craig Andrews
Well, and the other thought that had gone around my head was what, the direct primary care. Because basically you pay a subscription, you get unlimited visits for the month, month. And if you have one of your employees that has a family with, you know, a bunch of little kids, I mean, the little guys are like sick all the time.

00;24;47;16 - 00;24;52;19
Harlon Pickett
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, we've taken that in consideration.

00;24;52;19 - 00;25;17;08
Harlon Pickett
You know, there's no doubt that sometimes memberships, depending on where you're at, can get expensive for direct primary care. But you have to once again weigh how much you're going to use the services. However, we do have a product, and I'm not going to say it's everywhere, but in Houston, San Antonio and Austin, we do have an advanced primary care membership that is only $75 a month for the entire family.

00;25;17;11 - 00;25;17;18
Harlon Pickett
So

00;25;17;18 - 00;25;34;08
Harlon Pickett
that is providing in-person and virtual care and also actually behavioral health as well. So we're looking to do anything we can to bring the cost down so that small businesses can provide access to care for their employees. We had,

00;25;34;08 - 00;25;40;00
Harlon Pickett
our very first person, very first company that ever utilized that once we put it together was a small restaurant,

00;25;40;00 - 00;25;40;16
Harlon Pickett
over,

00;25;40;16 - 00;25;40;25
Harlon Pickett
of

00;25;40;25 - 00;25;45;15
Harlon Pickett
35, but between San Antonio and Austin out of Cibolo, Texas.

00;25;45;17 - 00;26;01;26
Harlon Pickett
And they had a huge problem. Like any restaurant, they had a huge problem with turnover. Well, they don't have quite the same problem anymore, because even though they're only spending $75 for these folks, they don't leave. They don't want like, you gotta you gotta push them out the door. Right?

00;26;01;26 - 00;26;05;19
Harlon Pickett
Because no one wants to lose that benefit.

00;26;05;21 - 00;26;18;25
Harlon Pickett
And the other thing that they have had less of a problem with is absenteeism. People have access to a doctor. Now. When they start feeling bad, they get on the app and get someone taken care of or they go in,

00;26;18;25 - 00;26;20;00
Harlon Pickett
that particular,

00;26;20;00 - 00;26;29;28
Harlon Pickett
office is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, and there's 42 locations around those three cities, and some on the outskirts of them as well.

00;26;30;01 - 00;26;42;00
Harlon Pickett
So for those companies that are looking to add some benefits like that, that's a great place to start. And then you can even wrap them around with other things. Medical cost sharing. You can start working with a self-funded plan.

00;26;42;00 - 00;27;00;04
Harlon Pickett
That sounds scary, but it's not as scary as it sounds like, because you still don't. You really have the same exposure on a self-funded plan as you do on a fully insured plan, if it's designed properly, but you actually have control over the benefits of that plan as part of what we do is build a custom plan.

00;27;00;07 - 00;27;08;15
Harlon Pickett
You know, we ask this crazy question when we meet with someone. Pray, what do you want your health plan to look like? What do you want it to do?

00;27;08;15 - 00;27;21;15
Harlon Pickett
We don't really offer off the shelf options. We offer options that are customized to each and every single one of our employers. We also have an option now, which we're very, very excited to offer.

00;27;21;22 - 00;27;39;02
Harlon Pickett
And that is for companies of five or more, five W-2 employees or more. We're actually able to offer a plan where all of your health care, including imaging blood work, hospitalizations can all be zero cost for your employees.

00;27;39;04 - 00;27;45;00
Craig Andrews
Wow. Wow. Well, and that kind of leads into something else. The, and,

00;27;45;00 - 00;28;08;07
Craig Andrews
and I'd hate for us to end this without capturing this, this thought, I think some of the one of the challenges that a lot of employers have is what you mentioned earlier. You know, they're competing for resources against companies, you know, massive companies that just have, like, insane benefit plans.

00;28;08;09 - 00;28;09;23
Craig Andrews
And,

00;28;09;23 - 00;28;32;01
Craig Andrews
and so they may be thinking why I have to provide Blue Cross Blue Shield or, you know, one of these other things and this other stuff sounds scary, or I may lose employees over that. How do you how do you navigate that? Why is why does it make sense to move away from something that just seems safe and true to one of these other alternative,

00;28;32;01 - 00;28;33;11
Craig Andrews
programs?

00;28;33;13 - 00;28;51;23
Harlon Pickett
Now, that's a great question, because, you know, the old saying is no one ever got fired for offering Blue Cross Blue Shield. That's a mantra of HR departments everywhere. And so change obviously is scary. If we do this and it doesn't work, I get fired. Well, if you're a small business, you don't even have that HR person.

00;28;51;23 - 00;29;14;07
Harlon Pickett
You are the HR person, and now you're all worried about what's going to happen if I put this plan out there, and then people hate it because they don't have that Blue Cross or United or whatever on the card. What we find out, and this is all part of education. And a lot of times that education has to be part of the ownership too, is we once again ask the question, what do you want your plan to give you?

00;29;14;07 - 00;29;29;06
Harlon Pickett
What do you want nine out of ten times? The answer out of the employees mouth is not Blue Cross. Nine out of ten times is I want to be able to see my doctor. I want to be able. I don't want to have to wait for months. I don't want to if I need to have something done because who hasn't had this happen?

00;29;29;06 - 00;29;45;24
Harlon Pickett
I need an x ray. Well, I'm sorry, we don't think you need an x ray, so we're going to deny that service. I need an MRI. We already had an x ray. We finally said yes to that. What do you need an MRI for now? Well, personally, I don't need one. My doctor said I need, your doctor doesn't know what he's talking about.

00;29;45;27 - 00;30;12;17
Harlon Pickett
This is so frustrating to people because they cannot get the care that they need and deserve. Because insurance companies are making that decision. Well, when we build these plans, we take that out and put in what we call medical utilization management care navigation. We put in those things so that it's a journey. It's a it's a a walk down the pathway of health care with someone supporting you.

00;30;12;19 - 00;30;18;22
Harlon Pickett
People want Blue Cross or they want United because they feel like those companies have put together,

00;30;18;22 - 00;30;33;15
Harlon Pickett
I can go see all of these different doctors because I have this plan. Well, in essence, that's not true at all anymore, because less and less doctors are in these networks, especially if you're talking about Obamacare, fewer and fewer take it.

00;30;33;17 - 00;30;46;21
Harlon Pickett
But wouldn't you rather go to a high quality doctor instead of a doctor? That's just one of these networks. What do you mean? If they're in the network, they've got to be high quality. No, that's just absolutely not true. Absolutely not true.

00;30;46;21 - 00;30;55;17
Harlon Pickett
All the numbers that have been looked at by multiple different, you know, entities, there are a lot of bad doctors.

00;30;55;19 - 00;31;00;04
Harlon Pickett
And there's nothing that keeps those doctors from being in these networks.

00;31;00;04 - 00;31;19;01
Harlon Pickett
We once, asked Cigna if we could remove the bottom 25% rated of their physicians and still use their network, and they said, absolutely not every physician that is part of the network has just as much right to be at the top of the list as any other physician.

00;31;19;04 - 00;31;43;29
Harlon Pickett
And it's all randomized. So you might get the best neurologist, you might get the worst neurologist, or you could get somebody anywhere in between. And how is that fair to an employee. But I think that's what they run into is they don't understand. So it really is, Craig, about education, not just with the owner but with the employees to make sure they understand access to health care is what you're really talking about.

00;31;44;02 - 00;31;54;06
Harlon Pickett
You just don't realize what it is you're asking for because who does? Why would anyone know that? Why would anyone know all these things if there wasn't a reason to know?

00;31;54;08 - 00;32;02;26
Craig Andrews
Yeah, well, and I think if I were well, I am an employer, but I'm just thinking through it,

00;32;02;26 - 00;32;04;10
Craig Andrews
like,

00;32;04;10 - 00;32;16;02
Craig Andrews
I would, I think I would try to turn it into a recruiting advantage. We have a health plan where you can see your doctor, the same day, the same day, and

00;32;16;02 - 00;32;18;15
Craig Andrews
at zero cost.

00;32;18;17 - 00;32;20;08
Harlon Pickett
Yeah. You're.

00;32;20;10 - 00;32;23;00
Craig Andrews
Yeah. And,

00;32;23;00 - 00;32;25;13
Craig Andrews
and it's a doctor, not a PA.

00;32;25;15 - 00;32;27;02
Harlon Pickett
You know, it's a doctor.

00;32;27;04 - 00;32;56;16
Craig Andrews
And, I mean, I would. Yeah. So I think with a marketing mind, I would come in and I would say, don't try to compete with the big guys there in their game. It's the old Sun Tzu. When you've when you fight on your opponent's battlefield, the outcomes are determined. Change the battlefield, fight where they can't. They are not providing plans where you can see your doctor the same day, where you're you know it's not.

00;32;56;16 - 00;32;59;25
Craig Andrews
No kids can get ten visits a month,

00;32;59;25 - 00;33;04;03
Craig Andrews
because they're sick all the time and it cost you nothing.

00;33;04;05 - 00;33;28;04
Harlon Pickett
That's right there. Yeah, they're they're kind of locked in. So even whenever they're fully self-funded, which most big, big companies are fully self-funded, they still go out there and hire one of the big guys. Aetna or Blue Cross or Unite or to manage their plan. They rent their network and then that's who manages their plan. Of course, there's also a lot of lawsuits out there about it right now too, because they manage that plan.

00;33;28;04 - 00;33;36;07
Harlon Pickett
And their best interest not in that company's best interests, which is why all those lawsuits are coming out right now.

00;33;36;09 - 00;33;43;23
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Well, Harlon, this has just been really interesting. I, I so greatly appreciate the work that you're doing.

00;33;43;23 - 00;33;59;21
Craig Andrews
The our current health care system is not sustainable. It will collapse. It's, it's and so I think it's already collapsing under its own weight. And I think it's people like you that are going to be the lifeline.

00;33;59;21 - 00;34;05;27
Craig Andrews
And you know, where the consumer, where the patients and the, and the companies are back in control.

00;34;05;29 - 00;34;08;17
Craig Andrews
Harlon. How can people reach you?

00;34;08;19 - 00;34;28;15
Harlon Pickett
Yeah. The best way to reach me and learn all about me and what we do is actually on LinkedIn, go out and look for Harlon Pickett on LinkedIn, and you can learn all about me. You can also, of course, go out to our website to check out Eagle Care, and that is Eagle Care health.com Eagle Care health.com. Actually I think you can even just go to Eagle care.com now too.

00;34;28;17 - 00;34;32;22
Harlon Pickett
So Eagle care.com and you can find me there as well.

00;34;32;25 - 00;34;36;15
Craig Andrews
Excellent. Well all right thank you for sharing all that and leaders and legacies.

00;34;36;17 - 00;34;42;05
Harlon Pickett
Hey appreciate it. So appreciate so much being here Greg. Thank you.

00;34;42;05 - 00;35;09;01
Craig Andrews
This is Craig Andrews. I want to thank you for listening to the Leaders and Legacies podcast. We're looking for leaders to share how they're making the impact beyond themselves. If that's you, please go to Alize for me.com/guest and sign up there. If you got something out of this interview, we would love you to share this

00;35;09;01 - 00;35;10;26
Craig Andrews
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00;35;10;28 - 00;35;34;08
Craig Andrews
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00;35;34;10 - 00;35;42;15
Craig Andrews
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00;35;42;15 - 00;37;44;20
Craig Andrews
It means a lot to my team. If you want to know more, please go to Alize for me.com. or follow me on LinkedIn. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.