In this episode of the Tactical Empire, Jeff Smith and Shawn discuss various strategies for selecting health insurance after leaving corporate America. They share personal experiences, detailing different options such as marketplace insurance, setting up a group policy through a business, and co-op health share programs. The conversation highlights the shortcomings and benefits of each option, particularly emphasizing the financial impact and negotiation tactics when cash paying for medical services. Tips for managing health insurance costs and considerations for family health needs are also covered. They conclude by encouraging listeners to evaluate their own needs and explore available options without letting health insurance become an obstacle to leaving a job they dislike.
In this episode of The Tactical Empire with Jeff Smith, Jeff and Shawn Rider discuss strategies to find motivation and achieve high performance in a challenging world. They dive into health insurance options for those exiting corporate America, exploring marketplace plans, business group policies, and health share co-ops. The episode covers personal anecdotes, cost evaluations, and practical advice for handling health coverage without corporate benefits. Tune in for insights on choosing the right health insurance plan and maintaining control over your future.
00:00 Introduction to Tactical Empire
00:30 Casual Conversation and Weather Talk
01:24 New Presidency and Optimism
01:57 Exiting Corporate America: Health Insurance Concerns
03:19 Health Insurance Options and Strategies
05:25 Personal Experiences with Health Insurance
06:51 Co-op Health Share Programs
11:54 Prescription Drugs and Long-term Medication
14:49 Final Thoughts and Encouragement
18:16 Closing Remarks and Future Topics
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[00:00:00] How do you find the will to fight back against a world that wants to keep you sedated, averaging, stuck in place? Join us for the tools and strategies you need to create a life of abundance, discipline, and high achievement. This is, this is the Tactical Empire, with Jeff Smith.
Jeff Smith: Welcome to another episode of the Tactical Empire. Today it is me and Sean. What is going on?
Shawn Rider: We're making it, man. We're just living our life. So hopefully the single digits don't stick around for too long, but, uh, you know, I've talked about the cold here. I don't mind the cold. I know you don't like it, but I like the four seasons.
I just want the coldest season to be the shortest season. And I don't think that's going to happen this year. So, uh, we're going to put up with it. We're going to roll with it. Uh, I stood on the front porch with my daughter and her friend [00:01:00] yesterday. They were wearing their swimsuits inside. So I said, let's go stand on the front porch.
It was one degree out last night. We stood there. They gave me their power stance with their fists on their hips. And I think they lasted like a minute, minute and a half. And we went inside back to the hot air. So it was cool.
Jeff Smith: Oh man. Oh man. That's funny. That is funny.
Shawn Rider: How are you?
Jeff Smith: Oh, I'm. I'm tremendous. I'm tremendous.
We are one day into a new presidency and, uh, things are, things are looking okay. I, uh,
Shawn Rider: feel good about things. 24 hours. Everything's great. Everyone's happy. Yes. No problems whatsoever in anyone's lives. The new president is here.
Jeff Smith: Well, no matter who's president, it's only up to you.
Shawn Rider: That's the answer. That's the response I was looking for, but we are, we are optimistic about the future and the future is bright.
As long as you understand what's in your control. So Jeff, we are talking [00:02:00] about some choices people have to make as they exit and leave corporate America. We've seen this inside of the tactical empire's inner circle. We've seen it in your life, in my life. Uh, more recently, like right now happening, whereas you're a few years exited and seasoned.
So on the last episode, we talked about, uh, what you did, what I did and what we may potentially do, uh, right now, uh, with. 401k money that's trapped in government qualified accounts and what, uh, we consider doing with them and what you have done with them and what I have done with them. And the next big thing that people hesitate with in regards to leaving corporate America and they have big questions on is health insurance or insurance benefits, whether that's a vision dental, but mainly health insurance.
So. What route did you go and why, what did you look into, uh, as you exited corporate America and in the year 2025 might be a little bit [00:03:00] different from when you left it. Uh, what should be people be looking at and why, uh, I think, I mean, your health definitely factors into it, but what other options are out there for people?
It may not be a big boogeyman and be as scary as what people think once they start diving down the rabbit hole.
Jeff Smith: Yeah, I mean, I don't think it is. I think a lot of people get that because like when I worked in corporate America, I think my policy was 2, 500 a month. And the policy that I had, I think I only paid like a hundred bucks a month for it.
And so, so as someone that's leaving corporate America, you're just naturally thinking that you're going to. Be on the hook for a twenty five hundred dollar a month bill And that's what keeps a lot of people in that job because they're like, oh I could never leave i've got Three car payments and i've got this This health insurance bill that will go up three thousand bucks a month like and [00:04:00] and so But the reality of it is that that's not the case.
Um The you really have to assess how you use health insurance to like we don't use health insurance. We use it like it's essentially major medical so I don't get run over by a car and have a fucking million dollar hospital bill like that's the that's the only reason we have health insurance. We do all the other shit cash pay and we do blood work and we do preventative stuff are on our own.
Now. I know everybody's not like that, but that's how our family is. So When Obamacare came in or whatever you want to call it, government health insurance, they did away with what we used to have, which was like basic Blue Cross, like bare bones, nothing policy, but it was like a 5, 000 deductible for major medical.
occurrences. And like, I used to have that health insurance personally. I used to buy that back in the day and it [00:05:00] was literally 40 bucks a month or something because it was like, it covered nothing unless you got hit by a car. And, and so like, I wanted, but that, that policy, those policies don't really exist anymore like that.
Um, And so when you think about stepping out and taking on your own health insurance, there's, there's a variety of things out there. I mean, we jumped to answer your question. I, here's what I did. I did the evaluation similar to the 401k conversation. I want to see what everything looks like. What are my, all my options?
So my options were go to, um, like some. Marketplace, which is what they have now, I think, which is where you buy your health insurance if you're self employed, right? And so you can buy from your family from the marketplace So you'd go out there blue cross blue shield all the regular whatevers and uh, you can get quotes that way So you can just go straight to the marketplace and buy your health insurance [00:06:00] You can do what I looked into doing as well is you as as long as you have a business You can get Insurance through your business and they can stand up a group policy.
If you have yourself working in the business and you're paying yourself a W2, um, you don't even need any other employees. It, it would just be applicable to you and your family. So the people covered in it would be you and your family, and it would be a quote unquote group policy. So I look down that road because there are some, there are some benefits to that, right?
And, um, there, there are some. Affordable policies and you kind of get a tweak them and adjust them to make them cover whatever you want to so you can kind of build your own major medical in there. Um, and so, and then the 3rd thing that I looked at was, um, what we ended up doing, which [00:07:00] was a co op. Uh, health share program.
There's a variety of them out there. Um, I don't even know which one we use, but you pay a certain amount of money. It pools your money with a group of other people. Um, now they have to, most of them are set up through either. Christian ministries or churches or, um, fitness. The one that we joined originally was for people that own gyms.
And, uh, so, so it was a collective community of pseudo healthy people. Um, that was the assumption, uh, based on how they pooled the people. So you have to have some sort of shared values or Like something that bring you together within the co op so like you can look those up. They're all over the place Uh, but you pay based on how many people are in your plan And you pay a certain amount of money a month and then just like health insurance It's got its own thing like for ours.
It was I think [00:08:00] We paid 800 bucks a month for my whole family, which I think is perfectly reasonable. Um, so six people for 800 bucks a month. And then any occurrence you paid 500 deductible on, um, but they would cover anything beyond that 500 for that same occurrence. So if, if you broke your arm and then you had to go to rehab, like the cost of the arm break obviously would run you above.
500 bucks and then anything over and above that 500 you. Get reimbursed for so the drawbacks on it are like you have to cash pay so like I paid for our babies and my wife's c section with my Amex and then they send me a check. So you have to have like a decent amount of. Available cash. Otherwise, you have to work with the hospitals.
I don't know how the fuck that works, but like if you leave the hospital and don't pay your bill, I don't know how that works, but people do it all the time. [00:09:00] Um, but I, I'm just telling you from my experience, you, we've had to come up off of like 20 K in, in cash. To make it happen and then you get reimbursed that money and so like that is one of the drawbacks of that because most other insurances don't operate like that.
You just leave the hospital, but you and the other the other thing about the coops is like you're in there negotiating a cash pay price on everything because you you are just representing yourself as a cash paying. And so when they say the bill is 1, 400 and you say I'm cash pay and they come back and they're like, well, really it's 225, like that's the rate that you're going to pay.
And then that's what you're submitting for reimbursement. Um,
Shawn Rider: does that actually, does that conversation go down in the office again? This is something we've never gone through. So we're exploring options. We're exploring a group plan for our business. And I also am [00:10:00] exploring the co op, uh, health share.
Yeah.
Jeff Smith: I will tell you a good. Yeah, the conversation goes down with the billing people like I can tell you that when we had babies they were chasing me like all over the hospital making sure they knew where I was at because I was the guy paying the fucking bill. Whereas if we had blue cross and they had my blue cross card, I think they probably would have left us alone, but they were like, don't let that guy leave with that baby until he pays us.
It was just a little different from that standpoint, but, um, it's also eye opening because you get to see like what things actually cost because you're like, holy shit, like, because if you submit it to insurance, it's like five X the price. And then, like, when you say I'm cash pay, they come back instantly.
It's not like you're negotiating with a car dealer and it's getting weird. They just come back and they're like, Oh, it's cash here. It's, it's this price. And so without all the bureaucracy and red [00:11:00] tape, it's, it's amazing to see how much lower actual medical costs are. So, um, I don't know that I have much input on this besides that.
I mean, like those are the,
Shawn Rider: I really don't have anything to add because we haven't gone through it, but we are going through it right now. So I'll probably re. Visit this conversation, but I did float it in the men's. And the answers were about the same. Most of the guys in there are doing some sort of, uh, co op health share co op.
Um, they've had some opinions about certain companies and, and being good or not, uh, I think some of the other business owners either have a spouse that still has it, or they went the group rate, uh, group route, but they all did mention, uh, not all, but some of them did mention the difference of just being a cash payer and then figuring it out.
And then getting reimbursed. So, um, that's real interesting. Do you don't have to share this if you don't want to, but like with, with, with my wife, she's got, [00:12:00] um, certain, uh, like, uh, she's like allergic to everything. So she's been getting shots and they can be fairly expensive if you're not on good health insurance.
So, um, You guys obviously in your family are all healthy, but sometimes people still have to take a medication or prescription or get a shot here. Did you run into any issues with anything like that that you have to take consistently or is that a non, non topic or non problem in your family?
Jeff Smith: We, we don't take anything.
Um, the, but we have had certain things happen. I mean, like, where prescription drugs even are different. Um, cause like with the co op, you get a prescription card or whatever. And like, it's, it's just a different price for the things that you buy. So like, we, we're not on any longterm medication at all, but we've had instances in the last seven years where we've had to go to the doctor or whatever, and you get whatever, 60 days worth of pills for it.
Right. And, um, So, like, those are also different prices at the [00:13:00] pharmacy. Um, and, I don't know. All I would say about this is, like, it shouldn't be a limiter to you if, if, if, if that's the only thing keeping you in a job that you're miserable about. Now, to be fair, I'm speaking from a place of, like, I'm super fortunate because I don't do insulin twice a day.
Like, I understand that there's circumstances where people, like, could have prohibitive health issues that may keep them in a position. Um, but all the more reason to go out and research these different options. The other thing that I thought was great about the conversation that we had in the Inner Circle about it was like, It opened my eyes to like, fuck, we should be shopping this shit like every year because the savings that some of the guys were getting were like 250 bucks a month.
And, and like, you know me, I'm not like cutting my way to prosperity nor suggesting it, but like 250 bucks a month is not nothing. And like, I mean, that's a [00:14:00] significant saving. So, I mean, like, if, if somebody's got a policy for 1500 bucks and go ahead.
Shawn Rider: I'll be honest with you, uh, again, I'm, I'm on just scratching the surface with this, but I got on a, a co-op ministry and, uh, you know, the, the first quote for, uh, a, a healthy family that doesn't really have anything drastic was for a family of four was like $359 a month, but the, the pay for each occurrence was pretty high.
So it was like, yeah, am I. Am I going to be saving money or not? So, uh, again, I'm just scratching the surface. So don't take my words as concrete or set in stone, but I do look forward to coming back and telling everyone the route that we go and see how that actually plays out. Uh, so I don't think there's much else for me to add.
Jeff, is there anything else that you want to add to the people?
Jeff Smith: No, I mean, I understand this is a legitimate concern to people because like, it's kind of like. when, when they exit a job, those are the things you think about. Like, what am I [00:15:00] going to do with my benefits or what benefits am I provided? And then how do I replace those benefits?
Like, uh, do we get a car? Do we have health insurance? Like, okay, now I've got to go get a car and now I've got health insurance. Um, I know people back when I used to work in corporate that literally were paralyzed by. Those couple of things like they would never think of leaving because In their mind the the bundle of that package was worth Whatever the hr department tells you it is worth right like here's what you get paid 160k and here's your benefits package.
It's worth fucking four hundred thousand dollars a year And so like you look at that and you're like, oh my god, i've got to reproduce 600 grand and like that is just not true
Shawn Rider: That's what my My dude, that's so funny. You bring that up because my wife's worked for her company for 11 years. Not once did I ever see a document like that until a week before she resigned.
We were having this conversation and they decided to send this [00:16:00] document out and she was like, Hey, look at this. And it was like her full benefits. And I was like,
Jeff Smith: yeah.
Shawn Rider: Well, we don't get any of that money
Jeff Smith: Yeah And yeah, they're like, oh, there's a pool in a clubhouse and that is worth 30, 000 a year and this other shit like it's just a bundle of
Shawn Rider: They fucking factored in how much they were paying on the employer's side of social security and medicare I'm, like well i'm fucking business owner.
I know how that works. That's not a Fucking benefit. That's just an expense to them. They're fucking counting that as your benefit. Fuck that.
Jeff Smith: Yeah. And so like, just for the people listening, I, I don't, I wouldn't get too hung up about that. Like if there were, there's a will, there's a way, and there's a million ways.
And, and also you got to think about how you guys use health insurance. Like I, I stated our example of how we use health insurance, which is like. Not at all. Um, nonexistent. And there's other people that use it a little differently, obviously. And, and so, um, I, I just think your, your risk [00:17:00] tolerance plays into play to like, okay, like if I was going to go some bare bones health insurance package and we were used to kind of using it, I would probably say, oh, in my mind that would say, okay, well, what we need to do is we probably need to put another 25 K into.
Savings or something so that we can pay for these occurrences if we find that there's something we still need to do, right? Like. I don't know about you guys, but I mean, I've got four kids. If something happens, I'm going to the nearest place that can take care of them. I'm not like price shopping. Like if my son's sitting there with a fucking compound fracture in his arm, I'm taking him to urgent care and we'll sort the price out later.
So like, I'm just not a guy that thinks that way. I'm like. I don't know. I'm not going to duct tape it and drive 10 more miles and figure out if we can get a cheaper option. Like I just, so I, I just think that some people are held back by these things and they're not so insurmountable [00:18:00] to your point. Um, a lot of times there's a little crafty wording from your HR department that keeps you kind of locked down there, like Sean mentioned.
So, just think about it, and if you're, you're looking to make the leap, I guarantee there's ways around it. So.
Shawn Rider: All right, Jeff, I appreciate your insight and taking the steps first years ago and living the life and we're following suit and I will let people know what route we decide to go.
Jeff Smith: And then apparently we'll talk about homeschooling and RVing next time because we're going to get Sean on the road.
This man has never even hiked until Scottsdale, so he's going to become a hiker, he's going to become a camper, an RVer, and a man who has no structure or routine to his life and it's going to drive him crazy.
Shawn Rider: Maybe, maybe the homeschooling in a year, year and a half, but, uh, the RVing, not my thing. I'd rather visit a nice Airbnb in every town I want to visit.
Jeff Smith: I love [00:19:00] that. Let's do it. Let's do it, man. All right, guys, like and subscribe to our channel on YouTube. Follow us on the Tactical Empire community. Hit us up on Instagram. We're happy to talk. Talk shop on any of these topics. Anytime. I know this episode wasn't necessarily applicable to all of you.
Hopefully you didn't tune out. Maybe you learned something. Who knows? Have a great week. Kick ass. Let's keep it rolling and have an awesome 2025.