(Photo courtesy of Ryan Holloway.)
Many Texans have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus, and that could mean losing health insurance through their employer. For anyone who doesn’t have access to health insurance, regardless of the reason, an East Dallas neighbor is offering free benefit cards that neighbors can use to get discounts at the doctor’s office and pharmacy. For years, Ryan Holloway, a 1994 Bryan Adams graduate, had offered the cards to part-time or 1099 contract workers through his benefits consulting firm, Holloway Benefit Concepts. As companies laid off or furloughed employees because of the coronavirus, Holloway saw a need and began giving them to community members. Although the cards are not insurance, they are an option for families to consider if their health insurance is in limbo. “This is my area of expertise,” Holloway said, “and I just want to help as many people as I can during this crazy time.”
How is your small business doing?
I’ve been in the HR and benefit world since 2003. I started my company in early 2011, and I’m going on 10 years on my own. We’ve always tried to support the people that big businesses shy away from. We work with small- and medium-sized companies and help them compete with larger companies by setting up benefit programs. Work’s a little slow right now, and I’m trying to keep people busy. I thought, “We’ve got these cards, why don’t we just start pushing them out to groups and organizations?”
What’s been the response?
We’ve been talking about this service to our clients, and we’ve been getting really good responses. People know people that they can help out. They’ll say, “So-and-so works with a nonprofit and does volunteering.” We’re helping people help people.
Why did you want to expand this service to the community?
It spreads goodwill and keeps us relevant. Maybe we’ll meet people who we can do business with down the road. But we’re service oriented, and this is a way for us to help people.
How do the benefit cards work?
It’s like a glorified coupon. It’s got a bunch of benefit networks built in to it. If you see a provider in the network, you’re going to get a 25-30 percent discount. If you need to go to the pharmacy, it varies from drug to drug and pharmacy to pharmacy, but you’ll receive about 30 percent savings.
How many are you giving out?
We have a new box of 2,500 cards in. We’ve gotten rid of 500, so we have a couple thousand left. We’re able to get more. We’re covering all the costs, shipping and ordering. The cards do not have an expiration date.
What do they cover?
These benefit cards have a lot of benefits built in — dental, vision, doctor visits, lab, X-rays — but the two biggest benefits that can help people right now are the virtual or telephonic doctor access that the card holder gets access to, as well as the pharmacy discounts. With many people losing their insurance and it being a bit dangerous to go sit in a doctor’s office and possibly catch something you don’t already have — if you can even be seen — the virtual doctor access is more important now than ever.
How can people contact you to get a card?
We’ve been telling people to contact us here in the office, ryan@hollowaybenefitconcepts.com. We’ve been mailing them directly to individuals. We’ve taken pictures of cards and emailed it over if people need it right away.Â
