> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://blog.knack4business.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Healthcare Costs Skyrocketing | So What They're Not Telling You - URL: https://blog.knack4business.com/healthcare-costs-skyrocketing-so-what-theyre-not-telling-you/ - Published: 2026-08-02T22:00:53.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-02T22:00:52.000Z - Description: Most business owners have accepted that healthcare costs go up every year. Nate Hallums has spent 30 years proving that wrong, and the solution costs nothing new out of pocket. - Author: Bernie Franzgrote - Tags: Health and Wellness, employee benefits, small business, healthcare costs, corporate wellness, GLP-1, tax savings, FICA, Nate Hallums, BYF Consulting, Knack 4 Business, participatory wellness **Host: Bernie Franzgrote** SMB owners are overpaying for healthcare that underdelivers. Nate Hallums shows how to fund better coverage using tax savings — with nothing new out of pocket. ### **GROWTH CATEGORY:** **Health & Wellness** --- **Brought to you by** [*Profit10™*](https://tinyurl.com/58she8w6?ref=blog.knack4business.com)*,* [*Gentry Learning*](https://tinyurl.com/mr2fufae?ref=blog.knack4business.com)*, and* [*Canada Growth Network*](https://tinyurl.com/3s5d3ayv?ref=blog.knack4business.com)*.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c2/71/c271bbbd-7656-42a5-bca8-28e3520864c6/content/images/2026/07/PROFIT10-trnsprnt-LOGO-1.png) #### [Profit10™](https://tinyurl.com/58she8w6?ref=blog.knack4business.com) Take the free Profit Snapshot. Ten questions. Find out what's really holding your business back. No cost. No sales call. [FREE 5 MIN. SNAPSHOT](https://tinyurl.com/58she8w6?ref=blog.knack4business.com) --- You're paying more for your health plan every year. Your team is using it less. And if you're like most business owners, you've accepted that as just the way it is. Nate Hallums has spent 30 years helping businesses stop accepting it. After starting his career at IBM, he built BYF Consulting and Backyard Fishing Agency around one premise: wellness should prevent problems, not just react to them. In this episode of Knack 4 Business, he breaks down what the healthcare marketplace isn't telling you — and what you can actually do about it. --- ### **Watch the full conversation here:** --- ### **WHO THIS IS FOR** SMB owners · Solopreneurs · HR advisors · Corporate escapees · Leaders building systems --- ### **Key Lessons** **1\. Wellness and major medical are two different things — and you need both.** Your major medical plan covers emergencies and existing conditions. Wellness sits on top of that. It's preventative — mental health, weight management, sleep, nutrition. Nate uses a simple frame: healthcare is what you use when the arm falls off. Wellness is what keeps the arm attached. Most businesses only have one of the two, and they're paying for it in productivity, turnover, and rising premiums. **2\. You can fund a wellness program with no new out-of-pocket cost.** Through a FICA-based tax savings structure approved by Health and Human Services, businesses can deduct the value of wellness services — not just the cost — and return that tax saving directly to employee paychecks. The paycheck looks the same. The coverage improves. Nate draws a straight line to the 401K: a tax-advantaged tool nobody understood in 1975 that everyone now considers standard. He believes tax-advantaged wellness is on exactly that trajectory. **3\. Participation rate is the number that tells you the truth.** Most wellness plans sit at 20–30% adoption. The best participatory plans reach 90–95%. That gap isn't about incentives — it's about delivery. Voluntary plans require employees to go find the resources themselves. Most won't, until it's an emergency. Participatory plans put access in front of people proactively. One bank manager pulled Nate aside after a meeting: *"We pay our people to use our wellness plan and we're still at 30%."* Nate's answer was in the structure, not the incentives. --- ### **Practical Steps** **1\. Ask your employees what they actually need before you buy anything.** Mental health support? Weight management? Lower deductibles? Their answers tell you which plan fits. Most employers skip this step and end up with a plan shaped by whoever their cousin knows in insurance. **2\. Ask any wellness provider for their participation rate — and verify it.** If it's under 50%, keep walking. If it's in the 90s, find out how they get there. That number tells you more than any feature list. **3\. Ask whether the plan qualifies for FICA-based tax savings.** If your provider doesn't know what that means, they're not the right advisor. A compliant participatory wellness plan can be funded through tax savings with no new cost to employer or employee. That question alone will sort the room fast. --- ### **About the Guest** Nate Hallums is a wellness strategist and entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience helping business owners, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations build smarter healthcare solutions. After starting his career at IBM, he founded [BYF Consulting](https://solutionhealth.info/?ref=blog.knack4business.com) and Backyard Fishing Agency, and leads an EHP wellness partnership supporting more than 90,000 employees across state governments, professional sports franchises, and publicly traded companies. His team delivers on-demand concierge care, GLP-1 weight management programs, and tax-efficient wellness structures for companies with as few as 10 employees. Connect with Nate: [solutionhealth.info](https://solutionhealth.info/?ref=blog.knack4business.com) · [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nate-hallums/?ref=blog.knack4business.com) · [Booking](https://lunacal.ai/natehallums?ref=blog.knack4business.com) --- ### **Listen on Audio** [Listen on Simplecast](https://tinyurl.com/nxbr8w8h?ref=blog.knack4business.com) [Browse all episodes](https://tinyurl.com/y8tctv4v?ref=blog.knack4business.com) --- ### **Partners on this episode** [Profit10™](https://tinyurl.com/58she8w6?ref=blog.knack4business.com) — Take the free Profit Snapshot. Ten questions. Find out what's really holding your business back. No cost. No sales call. [Gentry Learning](https://tinyurl.com/mr2fufae?ref=blog.knack4business.com) — Fred Crouch's real estate education platform. Courses, active listings, Investor Club, and a free newsletter. [Canada Growth Network](https://tinyurl.com/3s5d3ayv?ref=blog.knack4business.com) — Business connections plus a done-for-you automation stack. $47/month Canadian. Real tools. Real people. --- ### **FAQ** **Q: Does this kind of wellness plan work for very small companies?** Yes. Nate's program is built for companies with as few as 10 employees. The FICA savings structure scales — the more employees you have, the larger the savings pool, but small teams still generate enough to fund meaningful coverage. **Q: Is this only available in the US?** The FICA tax savings mechanism is US-specific. For companies with Canadian or international employees, Nate has seen employers use the US-side savings to fund coverage for international staff — approximately $160/month per person. The on-demand care and wellness services can be accessed remotely. **Q: How is this different from standard telehealth?** Standard telehealth often connects you with residents, fellows, or newly licensed doctors. Nate's concierge model connects employees with board-certified physicians with 10+ years of experience — available on demand, with the same doctor each time if preferred, and response within four hours or less. --- ****Next Steps to Take** - [Join Canada Growth Network](https://tinyurl.com/3s5d3ayv?ref=blog.knack4business.com) \= robust cRM+community = $47CDN/M - [Web Indexer](https://tinyurl.com/yav4edf5?ref=blog.knack4business.com) \= web chatbot, easy install - 24/7 answers & bookigns - [Search K4B episodes by topic](https://knack4business.com/?ref=blog.knack4business.com) using Web Indexer - [Want to be a guest? Register here](https://knack4business.com/?ref=blog.knack4business.com) [Canada Growth Network ](https://tinyurl.com/3s5d3ayv?ref=blog.knack4business.com) --- ### **K4B Acknowledgements** - [Carl Richards](https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-richards-3a0a223/?ref=blog.knack4business.com) - [Fred Crouch](https://tinyurl.com/3psh5bdk?ref=blog.knack4business.com) - [Jovan Strika — @Hive](https://tinyurl.com/4dmcxah8?ref=blog.knack4business.com) - [Melanie Webber](https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-webber-879806128/?ref=blog.knack4business.com)