Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Leslie Kaz President & Founder of Syndicated Insurance Agency Discussing Choosing the Right Medicare Advisor

Episode Date: June 8, 2026

Leslie Kaz is the President & COO of Syndicated Insurance Agency, LLC — a national Medicare-focused FMO he co-founded in 2004 that now operates across 22 states with a network of over 120 agents and brokers. With over 30 years in the insurance industry and a unique background as a trained chef and café owner, Leslie brings a rare combination of operational depth, business acumen, and genuine passion for people. Under his leadership, Syndicated has grown by over 200% year over year. His mission is straightforward: empower agents to build real businesses and help seniors navigate Medicare with confidence.Learn more: http://www.877VIPQuote.comNot affiliated with the U.S. Government or Federal Medicare Program. We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 29 organizations which offer 2694 products in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your optionsInfluential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-leslie-kaz-president-founder-of-syndicated-insurance-agency-discussing-choosing-the-right-medicare-advisor

Welcome to influential entrepreneurs, bringing you interviews with elite business leaders and experts, sharing tips and strategies for elevating your business to the next level. Here's your host, Mike Saunders. Hello and welcome to this episode of influential entrepreneurs. This is Mike Saunders, the authority positioning coach. Today we have back with us, Leslie Kaz, who's the president and founder with syndicated insurance agency, and we'll be talking about choosing the right Medicare advice. Leslie, welcome back to the program. Thank you. My pleasure being here today.

Hey, I know that this is just like we talked about previously. It is just an unbelievable amount of information to be aware of and then to make sure you're making the right decisions. So choosing the right Medicare advisor, I feel like if you were to stop 100 people on the street age 60 plus and say, did you know that there even is a thing called a Medicare advisor, the vast majority? majority might not even know that that's an opportunity or an option. Have you seen that in your work? 100% and the concern. So most of you don't realize that Medicare insurance agents are licensed by the states

that they work in. So in every state, they have to have a license for it. And you can't just randomly call yourself an advisor. You're a Medicare insurance agent or just an insurance agent. Everything we do is highly regulated by the government, CMS, overseas, sees everything that insurance agents do. And if you make the wrong choice in choosing that agent, you're going to get a different outcome.

And there's several different distribution channels within Medicare. The big ones that come to mind are the difference between a captive salesperson and an independent broker. Captive means that they are working for an insurance company. They get paid a salary by an insurance company to sell their product. And that's all they can sell. So, you know, if your electrician only has a hammer, everything looks like a nail. But we need a whole toolbox of things.

And the difference between a captive versus independent, as an independent broker, which I am, I don't work for the insurance companies. I work for the consumer. Now, I get paid by insurance companies, but the thing that I've got to call attention to is, no matter what insurance plan you choose, I get paid the same amount. Well, I've got no skin in the game. I don't care. My job is to take care of you.

And I get paid to help you make a choice. I get paid to enroll you. And most importantly, I get paid to service you in the years down the road. I'd much rather have a client for 5, 10, 10, 15, 20 years than make a quick buck and move on to the next thing. And that's a big difference. So people don't realize that brokers are here to serve the consumer. And we're almost the last stand between the insurance companies and the consumers when push comes to shove. You know, that's a really excellent point. And I love the comparison between a captive and

independent because that is common across a lot of industries. I came out of a couple decades ago, the mortgage industry. And if you work for a bank, all you could sell is what they have. But if you work for a broker, an independent broker, you might have 20 or 30 or 40 loan programs. That's exactly what you're talking about. So how can someone tell if they're communicating? with a captive salesperson or an independent? What are some of the key things that they should be able to notice right off the back? Well, I would ask.

I mean, that's the most important thing. Do you only represent one carrier and one plan? Or do you only represent, I'm going to make up a company. Let's say you'll represent health net or you only represent well care. They're going to tell you we have all these plans and they're all going to be these welfare plans or health net plans versus an independent agent such as myself,

where I represent 249 different insurance carriers, which is over 15,000 plans. I mean, it's a lot of plans out there. So there's a lot to choose from. And again, my goal for anybody is to help you navigate this matrix that the government has put in the place and make it as easy as possible for you. Now, what if someone says to one of their Medicare advisors they're talking to, you know, are you, you know, captive or independent? they go, well, I'm captive. I work for XYZ company, but that's better because, and they give this reason, because, you know, we've got the top of the top and no one has anything the same that we have.

You know, they could kind of sweet talk you into thinking that, oh, well, that is better. Versus if someone goes, we've got thousands of plans. Well, that could be confusing. I don't even know which one would be the best one. So how do you make sure that your client understands that no matter what someone to tells you the added options. And actually, probably you've got a computer software that goes, hey, based on what I, you know, interview you and ask you certain questions, we query all of these, you know,

plans or providers and we find the top three for you to choose from. Where does that conversation lead that way? That's a great question. So you are correct. We do use some pretty sophisticated software to analyze each of our client's needs. And we start with the list of doctors. So who are the doctors you're seeing? Who are the specialists you see?

What hospitals do you really want to be able to have access to? So that's step one. Step two is going to be, let's get a list of all your medications. What medications are you taking? What doses are you taking? Let's plug all that in. Based on that, based on your zip code and obviously what state, what city you live in, we can find a plan that's going to suit your needs, and it may not be one carrier.

It may be multiple carriers. There may be a blue cross in there. There may be a blue shield in there. There may be a health man in there. We don't know going into it. So if someone's going to first open up their portfolio and talk to you and say, Blue Cross is the best plan for you and didn't take any information from you, that should be a big red flag. Okay, good.

That's a good one. Now, I know that the financial planning world, the word fiduciary is important. Like, I will work for your best interest in their contractually legally obligated. How do you know in the Medicare world, I'm sure that that's not the case, fiduciary, but it's the same concept where you have already. stated that you want to work with people for years and decades to come to make sure that they're in the right product and the right program, the right carrier each and every time. How do you make sure as a consumer that the Medicare advisor you're working with is actually putting your interest first?

What are some of the questions or red flags that they should be aware of because you can talk a good talk, but when it comes down to brass tax, how do you, how do you ensure that you're being taken care of in the best possible way? So I was like kind of an old school fashion. You know, God gave us two years and one mouth for a reason. We should listen more than we talk. And if you've got someone on the phone or you're talking them in person, all of you is talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.

And they didn't ask you any questions. That's a huge red flag. Again, I have access to lots of plans, lots of carriers. I don't know what you need. I have no idea if you've got a medication. I don't know what medications you're taking. Until I can answer those questions, I can't have a serious conversation with you about this plan or that plan.

And I've had clients call up and say, this is the best plan, right? Well, best plan for who? For you or for your neighbor or your cousin? So it really comes down asking the questions. If you got someone, as you mentioned, maybe the mortgage industry, here's this great loan program for you,

based on what? You don't know my financial history. You don't know what I do, what I don't do, how much money have in the bank. Same concept with your health insurance. And even more so, you know, I find that we become family

when we become a client of mine. So I usually know more about my clients and their spouse does or their physician or their attorney because I have all their medical information and I talk to them all the time. It's important to understand the person you're dealing with how much they can navigate the system on their own versus how much help they need from a broker. Yeah, that's huge. Now, let's talk a little bit about what I like to call the KLT factor, the no like and trust. You know, like it's if you get someone that's just talking about a minute, they don't let you get a word in edgewise. That's a red flag. I like that

caution, but what questions should someone be asking to maybe gauge credibility and trustworthiness because sometimes it's like, I want to know the top three Zinger questions to ask and just see what that advisor answers them because based on what Leslie told me, they should answer it this way. And if they don't answer it this way, run. That's one great idea. Great question. So the first is, are you captive or are you independent? You know, do represent a lot of insurance. companies are only one. So that's a key component. My preference is not to represent one, but to represent a lot because we don't know what tool is going to fit your need. The other comes down to experience. How long have you been doing this? How long have you been in the Medicare world?

For myself, it's over 30 years. I've got just a little bit of time under my belt dealing with this and seeing all the changes in the marketplace and knowing what's going on politically as well as with the plan changes. Those are all important things. If a client calls up and says, I think Blue Cross is the best plan and the person agrees with you. Probably hang up the phone and go somewhere else. Okay. That's a good one. And then how many questions should, and I guess I'm putting myself in the position of someone, you know, calling you for the first time.

And I just want to get right down to business and tell me this and the pricing and this, but you can't because you don't know my needs. Well, how many questions get to the point where it's like, come on enough already? So meaning, you know, should someone be? asked five questions, seven, eight, ten. What should that feel like so that people can expect the right number of level questions and not get frustrated? It would be a conversation, much like what we're doing tonight. So it's asking, I don't know if there's a set number, but you get a good indication

from talking to someone, do they know their stuff or not. So how long have been in the industry is good. And a lot of times I'll start with the basics, how old are you? So figure out how old someone is and how close they are to Medicare age or if they're already in the Medicare space, do they need more assistance and choose in a different plan? They may come down to asking them, you know, what medications you're taking? That's a huge one. So I always tell people, we start with doctors and dollars.

So medications and your doctors. Let's start with that and we kind of narrow things down for you. And we may find a plan that's zero cost, but it's a horrible plan. And it's going to cost you a lot of money long term. When it's zero cost, I mean monthly premium. So a lot of people turn to the lowest cost plan, and that's not always. is the best. You really get what you pay for. Yeah, that's a great point. I think that's really important. And that ties into what you mentioned earlier about creating long-term relationships.

Talk a little bit about the benefit of that long-term relationship with someone that has really got their best interest in mind to make sure that these Medicare decisions fit into retirement, but also when, and I'm using the word purposefully, when Medicare changes or updates, they need to be convinced that someone like yourself has got their backing and bringing it to their attention and not missing out on opportunities to improve or stay ahead of the curve. Correct.

And I think most people realize that life is not static. You know, our bodies change as we get older. I wish we could stay 20 forever, but that's not the case. and we have aches and pains and things your health will change, your career status change, your employment status changes, all those things go into the factor of what plan works best for you at what stage of your life. So, you know, when you're young and invincible, you may not eat health insurance because, you know, you're young and invincible. As we get older, we all age, we're going to have more medical care and it's going to be really important to

choose the right person. So for instance, my clients, I reach out to them every year before this whole annual enrollment thing kicks off. What's changed in your life? What's going on? As your finances improved or not, as your health improved or not? So what sort of things are going on with you? And let's direct, let's review your plan to see if it still makes sense where you are. Because once you make that first choice, you're not locked in forever. You can make a new choice every single year. And it's important to stay on top of that. So your advocate, your insurance agent should be reaching out to you. Definitely at least once a year. But we actually touch all of our clients at least four or five times a year. just to talk to them, see what's going on, and what changes are coming down the pike as far as administration goes. There are new guidelines that come out all the time that may or may not impact some of our clients, and we have to be on top of all that. So as a general rule, once you've made your decisions well ahead of time and not missed any deadlines and set things up the right way and you can kind of high five and go, okay, this is set up. How often would there need to be decisions made about

potential changes. Is it like once in a blue moon or is it like, hey, every single year, we need to double check because maybe the government made these changes or like to your point, oh, my income changed or my health needs change. Talk a little bit about the potential need for change. Sure. I've got a lot of folks who come to me and say, well, I've had this plan for the last 10 years and that's fine. It was fine a few 10 years ago. Maybe not now. So let's talk about that. Plans, the great thing about insurance companies is by law, they're mandated to send out what's called an ANOC, annual notice of change. And none of us read it. It's that disclosure statement you get in the mail that's, you know, type 10 font and you can't see it.

That's four pages long. And it's really hard to understand. Those come out by law every year. And they're important that patients, that clients open those documents and at least read them. Or when you get it, call your broker. What is this thing? What changes are really happening? And you are right.

Plans change every single year. Deductibles, co-pays, doctors, networks, drugs they cover. Everything is very, everything moves. It's all got lots of moving parts. Not to mention on top of that, you then have administrative changes, like from CMS of the government that says, oh, here's this new rule we're doing. Here's this new law we're implementing. And how's that going to impact you as a patient?

So those are all things that your broker needs to stay ahead of, needs to be communicating with you. They're looking not just at a sale today, but where are we going to be three, five, ten years down the road? Yeah, huge. I'll tell you, Leslie, this has been super, super informative to realize that, A, there are such things as a Medicare advisor, but there are some factors that make you realize you need to choose the right one. And we've covered all of those with some great questions and red flags. So if someone is interested in learning a little bit more about what you do and connecting with you, what's the best way that they can do that? Great ways they could meet me either via our phone number or our website.

It's the exact same thing. 877 VIPQuote.com or the phone number, 877 VIP Quote, and they will talk to me directly. Awesome. Leslie, thank you so much for coming back on. It's been a real pleasure chatting with you. Thank you, Mike. My pleasure. You've been listening to Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saunders.

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