Author: Michael Bertaut

Healthcare Economist Michael Bertaut (BURR-toe) is a Certified Health Consultant and Professional of the Academy of Healthcare Management. He has more than 30 years of analytical experience in the healthcare, telecom and retail industry sectors. On the ground in D.C. when the healthcare reform law (PPACA) was written, Michael has taken part in more than 1,100 public discussions on healthcare costs and the impact of reform since 2009. Mike is a fellow of the Academy of Applied Politics at Louisiana State University, and author of this Hermes Award winning healthcare blog. Michael earned his MBA and BA from Louisiana State University and just celebrated his 35th year as a cancer survivor. Michael is recognized as a national commentator on healthcare reform, quoted in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and state and local publications. He is a regular guest on the Talk Louisiana radio show.

It’s National Volunteer Week and to celebrate, I’m turning the Straight Talk reins over to Michael Tipton, the head of Community Relations at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana and president of our Blue Cross Foundation.
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Sometimes it makes my head spin, this whole health insurance coverage thing. The big news today is the federal government is RE-OPENING healthcare.gov for a 90-day Special Enrollment Period (SEP), taking-all-comers, starting on Feb. 15 and ending May 15! Read more

Mike originally wrote and published this piece in 2015. Blue Cross has gotten similar messages in the years since, so he decided to go back and see if his answer still stands. He’s added more details in this post, but the crux of his answer is the same. Read more

For the past five years or so, I’ve managed the bills in our household. I know many of you reading this are like me – you have some bills that are exactly the same every single month. Think about your house note or rent, car notes, maybe even your cable or internet bill. These are all about the same amount every month.

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As strange as it seems, I got bullied a lot when I was a kid.

I could hardly blame the other kids; I was a prime target for bullying. By the time I was 11, I was overweight, wore glasses and those old metal braces, and had a really bad complexion. With five kids, money was tight, and my mom, God love her, made a lot of my clothes herself. And cut my hair herself. Read more

Years ago, I saw a wonderful movie called “Other People’s Money.” If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you do, especially the monologues in the last 20 minutes of the film. Really first-class lessons in economics and capitalism encoded into a movie.

At one point in the movie, a merger and acquisition specialist (played by Danny DeVito) uses this (paraphrased) example to explain how technology changes our lives: Read more