In this episode of the Straight Talk podcast (23:32), Mike sits down to answer some questions from readers.
Mike takes on your tough questions, including how the Health Insurance Tax is affecting your premiums (hint: they are taking a hit, but there are other factors that can cause your rates to go up. Mike spells them out).
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Let me ask you a hypothetical question. Would you rather:
As the person who keeps track of bills and payments due for my family, I say there is NOTHING worse than a bill you weren’t expecting. No matter how much I owe, if I know about it up front, I can plan, estimate, maneuver, borrow or do whatever I have to do to pay that bill on time.
If I get ambushed, though… Grrrrr!!!! Don’t like it. Much more stressful. Read more
Legislation, both state and federal, has a unique way of imposing rather artificial life transitions on us. When I turned 15 years old in the mid-70s, I was immediately eligible (after taking a VERY simple test and paying $5) to drive a car, alone, anywhere I wanted to go. No auto insurance was required, by the way. At my 18th birthday, I was legally able to join the military, vote, and buy and drink alcohol. I was dubbed by society at that point a fully featured “adult.” In the 70s.
I watched the Affordable Care Act completely change the way health insurance is paid for and delivered over the past decade. Today, I think it’s prudent to apply some of what I’ve learned on those front lines to the current healthcare debate: Medicare for All.
As you might expect, there are many risks and many unknowns in this proposed massive undertaking that would re-route 20% of our country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Here are the top 10 things I believe will have to be carefully thought out before such a program has a chance of success. Read more
According to a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll, which asks Americans about healthcare topics each month, support for Medicare-for-all, which we’ve called “single–payer healthcare” in these pages, has narrowed in recent months. In a poll conducted Oct. 3 – 8, 2019, 51% of those polled said they favor a national health plan and 47% opposed. That’s a 5% drop since the beginning of the year.
It seems Americans are starting to think similarly to me – single-payer healthcare will narrow our choices when it comes to healthcare. Read more
In my lifetime, I have been blessed to see advances in medical science that literally saved my life.
In 1983, at 22 years old, I was diagnosed with a malignant form of bone cancer in my right femur. Cancer was, of course, much more of a deadly condition back then. I qualified for a clinical trial with four other male subjects who were about my age and had the same condition. I was given a brand-new chemotherapy combination in a brand-new delivery method, and within three months, 80% of my tumor was dead or inactive. Read more
