Category: Health and Wellness

Category: Health and Wellness

Can Being Lonely Kill You Before Your Time?

One of the most precious people in my life growing up was my paternal grandmother. Her name was Catherine, and her sisters and brothers called her Kitty.

Kitty was born in 1911, one of nine children, and lived her early life on a sugarcane farm near Donaldsonville, Louisiana. She married her next-door neighbor in 1934. My father, her only child, was born in 1938. Her husband, Carroll II, worked during the Great Depression anywhere he could, including building out the levees after the 1927 flood on the Mississippi River, sweeping the floors at the railroad station, and pumping gas. Read more

Category: Health and Wellness

Blue Cross Joins Baton Rouge Area Chamber to Reward Innovation in Healthcare

Often, when we write here at Straight Talk about how fast innovation and technology move in healthcare, we are talking in grand, sweeping terms about multi-billion dollar investments and really earth-shattering inventions.

It turns out REALLY important healthcare innovation work can be done on a local level, and it’s something we can all use and be proud of. Read more

Category: Health and Wellness

Kids Going Back to School? Put an Annual Checkup on the To Do List

I’m traveling this week and taking a break from writing. Instead, here is our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Vindell Washington, with a post about keeping your children healthy. Why is this important to talk about on a blog about healthcare costs? Well, for one, it meets Blue Cross’s mission of improving the health and lives of Louisianians. Second, staying healthy is one way to keep healthcare costs down, as well as reduce missed days of school and work. I know that’s important to the people who read this blog.

–        MB 

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Category: Cost of Healthcare, Health and Wellness, Health Insurance

Islands of Hope at Blue Cross

There is an ocean of healthcare data out there. And sometimes, it’s easy to feel like a ship floating in the middle of that water with no destination in sight. At Blue Cross, our lead data expert sees islands of hope as we analyze data and act upon the insights we learn. We find answers that lead us to innovations or confirm new ways that result in better care and health outcomes.
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