If you live in Louisiana long enough, odds are your life will be touched by cancer. Either you personally, or through the trials and tribulations of a loved one. I was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1983 and count myself fortunate to have survived the surgeries, the treatments and to be here, cancer-free since 1984. Read more
It’s Expensive, I Don’t Use It Much
As we were developing our recent Straight Talk posts that dealt directly with terminology, how health insurance pays for your health care, and how your out-of-pocket spending and your health insurance carrier’s spending relate to your premiums, another question kept coming up. This one came specifically from younger folks with health insurance. It went something like this: Read more
I’m often struck by how ahead of the curve medical innovations have been in the United States of America. Years ago, I worked with a man who was brilliant, a programmer who had a Ph.D. in mathematics, who also had a disability. After several months of working with him and sharing a few meals together, we got to know each other. I learned his disability was due to catching polio as a child. That seemed really strange to me because he was younger than I am, and I got the polio vaccine as a child. Most American kids born since the mid-1950s have gotten the vaccine, and we’ve never met anyone with polio. Read more
As a lifelong Louisiana resident, with a dad who served in the U.S. Army, it probably wouldn’t surprise you a bit to know that I was raised with guns in the house. More than a few, in fact. My dad’s job in the Army and later National Guard was as a Firearms Instructor. In fact, he taught people how to properly instruct others on firearms safety. As his oldest child, he practiced his instruction on me, to the point where I could have taught the safety class at about age five. Read more
I’m about to turn 61 years old. I can tell you, as a cancer survivor (bone cancer in my 20s), I seldom considered that I might still be around at this age, but I am thrilled to be here. I don’t feel my age every day, but every now and then … Read more
Note from Mike: It’s been a while since I brought my Straight Talk audience one of these videos. Today, I’m introducing someone we at Blue Cross consider a Thought Leader. To us, a thought leader is a person who is working to solve problems in health care and health insurance and leading innovations. Read more
