EDITOR’S NOTE: Mike is out this week, and he’s given the Straight Talk floor to another Mike – Michael Tipton, that is. Michael is president of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation and head of Community Relations. This week, he’s sharing details on the great work he and his team are leading at Blue Cross. 

Hello, Straight Talkers! I’m delighted to be a guest blogger for Mike this week to share news about Blue Cross’ and its Foundation’s responses to COVID-19, particularly related to grant making and charitable investments.

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We recently published a Straight Talk piece about what Phase 2 reopening looked like in Louisiana and how we could possibly move to Phase 3 by the first week in July …  IF we stayed on the same COVID-19 trajectory, with lower rates of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths. We were all looking forward to a Phase 3 re-opening so that our businesses could get back to operating, more folks could start going back to work, and the state’s economy could start humming again.

Not to be, I’m afraid. Read more

A few weeks ago, I started to notice some changes in the vision in my left eye. Black specks, flashes of light; everything I read about it said I might be getting a detached retina, which is a pretty big deal. I immediately called my eye doctor, who referred me to a retina specialist. Now, I hadn’t been to a doctor’s office since January so I really didn’t know what to expect, and I was, frankly, a bit nervous about it.

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As we made our way through March, April and May 2020, we saw the number of COVID-19 cases in Louisiana rising very quickly, especially before the governor issued his “stay-at-home” order on March 22.

In response to this unprecedented health crisis, health insurance companies like Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana began to add, amend and alter their coverage to make it easier for people to get tested and treated for COVID-19. At Blue Cross, we also made changes to make it easier for people to get healthcare treatment while staying at home. Read more

When the first COVID-19 cases started appearing in the U.S., we had some very scary examples of what happened in other countries, with this disease overwhelming and even shutting down healthcare systems. Almost all of the original restrictions that state, local and federal officials put in place here, like stay-at-home orders, mask-wearing, business closures, etc. were aimed at slowing down the spread of the virus so we wouldn’t run out of ICU beds and ventilators. We had seen that happen in places like Italy, and it was very, very bad. Nothing you’d want to have happen here. Read more

Louisiana is opening back up. In this podcast, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Healthcare Economist Mike Bertaut talks about the adjustments we are all making and why we can’t let our guard down. Mike also discusses the strong safety net Louisiana currently has for residents who lose their jobs and their health insurance during this pandemic.

Mike talks about the remarkable number of telehealth claims Blue Cross is processing right now, and goes into details about about Blue Cross’ data-sharing partnership with the State of Louisiana, including details on a presentation that Blue Cross’s Chief Analytics & Data Officer, Somesh Nigam, led this week, during the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ Data Science CoLab Demo Day.

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