I’m always in awe of the intelligence and credentials of the people I work with on a day-to-day basis at Blue Cross. A great example is Dr. Vindell Washington, our chief medical officer.
As I sit here in mid-April, I can’t help but think of all the times in the past four years I’ve been confronted by folks who got HUGE tax bills at the end of the year because they bought their health insurance on healthcare.gov, made some errors computing their income and got hit with a surprise bill. This is a great time to review how the Advanced PremiumTax Credits on healthcare.gov work and how to avoid getting nailed with a huge tax bill at the end of the year.
Age is a big factor in how much medical care people are expected to use. But the ACA made the ratio between how much we are allowed to charge a 64-year-old versus a 21-year-old too small. Mike Bertaut breaks it down in this new video that helps explain why young people are being priced out of the market and driving up costs for everyone else.
As a person with Type 2 diabetics in my family, I’ve seen the struggle, up close and personal, of having to stick yourself multiple times a day, record your blood sugar levels and then convert that on the fly into some kind of medicine dosing. Calling it a messy process is being kind.
Note from Mike: I was at this event earlier this week. I’m really excited to see the amazing work these firms are doing to fight diabetes. I’ve talked before about the cost of treating chronic conditions. I’m amped about new tech that can help doctors and health plans like Blue Cross stop some of the tragic results of diabetes. These advances can save money and improve lives at the same time. Here’s more about the event and the winner.
It’s not that often I go after a specific, single behavior, but today I’m in a mood. I was just looking at the rates of tobacco use by state, and apparently, in Louisiana, our rates are VERY high.
