At its heart, health insurance is a pretty simple business. Instead of running the risk of a medical situation that outstrips your ability to pay for it (and in the healthcare world, that’s a pretty common occurrence), you transfer some or most of that risk to another entity (like Blue Cross).
Blue Cross Healthcare Economist Mike Bertaut is on the road, on the job and around Louisiana. Now is your chance to follow along, as he brings the Straight Talk to you and your fellow Louisianians in our new series of videos.
A few months ago, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Healthcare Act (AHCA). The bill next went to the Senate, which created several of its own bills, including the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). While these bills are not actively being debated as I write this, they are far from dead, as is the “repeal and replace” debate, which still rages.
“Did you know that health insurance companies that participate in federal or state programs also have stricter gross margin/profit caps on that business? For example, the Medicaid health plans in Louisiana have to pay state and local taxes, and they pay for all administration on 15 percent of the payments they get from the state for managing care of Medicaid patients.”
The candidates on the campaign trail have their opinions about how to fix the Affordable Care Act (ACA), how to make health insurance marketplaces work better and how to get everybody insured. Every policy wonk and think tank in America has weighed in on the problem. Of course, their solutions are all in alignment with their institutional biases on how healthcare OUGHT to work in America.
I love working for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana. And I am 100% sold on the notion that the best way to pay for a person’s healthcare is by creating entities just like us and giving them the freedom to make local decisions and manage our healthcare funds.
