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Racial Disparities in 2017
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[PHYSICIAN FOCUSED FINANCIAL PLANNING AND RISK MANAGEMENT COMPANION TEXTBOOK SET]
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Filed under: Health Insurance | Tagged: Health Insurance, Uninsurance Rates | Leave a comment »
Percentage of US Adults Without Health Insurance
Posted on February 18, 2019 by Editor-in-Chief
UPDATE: Circa 2008- 2018
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Conclusion
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Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements.
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DOCTORS:
“Insurance & Risk Management Strategies for Doctors” https://tinyurl.com/ydx9kd93
“Fiduciary Financial Planning for Physicians” https://tinyurl.com/y7f5pnox
“Business of Medical Practice 2.0” https://tinyurl.com/yb3x6wr8
HOSPITALS:
“Financial Management Strategies for Hospitals” https://tinyurl.com/yagu567d
“Operational Strategies for Clinics and Hospitals” https://tinyurl.com/y9avbrq5
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Filed under: Health Insurance | Tagged: Health Insurance, uninsured Americans | 3 Comments »
IS HEALTHCARE [REALLY] DIFFERENT -OR- NOT?
Posted on March 16, 2018 by Editor-in-Chief
A Particle Physics Analogy
By Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA
http://www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org
Some folks, here and elsewhere, often opine that banking is more progressive than healthcare. And, by inference many, if not most, other industries may be included as well.
Unfortunately, this is a ridiculous reality.
WHY: Sorry – Like Heisenberg – You can’t have it both ways.
Health insurance is becoming less like real, pro-active insurance and more like a taxpayer “pay-as-you-go” system. Hence, the two current societal opinions:
HI AS A RIGHT: On the one hand, we opine that you can’t buy car or home owners insurance after the accident or fire. But, you can buy Obamacare after the cancer diagnosis. Not insurance at all; but a right.
HI AS A PRIVILEGE: On the other hand, others opine that HI is for the privileged few.
Now, here is my third option:
HI AS A RESPONSIBILITY: Well, I suggest HI is a responsibility. We do need catastrophic insurance but not for routine health maintenance. The better we are at pro-active responsibility – the less expensive HI should be, with patient skin-in-the-game. And, I have written about Health Savings Accounts [HSAs] before, here and elsewhere.
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Assessment
So, decide which and proceed accordingly. But, just like the Werner Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle; it can’t be both.
NOTE: In quantum mechanics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle is any of a variety of mathematical inequalities asserting a fundamental limit to the precision with which certain pairs of physical properties of a particle, known as complementary variables, such as position x and momentum p, can be known simultaneously.
IOW: I can tell you where you are -OR- how fast you are going; but not both.
Conclusion
Your thoughts are appreciated. http://www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
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Racial Disparities in UnInsured Rates
Posted on November 20, 2016 by Editor-in-Chief
On Health Insurance [PP- ACA]
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Conclusion
Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.
Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com
OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:
- PRACTICES: www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
- HOSPITALS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466558731
- CLINICS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900
- ADVISORS: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org
- FINANCE: Financial Planning for Physicians and Advisors
- INSURANCE: Risk Management and Insurance Strategies for Physicians and Advisors
- Dictionary of Health Economics and Finance
- Dictionary of Health Information Technology and Security
- Dictionary of Health Insurance and Managed Care
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Filed under: Health Insurance, Health Law & Policy | Tagged: ACA, Health Insurance, PP-ACA, Racial Disparities in UnInsured Rates | 1 Comment »
Comparing “Best-in-Class” Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans Against Their Peers
Posted on January 24, 2016 by Editor-in-Chief
Plan Management Navigator
By Douglas B. Sherlock CFA
This issue of Plan Management Navigator contains a summary of our analysis comparing “Best-in-Class” Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans and the other Plans that we refer to as “Peer” Plans.
Best-in-Class Plans operated with costs, excluding Sales and Marketing and Medical Management that were 32% lower than their Peers.
Low Staffing Ratios was the primary driver in the Best-in-Class cost advantage, while Staffing Costs per FTE and Non-Labor Costs per FTE were also lower.
The functional area of Information Systems was key in superior Best-in-Class performance. Economies of scale played no role in the ranking.
Invitation to Participate in the 2016 Sherlock Benchmarking Study
Our highly valid, well-populated Benchmarks provide an unbiased ranking and helps prioritize activities that will have the greatest impact on improving your health plan’s overall operating performance.
The overwhelming proportion of health plans participating last year are participating this year, and we have added several plans. Please follow this link to see what last year’s participation looked like.
We will meet to finalize the content of the survey in February, distribute the survey forms in March, collect the completed surveys in May and publish beginning in late June or early July. Participation entails efforts on your part since useful outputs require relatively granular inputs. The cost is relatively modest.
Because of the calendar, if you are considering participation, please contact me as soon as convenient. We can answer questions and help get the paperwork out of the way.
Assessment
Thank you again for your continuing interest in the Sherlock Benchmarks. Please visit this link to find the January 2016 Plan Management Navigator.
Conclusion
Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.
Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com
OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:
- PRACTICES: www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
- HOSPITALS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466558731
- CLINICS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900
- ADVISORS: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org
- FINANCE: Financial Planning for Physicians and Advisors
- INSURANCE: Risk Management and Insurance Strategies for Physicians and Advisors
- Dictionary of Health Economics and Finance
- Dictionary of Health Information Technology and Security
- Dictionary of Health Insurance and Managed Care
HEALTH INSURANCE, MANAGED CARE, ECONOMICS, FINANCE AND HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMPANION DICTIONARY SET
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Filed under: Health Insurance, iMBA, Inc. | Tagged: Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Plans, Douglas B. Sherlock CFA, Health Insurance | 2 Comments »
Health Insurance Costs [circa 2016]
Posted on January 15, 2016 by Editor-in-Chief
The most devious tax increases in modern history?
By Rick Kahler MS CFP®
http://www.KahlerFinancuial.com
A few months ago I scoffed when my wife told me about a report from CNN that the average individual, unsubsidized health insurance premium was going up over 60%.
After receiving my 2016 premium notice from Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, I’m no longer scoffing. My monthly premium for family coverage went from $1,400 to $2,140, an increase of $740, or 53%. According to healthcare.gov, the average Wellmark increase in South Dakota is 43%.
I immediately started looking for ways to decrease my premiums. This has become an annual ritual ever since Obamacare was pushed through Congress in 2010. Back then, my family health insurance policy (now considered a Platinum plan) had a low deductible with a maximum out-of-pocket of $3,500 and cost $660 a month.
Despite the President’s promise that “If you like your plan you can keep your plan,” I can’t even purchase that same plan today. If I could, I estimate it would cost over $3,500 a month. In order to keep health insurance affordable, each year I’ve reduced my coverage, increased my deductibles, and paid a higher premium than the year before.
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I set out to analyze my options for 2016. After spending six hours crunching numbers and pouring over online calculators, I admitted defeat. There is no simple way to analyze plans to determine whether, based on your personal health care expenditures, you are better served to go with a copay or a deductible plan, a Bronze or a Silver plan, or if a Health Savings Account is preferable to a plan with coinsurance. All the online calculators I found were limited in scope and woefully generic. My health insurance agent didn’t know of any better ones, either.
Adding to my angst, while Wellmark makes policyholders’ year-to-date healthcare expenses available on its website, it doesn’t provide any breakdown of costs. You must figure out for yourself how many drug or doctor co-pays you had, the average cost of a copay visit, the average total costs of those visits, and any other information you need for any type of analysis.
This task was daunting for me, a financial planner and numbers guy. How are average consumers supposed to navigate it? The need for this information is so obvious, one wonders what the insurance companies are hiding by not providing it.
Ultimately, I selected a Bronze plan with no copays and an out-of-pocket cap of $11,900 on in-network providers and $18,500 on out-of-network providers. Based on my family’s average health care costs for the last three years, my out-of-pocket spending for premiums, covered drugs, and approved in-network medical providers will be $2,612 per month, or $31,344, in 2016. It was $11,420 in 2010. That’s an increase of 273%, or 18.3% a year.
By comparison, during the same time period medical costs only increased 16.0%, or 2.7% a year. The increase in premiums is clearly not about increasing health costs.
The $1,660 extra per month I had available to spend on consumer goods and services in 2010 is now going to insurance companies to subsidize the health care of others. This is a clear-cut example of a massive transfer of wealth.
Based on my family’s needs, if I earned $97,000 a year I would qualify for a subsidy of $912 a month. But since I earn over $98,000, I pay the full premium.
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Assessment
Clearly, the only people who find the Affordable Care Act affordable are those who receive a subsidy or who have preexisting conditions. For them, Obamacare was a godsend. For the rest of us, it turned out to be one of the most devious tax increases in modern history.
Conclusion
Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.
Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com
OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:
- PRACTICES: www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
- HOSPITALS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466558731
- CLINICS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900
- ADVISORS: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org
- FINANCE: Financial Planning for Physicians and Advisors
- INSURANCE: Risk Management and Insurance Strategies for Physicians and Advisors
- Dictionary of Health Economics and Finance
- Dictionary of Health Information Technology and Security
- Dictionary of Health Insurance and Managed Care
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Filed under: Health Insurance | Tagged: ACA, Health Insurance, ObamaCare, PP-ACA, Rick Kahler CFP® | 5 Comments »
Health Plan Premium Increases for 2016
Posted on November 22, 2015 by Editor-in-Chief
Projections for 2016
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Conclusion
Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.
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Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com
OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:
- PRACTICES: www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
- HOSPITALS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466558731
- CLINICS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900
- ADVISORS: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org
- FINANCE: Financial Planning for Physicians and Advisors
- INSURANCE: Risk Management and Insurance Strategies for Physicians and Advisors
- Dictionary of Health Economics and Finance
- Dictionary of Health Information Technology and Security
- Dictionary of Health Insurance and Managed Care
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[PHYSICIAN FOCUSED FINANCIAL PLANNING AND RISK MANAGEMENT COMPANION TEXTBOOK SET]
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Filed under: Health Insurance | Tagged: Health Insurance, Health insurance premiums 2016 | 1 Comment »
