Author: Michael Bertaut

Healthcare Economist Michael Bertaut (BURR-toe) is a Certified Health Consultant and Professional of the Academy of Healthcare Management. He has more than 30 years of analytical experience in the healthcare, telecom and retail industry sectors. On the ground in D.C. when the healthcare reform law (PPACA) was written, Michael has taken part in more than 1,100 public discussions on healthcare costs and the impact of reform since 2009. Mike is a fellow of the Academy of Applied Politics at Louisiana State University, and author of this Hermes Award winning healthcare blog. Michael earned his MBA and BA from Louisiana State University and just celebrated his 35th year as a cancer survivor. Michael is recognized as a national commentator on healthcare reform, quoted in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and state and local publications. He is a regular guest on the Talk Louisiana radio show.

According to a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll, which asks Americans about healthcare topics each month, support for Medicare-for-all, which we’ve called “single–payer healthcare” in these pages, has narrowed in recent months. In a poll conducted Oct. 3 – 8, 2019, 51% of those polled said they favor a national health plan and 47% opposed. That’s a 5% drop since the beginning of the year.

It seems Americans are starting to think similarly to me – single-payer healthcare will narrow our choices when it comes to healthcare. Read more

I’m back today to continue our series introducing you to some of the amazing people who work here at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana. Our company is on the cutting edge of data innovation, and I want to tell you more about the person in charge of that program.

Somesh Nigam, Ph. D., is our chief analytics and data officer. He goes by his first name around the office. Read more

In my lifetime, I have been blessed to see advances in medical science that literally saved my life.

In 1983, at 22 years old, I was diagnosed with a malignant form of bone cancer in my right femur. Cancer was, of course, much more of a deadly condition back then. I qualified for a clinical trial with four other male subjects who were about my age and had the same condition. I was given a brand-new chemotherapy combination in a brand-new delivery method, and within three months, 80% of my tumor was dead or inactive. Read more

Way back in 2009, when lawmakers were negotiating the Affordable Care Act, it was clear that it would cost a lot of money to pay out advanced tax credits, cost-sharing reductions and Medicaid fees for millions of newly covered people. So much money that the authors of the ACA were concerned enough to try and make the ACA revenue neutral.

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Often, when we write here at Straight Talk about how fast innovation and technology move in healthcare, we are talking in grand, sweeping terms about multi-billion dollar investments and really earth-shattering inventions.

It turns out REALLY important healthcare innovation work can be done on a local level, and it’s something we can all use and be proud of. Read more

Today, we are starting a new, occasional series on Straight Talk. I’m going to introduce you to some remarkable people here at Blue Cross, letting you get to know how they think and how they are leading Blue Cross in solving problems and developing innovations for the health insurance industry. Read more