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).
I would be the first to admit that 2017 has been a very confusing year for people who have to make decisions about health insurance. Much has been made all year long about promise after promise from politicians across the political spectrum (including the president, who threatened to “let Obamacare collapse”) to repeal, replace, amend, tweak, repair, adjust or just plain fix “Obamacare.”
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.
I once heard a radio host say “Dreaming is important. But to do my job, I HAVE to be the mayor of Real Ville!”
When a “Bailout” Isn’t a “Bailout”:
I really enjoy Twitter. Just a few days ago, after I tweeted about a particular federal program that helps poor people pay for their health insurance, I got this response above.
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.
