Today, my phone was ringing, and the display showed a phone number in Menomonie, Wisconsin. “Computer-driven sales call” was my first thought. I don’t know anyone in Menomonie. But the call kept coming, twice a day. Finally, after sending it to voicemail three times, out of sheer frustration, I just went ahead and answered it:
You’ve got to love America. We have a long history of love/hate relationships with mood-altering substances, which we have often described as having “medicinal value” until science stops us cold. Of course, these scientific studies in medicine often never catch up to folklore, which exists everywhere in our culture in the form of things we “know” but cannot prove.
Requiem for the Individual Mandate
I’ve always liked the word “requiem,” which the dictionary says means “a ceremony or remembrance of someone who has passed away.”
Since early 2013, when we got the final rules for employers offering health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, I have spoken to and met personally with literally thousands of employers to help them understand their compliance burdens under the ACA as business owners. Many of them were, and still are, Blue Cross customers. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your loyalty to us. And because you’ve stuck with us, I want to tell you Straight about an ACA issue coming up now that could affect you.
Drug Company Magic: What’s the fastest growing thing that affects the cost of your health insurance premiums? The answer may surprise you.
Every year, tens of thousands of my friends and neighbors here in Louisiana turn 65 years old, thus “aging in” to the Medicare program. They will be joining over 55 million Americans already in the program.
