Part of my job as a health care economist for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is to talk to people, explaining health care costs and what Blue Cross does to safeguard your health care premium. A very common question I get hit with is whether the money we’ve spent over the past 18 months or so treating COVID-19 patients has translated into higher health insurance rates for our customers. Read more
I was minding my own business, really. Just sitting in the living room at home, oh about August 1977, watching the first preseason week of NFL football and just starting to get into a game, when Dad came through… Read more
I hope you are all doing well out there. I know it’s been a pretty challenging week for everyone. My family and I got to see Ida up close, as the eyewall passed about 10 miles east of us. Hours of hurricane-force winds take the fun out of everything, right? We were blessed to come through safely and without any serious damages. I pray the same is true for all of you. I know the people who were 10 miles on the OTHER side of the eyewall had it much worse. Read more
When I was in high school, I went on a school field trip. I grew up in a small town and went to a small Catholic school, so anytime we got to get on a bus and go somewhere OTHER than school was a pretty huge deal. On this particular day, we boarded a bus very early in the morning and went to the Big City, all the way to New Orleans to see the brand-new Superdome! Read more
When I was a teenager, I basically lived in the water. Between the huge municipal pool a few blocks from my home and friends’ camps along Bayou Teche, I was pretty much always wet. My dad loved the water, and he taught us to ski, swim, dive, you name it. Read more
In the past 11 years, I’ve given more than 1,400 public presentations on healthcare costs, the ACA, how Washington, D.C., manages your healthcare, and how health insurance changes in response. Some of those speeches and compliance workshops don’t really stick with me. A few of them really do. Read more
