Category: Health Insurance

It’s hard to imagine a bigger financial disruption for our state’s businesses than we are seeing right now. Between federal and state orders to stay at home because of the COVID-19 health threat and a global glut of oil happening at the same time demand is dropping, leading to VERY low oil prices, nearly every sector of Louisiana’s economy is being beaten up pretty badly.

As a business owner, especially if you have a small business (which the federal Small Business Administration defines as a business with fewer than 500 employees), what can you possibly do to take care of your employees and keep your enterprise ongoing?
Read more

As the COVID-19 outbreak and our responses continue to evolve, it is very important to us at Blue Cross that you know the resources we have available to help you make it through this crisis.

We are continuously updating our COVID-19 webpage, and posting important information on additions or changes to Blue Cross services, programs or benefits to help our members during this crisis. We also include links to the agencies in charge, like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and Louisiana Department of Health.  Please check www.bcbsla.com/covid19 out often to see the newest news from us.
Read more

The changes we’ve all faced in the past few weeks have been really stressful. It’s important to me that we keep you all on top of what we are doing at Blue Cross to make sure the healthcare system, now so vital to our continued good health outcomes here in Louisiana, is strong and has the resources it needs.

Even before COVID-19, Blue Cross was paying for around $300 million a month in healthcare services for our members here in Louisiana. And with the current emergency around COVID-19, we could do even more. Here’s a few things that we have implemented to make it easier to protect your health. Read more

In this episode of the Straight Talk podcast (23:32), Mike sits down to answer some questions from readers.

Mike takes on your tough questions, including how the Health Insurance Tax is affecting your premiums (hint: they are taking a hit, but there are other factors that can cause your rates to go up. Mike spells them out).
Read more

Let me ask you a hypothetical question. Would you rather:

1. Pay a $500 bill that you were totally expecting, or
2. Pay a $300 bill that was a total surprise?

As the person who keeps track of bills and payments due for my family, I say there is NOTHING worse than a bill you weren’t expecting. No matter how much I owe, if I know about it up front, I can plan, estimate, maneuver, borrow or do whatever I have to do to pay that bill on time.

If I get ambushed, though… Grrrrr!!!! Don’t like it. Much more stressful. Read more

“Cut the grass, son!” Yep, that’s my Dad, circa early 1970s, encouraging 11-year-old me to get off my butt and do some work, which frankly at that age I was keen to avoid. But he was home from working offshore and would be for at least a week, and it was July in Morgan City. You could almost watch the grass grow, so I wasn’t getting out of it. Read more