The federal government has been tossing changes toward our industry at a rapid pace during 2021. So rapid that even I, your friendly healthcare economist who keeps up with changes for a living, sometimes struggle to do so.

So, this latest change, which is VERY powerful, has flown a bit under the radar. Read more

Over the past five years, you’ve heard me share lesson after lesson that I learned from my Dad. He passed away on Friday, July 2, very peacefully, with his family around him.

I hope you don’t mind if we take this time to memorialize him a bit. I’ll understand if it’s not your cup of tea, but I can promise you our Straight Talk approach, common-sense logic and nearly everything I’ve written I learned at his knee. If you’ve ever wondered where Straight Talk communications and common sense comes from, it was from him through me. Read more

It’s a pretty common refrain from our members, brokers and stakeholders of all stripes here at Blue Cross (and I don’t blame them):

“Mike, why do my deductibles, co-pays and coinsurance go up every single year?! It’s ridiculous!” Read more

My friends, I’ve written on many occasions this year about COVID-19 vaccines and how important they are to our economy and future as a nation. Never one to speak in weakness, I made sure to get both doses of my (Pfizer) COVID-19 vaccine as soon as I qualified. Done. Read more

Big news this week in Louisiana’s medical marijuana world!

On Tuesday, June 22, Gov. Edwards signed a bill into law that will let patients in our state’s medical cannabis program legally buy smokable marijuana from the state’s licensed marijuana dispensaries. Read more

Hello, old friend — here we are again!

Since the ACA was passed in 2010, it has endured some pretty hard-charging court challenges. We wrote extensively about this most recent court challenge (Texas v. U.S.) last year.

The One Where the ACA Goes to the Supreme Court Read more