In January 2010, just a few months before healthcare reform law passed, I got a study by a national actuarial firm that measured the impact of state regulations on health insurance plan pricing. This study showed WIDE variation in the definition of an individual health insurance policy, and how plans were priced, from state to state.
Medicaid has expanded in Louisiana. In previous posts, we’ve talked a bit about what that means, but as enrollment has already eclipsed 250,000 people, this is a good time to review what is happening and what it means for our state.
Most of us have already been there. Someone very dear to you, a child, parent, brother, sister or spouse gets sick, and then really sick, and you get scared. What to do?
The candidates on the campaign trail have their opinions about how to fix the Affordable Care Act (ACA), how to make health insurance marketplaces work better and how to get everybody insured. Every policy wonk and think tank in America has weighed in on the problem. Of course, their solutions are all in alignment with their institutional biases on how healthcare OUGHT to work in America.
Editor’s Note: This is the second part of our interview with interim Blue Cross Medical Director Dr. Paul Murphree.
There is no doubt that the advancement of medical technology is a very expensive business. Research into new drugs by the 10 biggest drug companies in 2013, for example, exceeded $66 billion in brand-new spending. That’s a whole lot of money that their investors and shareholders are willing to risk for the NEXT big drug. And this level of investment has actually been growing for about 20 years straight — even more so lately, as global capital is chasing its way into the United States looking for a strong return. A really strong target for this capital is the U.S. pharmaceutical industry.
