In the first half of 2015, more than 350 mergers & acquisitions (M&As) took place in the healthcare industry. 346 of those occurred in the first quarter alone! Not all prices were publicly disclosed, but as of the end of March, disclosed deals were valued […]
A Westchester, CA mom expected to pay about $320 in co-pays and coinsurance when she took her son to a nearby hospital for an ankle injury, because she was very careful to go to a hospital that was in her insurance network. Imagine her surprise […]
Revolving Doors, Regulatory Capture and Healthcare Reform Do you ever wonder how it is that entire industries can act against the public interest but the government agencies established to regulate them go along with it? There are countless examples of this, like BP drilling in […]
Do you think that getting healthcare is similar to buying a commodity like, say, a couch? You shop around, comparing options and costs. Cloth? Leather? Sectional? Chesterfield? And then you buy one? Does this really happen with healthcare? In my experience, no. There are lots […]
A Bangor, Maine mom recently wrote about an Emergency Room visit with her young daughter. Her little girl had injured her lip, and was screaming and bleeding. Understandably alarmed, she took her to the Emergency Room. Thankfully, it wasn’t a big deal – her child […]
Can you imagine if car insurance worked like health insurance? I’m not talking about the mandate that drivers carry auto liability insurance, or health insurance. I’m talking about how the insurance actually functions (or not) when people need it! We were recently in an auto […]
“Skin-in-the-Game” insurance is when the insured has to “share the risk” (or financially participate) in their health care claim. You’re probably thinking, “Isn’t that why I pay a monthly premium? So the insurance will pay my claims?” It used to be that way, but […]
