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Culture & Society, Current Events, Featured, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, Medicare, Politics, What's New

America Out Loud PULSE: Hacking Electronic Health Records, Medicare Dis-Advantage, and Measles with Twila Brase, RN, PHN

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From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast with Twila Brase, RN, PHN –https://www.americaoutloud.news/hacking-electronic-health-records-medicare-disadvantages-and-measles/

Hacking into electronic databases has become child’s play. Since 2018, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights tracked a 256 percent increase in large data breaches involving hacking and a 264 percent increase in ransomware. With ransomware, the database owner must fork over a ransom in order to get cannot get access.

On February 21, 2024, United Health’s Change Healthcare was hacked. Change Healthcare processes 15 billion healthcare transactions annually and touches one in every three patient records. The outage has multiple drug stores and health systems and affected billing and physician payments, electronic medical records retrieval by insurers, verification of insurance eligibility, prior authorization requests, and prescription processing. Health systems are having difficulty billing for most hospital services. Some pharmacists are charging patients the full price because they are unable to access the co-pay information. According to an estimate from a digital health risk assurance firm, First Health Advisory, the outage is costing health care providers over $100 million daily. The American Hospital Association president and CEO said, “We cannot say this more clearly — the Change Healthcare cyberattack is the most significant and consequential incident of its kind against the U.S. healthcare system in history.”

According to a March 4, 2024 Wired magazine article, one of the partners of the hackers known as AlphV or BlackCat revealed that the hackers received 350 Bitcoins in a single transaction worth $22 million. On March 3rd, someone describing themselves as an affiliate of AlphV posted to the cybercriminal underground forum RAMP that AlphV had cheated them out of their share of the Change Healthcare ransom. Change Healthcare did not confirm or deny the ransom to Wired, commenting that “we are focused on the investigation right now.”

UnitedHealth apparently is offering paltry sums to physicians who have not been reimbursed for their services or in some cases, costly cancer medications.

There is nothing more private than our personal health information. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is erasing what little privacy we had left in the era where mot doctors’ offices use electronic health records (EHRs). This brings up another issue on the horizon is something called ambient artificial intelligence. It listens to your “private” patient-doctor conversation and processes information, then writes a clinical note summarizing the visit. More than 3,400 physicians at Kaiser Permanente Medical Group of Northern California have been using this since October 2023. Some positives include the physician being more attentive to patients since they are not writing notes. The automatic transcription lessened the up to six hours a day spent on electronic medical records. The question is obvious: who controls this information and what else will it be used for?

We’ll talk about this and so much more with my guest, a nationally recognized expert in the field of medical privacy.

Bio

Twila Brase is President and Co-founder of Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF), a national patient-centered, privacy-focused, free-market policy organization established 25 years ago in Minnesota to support health care choices, individualized patient care, and medical and genetic privacy. Her efforts led to a national law requiring parental consent for research using newborn DNA.  Ms. Brase is author of the eight-time award-winning book Big Brother in the Exam Room: The Dangerous Truth About Electronic Health Records.

Ms. Brase’s “Health Freedom Minute” is heard weekdays by more than 5 million listeners across the United States. She provides testimony at state legislatures, meets with members of Congress and health care policymakers, and has been featured in major news outlets such as the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

Citizens Council for Health Freedom website: https://www.cchfreedom.org

The Wedge of Health Freedom (independent physicians) website: https://jointhewedge.com

Big Brother in the Exam Room: The Dangerous Truth About Electronic Health Records. https://www.amazon.com/Big-Brother-Exam-Room-Electronic/dp/1592987060/ref=monarch_sidesheet

Featured, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, Medicine, Politics, Socialized Medicine, What's New

America Out Loud PULSE: Wendell Potter Is the Insurance Industry’s Worst Nightmare!

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From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast with Wendell Potter – https://www.americaoutloud.news/wendell-potter-is-the-insurance-industrys-worst-nightmare/

When I was in law school, the first elective I signed up for was Insurance Law. Unfortunately for the future lawyers of America, this enlightening class had few students. The teacher began with a joke: Farmers paid a claim. The class reinforced my feeling that the insurance industry were indeed as economist Andrew Tobias called it, the Invisible Bankers.

The insurance industry is built on the fact that life is uncertain and insurance will soften the blow of life’s unexpected events. The insurance market in the United States is one of the largest in the world. In 2022, Insurance premiums amounted to $1.48 trillion. The health insurance industry alone had net earnings of $31 billion in profits in 2020. About 8 percent of Americans are uninsured, and of the insured, 65 percent have private insurance and 36 percent have government-sponsored insurance.

We have to remember that insurers are not really in the business to take care of us. They are in the business of making money. Making money is fine, but insurers should not pretend otherwise or hoodwink their customers. They have actuarial tables that project when you will die, whether you will get in an accident depending on the kind of car you have, and so on. The industry is in the business of calculating risk to maximize profits.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the new bad boy in town. Recently, a class action lawsuit was launched against UnitedHealthcare, America’s largest health insurer. The lawsuit alleged that United used an artificial intelligence algorithm to wrongfully deny coverage under Medicare Advantage health policies. The algorithm determines the amount of rehabilitation to which a beneficiary is entitled after an injury or stroke, for example. The AI program consistently overrode the physicians’ recommendations, but case managers faced termination if they veered more than 1 percent from the AI determination. The insurer continued to use the algorithm knowing that a mere 0.2 percent of rejected patients would file an appeal – that was highly likely to end in the patient’s favor.

Nothing related to denial of medical services shocks me anymore. According to a Stat investigation, a UnitedHealth official said in a company podcast, “If people go to a nursing home, how do we get them out as soon as possible?” Was this kind words wishing for good health and a speedy recovery or kicking granny to the curb to save money?

My guest and I will discuss the health insurance industry and ways to make sure that all Americans have access to quality medical care.

Websites:

Center for Health and Democracy: https://centerforhealthanddemocracy.org

Business Leaders for Health Care Transformation: https://www.blhct.org

Newsletter: Health Care un-covered, https://wendellpotter.substack.com

Bio

Wendell Potter had a long career in corporate public relations, having served as press secretary to a Tennessee gubernatorial candidate, head of advertising and PR for a large integrated health care system in East Tennessee, a partner in an Atlanta public relations firm, and a state and federal lobbyist. In 2009, he testified before the Senate panel on health care reform about what he witnessed as a former vice-president at Cigna Healthcare, recounting how health insurers make promises they have no intention of keeping, and infuse billions into public relations campaigns to advance corporate interests at the expense of those of the patients. Wendell was an investigative journalist whose articles and commentaries have appeared in many publications including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Tampa Bay Times, The Guardian, Newsweek, The Nation, Huffington Post, CNN.com, NBC.com, Democracy Journal, and healthinsurance.org. He has appeared frequently as a guest on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, PBS, and NPR. He is the author of the award winning book, Deadly Spin, An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans and Obamacare: What’s in It for Me?: What Everyone Needs to Know About the Affordable Care Act.

Featured, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, What's New

America Out Loud PULSE: Save Money on Your Skyrocketing Medical Bills with Marshall Allen

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From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast with Marshall Allen – https://www.americaoutloud.news/how-to-save-money-on-your-skyrocketing-medical-bills/

According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), health spending represents 18.3 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP). Americans whether individually, through insurance, or through the government spent $4.3 trillion ($4,255.1 billion) or $12,914 per person in 2021. Out of pocket spending was 10.2 percent or $433.2 billion. Out of pocket expenses are coinsurance, deductibles, and services not covered by insurance but do not include insurance premiums. The average person in America pays $456 per month for marketplace health insurance.  According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), in 2021, the average cost of employee health insurance premiums for family coverage was $22,221. The average annual premium for a self-only plan was $7,739. Employers paid about 80 percent of those premiums, making the true cost less transparent to the employee.

A key problem with insurance is the total ignorance of the charges until after the service is performed.  The third party payer system encourages overspending and higher prices. According to one study, employees who used a price transparency tool paid between 10 percent and 17 percent less than employees who did not have access to the service. Worse, the health insurance system often-times does not come through when you really need it.

Surveys published by the American Hospital Association in July 2023 found that some 80 percent of patients, nurses and physicians say insurer policies and practices are reducing access to medical care, driving up health care costs and increasing clinician burden and burnout. Sometimes our legislators work against us. They have limited physician owned hospitals even though data show that both commercial negotiated prices and cash prices in physician-owned hospitals were about one-third lower than their competitors across eight common services and have higher quality care.

What are we to do? GoFundMe crowdfunding has now become a method for patients to pay their bills. By one study’s calculations 200,000 requests annually were related to medical causes. This is not a permanent solution.

My guest will discuss some tools for paying less in a system that is not looking out for you.

Key websites to visit:

https://www.marshallallen.com

Newsletter – https://marshallallen.substack.com

Allen Health Academy (videos) https://www.allenhealthacademy.com

Medical Care Prices – https://www.fairhealthconsumer.org; https://www.healthcarebluebook.com/explore-home/;
https://turquoise.health;
https://healthcostlabs.com.

Bio

Marshall Allen is a journalist who has spent more than fifteen years investigating the health care industry, exposing the insidious ways the system preys on vulnerable Americans: price gouging, sloppy billing, fraud, insurance denials, unnecessary treatment and more. He is also the founder of Allen Health Academy, which produces a curriculum of short on-demand videos to equip and empower employees to navigate the health care system. He is the author of “Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win.” Mr. Allen’s work has been honored with several journalism awards, including the Harvard Kennedy School’s 2011 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and coming in as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting. Before he was in journalism, Mr. Allen spent five years in full-time ministry, including three years in Nairobi, Kenya. He has a master’s degree in Theology.

Culture & Society, Current Events, Featured, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, What's New

America Out Loud PULSE: Employer Based Health Insurance

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From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast with Matt Ohrt –https://www.americaoutloud.news/matt-ohrt-healthcare-policy-from-an-insurance-agent/

Medical care is expensive. Hospitals can cost anywhere from $1,305/day, to $4,181/day depending on the state where you live. The top reason that non-elderly adults do not have health insurance is that they cannot afford it. Worse, half of insured adults say they have trouble affording health costs. To save money on prescription drugs, 20 percent of folks either don’t fill the prescription, use over-the-counter medicines, skipped doses, or cut pills in half.

Two-thirds of Americans have private health insurance and the remainder have public health insurance. Nearly half of Americans receive health insurance through an employer. According to Aon, a business consultant, projects that the average healthcare costs for U.S. employers will increase 8.5% in 2024 to more than $15,000 per employee. Aon suggests that given the tight labor market, employers will absorb the increased cost rather than raise the employees’ contribution – that is already several thousands in premiums, deductibles, and copays. But we are asleep at the wheel. According to Forbes, employees spend 18 minutes selecting their benefits, and 42 percent wait until the last minute to enroll.

Entrepreneur Mark Cuban , the co-founder of the discount drug program, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co., “[CEOs] waste a sh-tload of money on less than quality care for their employees, and more often than not it’s their sickest and lowest paid employees that subsidize the rebates and deductibles.” Until we can move to a system where financing healthcare is not tied to the employer, employers have to take the lead in reducing costs.

Bio

Throughout his career, Matt Ohrt has served as an influential executive leader, working for companies such as Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Badger Mining (#1 Great Place to Work in America awards), and as the Vice President of HR for Merrill Steel in Schofield, WI. While at Merrill Steel in Wisconsin, he led the company on a healthcare transformation journey to implement a multitude of healthcare services at no cost to employees and their families, such as onsite clinics, a mobile clinic (converted ambulance), physical therapy, chiropractic, MRI, bundled orthopedic surgeries, and a world-class wellness program. He has received numerous awards for his healthcare innovations. In 2018 Matt founded the Healthcare Best Practice Group. He has written a book about his plan, Save Your Company, Don’t Feed the Beast – The Employer Healthcare Success Formula.

Relevant Websites:

Culture & Society, Featured, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, Medicare, Politics, What's New

America Out Loud PULSE: Long Term Care Solutions

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From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast with Stephen Moses – https://www.americaoutloud.news/living-longer-is-great-but-we-need-reforms-to-reduce-dependency-long-term-care-solutions/

People are living longer and by 2030 about one in five Americans will be aged 65 years and older. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, about 8 million people 65 and older (20 percent) reported that they had dementia or difficulty with basic daily tasks like bathing and feeding themselves. Worse yet, about 3 million of them had no assistance at all. Family or friends were their only option. But these days, family members are scattered across the country and your friends may be in as poor physical health as you are.

Kaiser Family Foundation also found that 83 percent of adults surveyed said it would be impossible or very difficult to pay $60,000 a year for an assisted living facility. The inability to afford professional help can tear families apart. As parents age, their personality may change for the worse. A professional is trained to deal with the negative psychological and physical aspects of growing old. Families may find that the only way to get help is to put their parents in a nursing home. What will they do if the parents do not want to go? Sometimes the children find that the nursing home is not too pleasant but it is the only one in the area that takes public insurance (Medicaid).

The cost of long term care can be upwards of $100,00 per year. While there can be a huge financial toll and the loss of all your savings, the emotional toll is worse. Comments in a blog from folks who are caregiving for their loved-one can be heartbreaking: “Feeling like there is no honorable way out”; “crying out of pure exhaustion and grief”; “not being able to ‘fix’ what is wrong”; “having to be close by at all times and never getting a break.” “I lost my husband [recently] and I don’t think I could handle losing her. I am here at home with her 24/7 with, as you say, no end in sight.” There has to be a better way for the elder and their family.

Many people think that Medicare will pay for long term care of your choice indefinitely. Not true. Too many people end up on Medicaid with its limited options. Planning can make it so your future is what you want it to be.

My guest will discuss the reforms to reduce dependence on Medicaid and free up private financing to fix the LTC challenge.

Bio

Steve Moses is president of the Center for Long-Term Care Reform. The center promotes universal access to top quality long-term care by encouraging private financing as an alternative to Medicaid dependency for most Americans. Previously, Mr. Moses was president of the Center for Long-Term Care Financing (1998-2005), Director of Research for LTC, Inc. (1989-98), a senior analyst for the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1987-89), a Medicaid state representative for the Health Care Financing Administration (1978-87), an HHS departmental management intern (1975-78), and a Peace Corps volunteer in Venezuela (1968-1970). He is widely recognized as an experienced expert and innovator in the field of long term care. His recent monograph on the issue is Long-Term Care: The Problem and Long Term Care: The Solution.

Current Events, Featured, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, Medicine, Politics, What's New

America Out Loud PULSE: The Impact of Social Justice and Artificial Intelligence in the Future of Medicine

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From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast with Elaina George, MD  – https://www.americaoutloud.news/the-impact-of-social-justice-and-artificial-intelligence-in-the-future-of-medicine/

After many years in medicine, I am amazed at all the new advances and that as clinicians we are in a constant state of learning. I think back to medical school and the rigorous science courses and long hours I put in to learn the skills to give great care patients.

It’s sickening that medicine is now burdened with an increase in violence — five times more than employees in all other industries. This is not just at the hands of the mentally ill. Patients are also frustrated by difficulty in getting attention due to staffing shortages and a variety of social issues. According to a JAMA study nearly 24 percent of physicians have endured “occupational distress” by verbal insults and harassment by patients and visitors.

According to a survey of medical students in 91 countries, 21 percent are considering quitting. A whopping 60 percent are worried about their current mental health. Some contributing factors include financial and academic pressures, and the worry of future shortages and burnout. In spite of the negatives, 89 percent of the students are devoted to improving patients’ lives.

Organizations are trying to improve the well-being of health care personnel starting with the medical students. The majority of medical schools have joined many universities and instituted pass-fail grading systems. Removing grades is meant to allow students to focus on studies, not grades. Additionally, the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1 (basic science) score reporting shifted from a three-digit score to a simple pass-fail.

The AMA views this licensing exam grading change as a chance to improve student well-being. However, 86.2 percent of residency program directors listed the USMLE Step 1 score as an important factor in deciding which applicants to interview. The program directors are now looking for other attributes by which to judge applicants and to look at the student more holistically. They have to rely more on letters of recommendation and personal statements.

I do believe a well-rounded person is good for communication with patients and the ability to see the patient as a whole person. But will future doctors be taught more social justice than science? After all, they can look to Chat GPT for a diagnosis.

My guest, Dr. Elaina George, and I will discuss the changing face of medicine – in education and how it is practiced in light of the social justice movement and artificial intelligence.

Dr. George’s website: http://drelainageorge.com

Living in the Solution podcast: http://drelainageorge.com/podcast-2/

Book: Big Medicine: http://drelainageorge.com/product/big-medicine/

To find an independent physician go to the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons website: https://aapsonline.org/direct-payment-cash-friendly-practices/.

Bio

Dr. Elaina George is a Board Certified Otolaryngologist (Ear, Nose, and Throat physician). She graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Biology and received her Masters degree in Medical Microbiology from Long Island University. She earned her medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Dr George completed her residency at Manhattan, Eye Ear & Throat Hospital. She is the author of Big Medicine: The Cost of Corporate Control and How Doctors and Patients Working Together Can Rebuild a Better System, a book which explores how the U.S. healthcare system has evolved and explains how patients and doctors can create a healthcare system that is based on the principles of price transparency with the power of the doctor patient relationship. She currently also has a radio show, Living in the Solution.

Doctors, Featured, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, Medicine, What's New

America Out Loud PULSE: Exploring Direct Primary Care with Dr. Kimberly Corba

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From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast with Kimberly Corba, DO – https://www.americaoutloud.news/exploring-direct-primary-care-with-dr-kimberly-corba/

Going to the doctor is a necessary inconvenience, or to some, a real pain in the neck, when we are sick. Waiting sometimes weeks for an appointment adds to the irritation.

Seeing a doctor can also be a pain in the wallet. Despite employers’ sponsoring most working Americans’ health insurance, in 2023 workers this year contributed $6,575 annually toward the cost of family premium – that’s $500 more than in 2022, with employers paying the rest.

Many large employers try to save on costs by having on-site clinics where employees can get blood tests, and basic primary care needs. These clinics have reduced the use of the emergency room and improved the overall health of the workers.  This tool is now being adopted by smaller employers. Workers can be seen at a primary care clinic located near the workplaces for free versus an outside visit that is subject to a co-pay.

A troubling issue with standard health insurance is the allegedly free annual “wellness visit.” Patients are often charged for any discussion that veers from a yes or no answer to the screening questions. Real medicine is not a check-the-box endeavor.

Here is what a survey of patients who prefer independent doctors think:

  • 78% appreciate the more personal relationship with their provider
  • 60% trust these providers more
  • 58% prefer to support locally owned businesses
  • 57% say quality of care is higher

Unfortunately, it is getting more difficult to find and independent doctor. Over the last several years many physicians have either closed their private practice and started working for a health care system.

Some physicians have taken their independent practice a step farther. They have ditched insurance and are cash-based. One such model is called Direct Primary Care. The key word is “care”. The physician’s office is dedicated to patients, not health insurers. And where the patient is not a bean counter’s data point. Under the Direct Primary Care model, physicians can maintain a small, independent practice with less time on paper (computer) work and more time with their patients. In addition to time and individual attention, patients can rest assured that their private medical information stays within the walls of the doctor’s office.

My guest tonight will discuss her Direct Primary Care practice. And we will delve into the particular relevance of a strong, private patient-physician relationship as the world devolves into more turmoil.

To find a direct primary care physician:

DPC Frontier

https://aapsonline.org/direct-payment-cash-friendly-practices/

 Bio

Dr. Kimberly Corba earned her medical degree from The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed her Rotating Internship at Allentown Osteopathic Medical Center in 1994. After completing a year of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency at Temple University Hospital, Dr. Corba and then decided to pursue Family Practice and completed her Residency in 1997 at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. After practicing in the Lehigh Valley for 15 years, Dr. Corba opened the first Direct Primary Care office in the Lehigh Valley in 2016. She still finds time to mentor medical students and volunteer in many community activities for school, youth sports, and church.

Culture & Society, Current Events, Featured, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, Politics, What's New

America Out Loud PULSE: What’s New in Healthcare Policy in Washington D.C.

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From my America Out Loud podcast with Grace-Marie Turner  – https://www.americaoutloud.news/grace-marie-turner-new-in-healthcare-policy-in-washington-dc/

A few years ago, Jimmy McMillan ran for mayor of New York with the slogan “the rent is too damn high.” We have been saying the same thing about the cost of medical care for years. Presidents change, the Congressional majorities change, but nothing truly useful gets done. Oh, you say, we had the Affordable Care Act. Some more people got a path to have health insurance policy in their file cabinet but their out-of-pocket costs remained high and the national total expenditures continued to rise.

Yes, the system is expensive and it is way too complicated. There are so many permutations and combinations of deductibles, benefits, co-pays that the average Joe or Jane would not know which insurance policy to choose. Fortunately, for many people, their employer is the person who has to deal with selecting a policy. Unfortunately, having health care tied to employment leaves you one layoff away from your doctor.

Additionally, insurers’ attempts to save money may cost the system more. They deny a more expensive medicine for a cheaper one that does not work as well and the patient stays ill longer, thus costing the system more in the long run.

And what ever happened to an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and simple things are simple? Insurers routinely do not include many preventive strategies, over-the-counter remedies and home care. Washington’s policies do not encourage us to pay directly for basic care. Paying directly allows us to get what we need, when we need it, and from whom we choose to get goods and services.

But is more federal government ruminating and intervention the answer? Doubtful. Improving the system will take looking at not only the theoretical but the practical by talking with health care professionals and patients who are doing the work and paying the bills.

My guest and I will discuss what’s going on in Washington DC. on the health care front.

Link to Galen Institute website: https://galen.org

Link to Galen Institute “Healthcare Choices 2020” solutions: https://galen.org/2020/health-care-choices-2020/

Link to Republican Study Committee “Framework for Personalized Affordable Healthcare”: https://rsc-hern.house.gov/framework-for-personalized-affordable-care?mc_cid=275db3c5ca&mc_eid=da57c10447

Bio

Grace-Marie Turner is president of the Galen Institute, a non-profit research organization focusing on achieving affordable health coverage and care for all Americans, especially the most vulnerable. She is founder of the Health Policy Consensus Group that is a place for analysts from market-oriented think tanks around the country to get together and develop policy recommendations. Ms. Turner has also have served as a member of the Advisory Board of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, as an appointee to the Medicaid Commission, and as a congressional appointee to the Long Term Care Commission.

Featured, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, Politics, What's New

America Out Loud PULSE: Alternatives to Traditional Health Insurance

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From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast with Charles Frohman –https://www.americaoutloud.news/alternatives-to-traditional-health-insurance-with-charles-frohman/

Many thought the Affordable Care Act was the answer to access to medical care.  As it turns out, the insurance premiums are still prohibitive for many consumers. In 2023, the average ACA plan costs $469 per month for a 40-year-old individual, $937 for a couple age 40, $1,214 for a 40-year-old couple with one child, and $1,491 for a 40-year-old couple with two children.

 According to Kaiser Family Foundation data, about half of U.S. adults say they have difficulty affording health care costs. About 40 percent of U.S. adults with health insurance say they have delayed or gone without medical care in the last year due to cost. About one-third of adults with health insurance worry about affording their monthly health insurance premium, and 44 percent worry about affording their deductible before health insurance kicks in. Moreover, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that roughly 6 in 10 insured adults experience problems when they use their insurance.

Everyone is talking about health care price transparency. But what does that really mean? In short, we want receiving medical services to be more like going to the grocery store. You need a bottle of milk, you see several brands, you see the prices, you decide to buy the brand of your choice based on price and quality. Not so simple, you say. This is my health. I don’t know when I’ll get sick. Let’s face it: most of us do not have major medical problems for the most of our lives.

When it comes to more expensive care, like emergency rooms and hospitalizations, it is a small percentage of patients that make up the larger expenses. Repeat visitors to the Emergency Room make up almost one third of the visits. And one quarter of all Medicare funds are spent in an enrollee’s last year of life. What does this mean? Most of us have manageable medical care costs yet the standard insurance model does not take the facts into consideration – much to the consumer’s detriment.

When all these things are considered, it is clear that s different model for paying our medical care makes sense. We are going to talk about that tonight.

Non-insurance health care model: MPB Health

https://joinmympb.com/patientempowerment/

For links for the recording, or promotion at the Out Loud site:

*The Forbes-featured upgrade from insurance – combining Sharing (that doesn’t suffer from networks like insurance), HSAs (the most tax-advantaged retirement vehicle), and a Concierge to help our newly-empowered patients shop on drug, test and specialist prices.

*The money-doubling account for those wanting help with Out of Pocket, whether dental, electives, chiro, urgent care & therapies

* NHF’s campaigns, in particular the “certification” one to open the supply of health care, the “HSA” one to make customers out of patients; the “vaxx centralization” one to oppose the WHO, the “telecom” one to oppose the Wireless Mesh; and the “homeopathy/compounding” one to protect access to consumer-preferred natural treatments

Bio

Charles Frohman is a lobbyist for the National Health Federation to restore informed consent, healer freedom, and end special interest capture of the bureaucracies. After graduating in 1988 with a Government B.A. from the College of William and Mary, he worked at the Cato Institute, and lobbied for a variety of nonprofits focusing on medical freedom, including Health Ventures for Pain Medicine Rights, Consumer Health Reform, and Natural Health. Since 1990, Mr. Frohman has helped politicians, trade associations, think tanks, nonprofits, and corporations innovate and raise their profile. Mr. Frohman is also connecting an innovative health plan with families, entrepreneurs and associations seeking empowerment of patients and healers.

Culture & Society, Current Events, Featured, Health Policy, Healthcare Reform, Medicine, Politics, What's New

America Out Loud PULSE: Health Freedom Is More Than Insurance Coverage

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From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast with Charles Frohman –https://www.americaoutloud.news/health-freedom-is-more-than-insurance-coverage/

Covid brought out the brewing distrust of the government to do what is best for the general populace, not merely their biggest donors. There are attacks on our health freedom from many directions. The Biden administration wants to limit the duration people can have less costly short term health insurance back down to 3 months. Of course, there are drawbacks, including high deductible and co-pays, and no coverage for pre-existing conditions. But that is an area for transparency. If that’s is what you want, knowing the drawbacks, you should be able to get it.

Another ridiculous push from the executive branch is continuing and worsening the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA Section 6001) limits on physician-owned hospitals. Thanks to the ACA, with a few exceptions, new physician-owned hospitals cannot be built and they are prohibited from expanding facility capacity. This is despite evidence that these hospitals provide high quality care at lower cost. According to new transparency data, both commercial negotiated prices and cash prices in physician-owned hospitals were about one-third lower than their competitors across eight common services. Let’s hope the recently-introduced Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act of 2023 which would remove the ACA’s ban on the creation and expansion of physician-owned hospitals gets some traction.

Speaking of our health, I’d like to mention our food. They say you are what you eat. With our increasing diabetes and obesity, there is emphasis on eating more healthful foods. Food not only is made from gene-altered seeds but so-called real chicken is being made in the lab. Maybe it’s just fine, but the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved the lab-chicken as safe in one year. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) gave the final stamp of approval to two companies to sell the lab-grown or “cultivated” chicken. The companies will start by selling their product to high-end restaurants. Be careful where you eat. The way so many institutions consider informed consent optional, I wonder if and how this new chicken product will be labelled.

Today my guest and I will discuss various forms of unnecessary government intervention into our overall health and some solutions rooted in freedom.

Please visit Charles’ websites: Substack, Freedom Hub show, and NHF campaigns.

Bio

Charles Frohman is a lobbyist for the National Health Federation to restore informed consent, healer freedom, and end special interest capture of the bureaucracies. After graduating in 1988 with a Government B.A. from the College of William and Mary, he landed at the Cato Institute, and lobbied for a variety of nonprofits focusing on medical freedom. , including Health Ventures for Pain Medicine Rights, Consumer Health Reform, and Natural Health. Since 1990 I have helped politicians, trade associations, think tanks, nonprofits and corporations innovate – and raise their profile. Mr. Frohman is also connecting an innovative health plan with families, entrepreneurs and associations seeking empowerment of patients and healers. advancing the NHF’s health-freedom agenda.

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