Molly Mulebriar, margarita in hand and a bottle of scotch in the other, dropped by our office early this morning to begin New Year’s Celebration festivities. (She is the former Miss Texas 1984 Tequila Chugging Champion and to this day manages to maintain a competitive edge in adult beverage competitions).
Archive for December, 2016
Year End House Cleaning Discovery Finds Rare Antique Hospital Agreement
Saturday, December 31st, 2016Hospital Contracts Made Simple – 120% Method
Saturday, December 31st, 2016 Sam Crafting, M.D.
Sam Crafting 120 Hospital Contract For RiskManagers.us
Plan Sponsors, are you trying to direct contract with your local hospital? Dr. Crafting’s boiler plate Hospital Agreement may be just what you need….………..
Classical Conditioning in Health Care Financing
Saturday, December 31st, 2016 Ivan Pavlov
By Molly Mulebriar
If hospital contracts include an annual escalator clause, whey then do these contracts need to be renegotiated every two or three years? An average escalator clause assures an annual increase in reimbursement from 4-6% or more. Isn’t that enough?
BCBS To Lay Off 70% of IT Staff & Outsource to India
Friday, December 30th, 2016Blue Cross & Blue Shield is planning to lay off 70 percent of its IT infrastructure staff and offshore the jobs to India…………
BCBSTX Agrees To Pay Higher Health Care Costs? If So, Will BCBS Insureds Pay Higher Premiums?
Friday, December 30th, 2016 And The Answer Is……..
Large hospital system had requested a 5 percent increase worth millions of dollars. Did BCBSTX agree to pay more on behalf of their insureds and will BCBSTX pass the cost increase on to consumers in the form of higher premiums?
Wanna Buy A Hospital? Feds Cut Funding For Financially Strapped Hospital
Friday, December 30th, 2016The penalty comes after news of a deal between Mission Regional and Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance to save the financially-strapped Mission Regional, a non-profit, and help it expand as a short-term secondary health facility.
Is Your PHI Safe in Government Hands?
Thursday, December 29th, 2016Nevada state government’s website was leaking thousands of social security numbers, and highly sensitive personal data. They said it was a hack. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t.”
Klepper/Sutton Outline High-Performance Healthcare Solutions
Thursday, December 29th, 2016Thinking Outside The Box
“Healthcare has become defined by rampant excess, so effective benefit managers will, of necessity, seek unconventional solutions.”
Cash Cows & Smoke Filled Rooms
Saturday, December 24th, 2016“A national health care conspiracy between medical care givers and third party intermediaries has created a lucrative cash cow crafted through secretive collaborative contracts of adhesion in smoke filled rooms.” – Molly Mulebriar
Friday, December 23rd, 2016
RiskManagers.us is a specialty company in the benefits market that, while not an insurance company, works directly with health entities, medical providers, and businesses to identify and develop cost effective benefits packages, emphasizing transparency and fairness in direct reimbursement compensation methods.
If You Could Go To The Doctor While At Work, Would You?
Friday, December 23rd, 2016Employers are becoming more involved with the well-being of their employees—not just because it can reduce sick days but also because it can improve employee morale and help reduce medical spend.
School District Restrained From Firing Insurance Agent
Thursday, December 22nd, 2016Two South Texas insurance agents have spent 10 years fighting over a lucrative insurance contract allegedly worth millions of dollars in agent commissions……….
Courageous Julie Broderick
Wednesday, December 21st, 2016Julie Broderick had 15 years of experience as a securities regulator, and a propensity for speaking her mind before joining Prudential Financial Inc. as an investigative supervisor in 2012.
Higginbotham Expands with Insurance Associates of the Southwest Merger
Wednesday, December 21st, 2016This is the sixth merger Higginbotham has completed in 2016 as part of a growth initiative across Texas whereby the firm partners with brokers with strong local reputations……………….
Prime Healthcare – Making Money Through Fraud?
Wednesday, December 21st, 2016“Feds say Prime Healthcare has figured out how to make money from hospitals — through fraud.”
HCA Holdings: A Must Read Company Overview
Tuesday, December 20th, 2016Around 30% of the total admissions are reimbursed by managed care programs. These contracts are negotiated for terms between one and three years, and the rates are increased by around 4% to 6% every year.
Managed care strategy
With managed care forming a substantial portion of total revenues, entering contracts with favorable payment rates becomes an essential HCA business strategy. HCA Holdings negotiated for 80% of its total managed care plans in 2015, 40% in 2016, and 20% in 2017.
Why We Can’t Control Medical Costs
Monday, December 19th, 2016“There was a universal code of belief everywhere I worked before I came to the USA that we do not torture patients in the off-chance they might live a few extra weeks or months………..but even today, 33 years after I arrived, I am still shocked at the wastefulness of physicians with the Health Care dollar.”
Catholic Health Initiatives Pulls Out of Insurance Business
Monday, December 19th, 2016“It’s tough in the health plan business. You lose money. You make mistakes. You plow forward. It takes cash.”
Blue Light Special – A $49 Colonoscopy
Monday, December 19th, 2016$49 Base Price for a colonoscopy is outstanding! Plus the patient gets to choose among several optional services to enhance their colonoscopy experience…………………….
WebTPA
Monday, December 19th, 2016“We save our customers money. Most of our clients costs are below trend or flat ………….our average client covers more than 3,000 members…………”
Broccoli Mandate To Be Overturned – Guaranteed Access Assured
Sunday, December 18th, 2016All Americans are currently required to purchase broccoli whether they like it or not. Those who can’t afford it get it free, and those who can only semi-afford it get subsidies (i.e, welfare). Rich bastards have to pay the full cost.
Broccoli prices have skyrocketed as a result of The Affordable Broccoli Act. Quality has eroded with many Americans stuck with purchasing rotten, hardly edible broccoli.
Employers must provide broccoli to all full time employees, or face punishing fines or imprisonment, or both.
With a new administration about to take office, The Affordable Broccoli Act is at risk of being overturned. Broccoli farmers are outraged. Employers are jubilant.
But, never fear, House and Senate Broccoli lovers vow to keep voluntary access to affordable broccoli available to every American.
MD Anderson Suffers Financial Woes – Are Narrow Networks To Blame?
Friday, December 16th, 2016Will turning holiday parties into potluck events save MD Anderson from financial ruin? I don’t think cost shifting to employees is a viable solution.
The Federalization of Health Insurance: ACA Repeal & Replace Implications
Wednesday, December 14th, 2016 Dr. Alan Preston
“When I evaluate the effectiveness of legislation, I first look to see if it will accomplish its objective. Whether I like the objective or not is a separate issue. The name of the legislation is telling and provides a clue to the objective. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”
Managed Care Contracts & Trend Factors
Tuesday, December 13th, 2016Plan Sponsor Dilemma
Tuesday, December 13th, 2016Texas Teachers Migrate To High Deductible Plan
Sunday, December 11th, 2016Many Texas educators are insured through the Texas TRS ActiveCare health plan. Projecting a $54 million deficit for the upcoming FY 2017, TRS trustees realized plan benefits and premiums changes were necessary. More and more plan participants are selecting the high-deductible plan option with lowest costs and lowest benefits………………
A Better Way to Pay for Healthcare
Saturday, December 10th, 2016Executives, Physicians & Hospital Indicted In Kickback Scheme
Saturday, December 10th, 2016Physicians, founders, executives and investors of physician-owned Forest Park Medical Center in Dallas have been charged in a federal indictment for their alleged involvement in a bribe and kickback scheme, according to the Department of Justice.
Tx. Senator Proposes Bill To Protect Hospitals Against Themselves
Saturday, December 10th, 2016Out of control hospital administrator restrained by staff
“Texas can’t tolerate poor quality care, poor leadership, and individuals who defraud people who are vulnerable and sick.”
Texas Free Market Surgery Launches Innovative Bundled Payment System
Wednesday, December 7th, 2016Innovative bundled payment system is first of its kind in the state of Texas, currently offers more than 200 surgeries…………….
Small to Midsized Employers are Now Contracting Directly with Healthcare Providers
Tuesday, December 6th, 2016Aetna Fights To Save Humana Merger
Tuesday, December 6th, 2016In his opening statement Monday, DOJ lawyer Craig Conrath, a top lawyer in the department’s Antitrust Division, said Aetna’s retreat from ACA exchanges was an attempt to evade antitrust scrutiny “by the equivalent of closing up shop.”
Health City Places Ad In Wall Street Journal – Publishes Health Care Fees
Tuesday, December 6th, 2016Webinar: Strategies To Achieve Better Outcomes Using Bundled Pricing
Tuesday, December 6th, 2016Complimentary Live Webinar:
Strategies to Achieve Better Outcomes Using Bundled Pricing
Organized by:
2016 Medical Stop-Loss Premium Survey
Sunday, December 4th, 2016Klepper Partners With Prominent Indianapolis Broker Richard Sutton
Saturday, December 3rd, 2016High School Students Recreate $110,000 Drug for $20
Saturday, December 3rd, 2016For $20, a group of high school students has created 3.7 grams of an active ingredient used in the medicine Daraprim, which would sell in the United States for between $35,000 and $110,000.