As the future of healthcare lingers in a national debate, Crowne Consulting Group, Inc.delivers achievable ways for employers to decrease medical expenses while enhancing care for employees.
Archive for July, 2017
Crowne Consulting Group
Monday, July 31st, 2017Amazon Launches Secret Healthcare Team?
Saturday, July 29th, 2017How to Determine if Your Company [or Client] is Overpaying for Rx
Friday, July 28th, 2017McCain Kills Repeal
Friday, July 28th, 2017The Republican party is split. The Democrats are unified. This is a perfect case where “You don’t interfere when your opponent is committing suicide.”
Surgeons Excited About Slug Slime
Friday, July 28th, 2017The European slug is average in every way: slimy, brownish, shorter than a credit card. But Arion subfuscus has a minor superpower………………
Adam Ruins Everything
Friday, July 28th, 2017Leap Of Faith: Will Health Care Ministries Cover Your Costs?
Friday, July 28th, 2017Health care ministries are essentially cost-sharing programs. Members’ monthly fees are applied directly to other members’ medical bills, no matter where they live in the U.S.
News Reporters Obtain Sensitive, Closely Held Health Care Industry Secrets
Thursday, July 27th, 2017
UHC Sales Rep. Reacting To News
FOX 8 has obtained a document – among the most sensitive in the healthcare industry……….A local provider sent us a spreadsheet that shows his businesses’ negotiated rates with three insurance companies, Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare and Humana………………
Medical Travel Today Spotlights Asserta Health
Wednesday, July 26th, 2017Facilitating cash pay arrangements for self-funded employers and health plans, achieving significant savings in partnership with medical care givers………………..
TRS Marketing Opportunity Addresses Melting Raspa
Wednesday, July 26th, 2017TRS Health Programs Imploding Faster Than A Melting Raspa
The Texas Teachers Retirement System health plan changes have been announced for January 1, 2018 and they are not impressive…………………TRS Participants are beginning to picket on the State Capital steps in Austin.
Surprise! Out-of-Network Billing for Emergency Care in the United States
Monday, July 24th, 2017Out-of-network billing allows physicians to significantly increase their payment rates relative to what they would be paid for treating in-network patients…………...
AmericanRisk
Monday, July 24th, 2017Medical stop loss doesn’t have to be a boiler plate, off the shelf, cookie cutter product. It needs to be innovative and compelling.
Flabbergasted
Monday, July 24th, 2017More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette
Monday, July 24th, 2017Swamp Watch: Health Insurance Companies
Monday, July 24th, 2017HHC Group’s Bulldogs Will Bark When Providers Balk
Monday, July 24th, 2017More and more employers with self-funded health plans are turning to reference-based pricing to reduce their overall spend. They like the deep savings, and they appreciate the price predictability regardless of which provider the plan member uses.
Starmark Embarks On Reference Based Pricing Strategies For Small Groups
Sunday, July 23rd, 2017Designed specifically to address rising healthcare costs for employers with 5 to 99 employees, Healthy Choices plan designs generally calculate reimbursement amounts for healthcare services using reference-based pricing. This approach results in a reasonable fee, which is a multiple of Medicare’s reimbursement rate…………….
Mike Dendy Opines – How To Make Commercial Health Insurance Reasonable
Sunday, July 23rd, 2017Mike Dendy
The health insurance industry is a cartel and cartels have to be broken because by definition they can’t be fixed………………………
Introducing….The Point by Apex Benefits
Saturday, July 22nd, 2017Apex Benefits, an Indianapolis-based benefits consulting firm, develops innovative strategies and programs to provide employers unique, cost-savings health benefits programs…………
Richard Sutton
Friday, July 21st, 2017I’m very fortunate to be able to collaborate with a group of true reformers from around the country. We’re committed to transforming our current system of inefficiencies into an efficient system where primary care is empowered, quality and outcomes are measured, and the price tag for services is greatly reduced – Richard Sutton
America’s Healthcare Secret Pricing Scandal Exposed
Thursday, July 20th, 2017Insurance companies create vast networks, referred to as PPOs (Preferred Provider Organizations). The only thing that is preferred is the deal the insurance company cuts itself. About a full one third of the total medical spend by an employer can be eliminated by removing in-network pricing variation for commodity care alone.
Employers need to realize that when they pay for PPO access, they are paying to access a network designed to maximize the insurance company’s revenue – not to save the employer money on medical care.
Trump Signs Executive Order – Medicare For All
Tuesday, July 18th, 2017TPA Loses Lawsuit Against Private Citizen
Monday, July 17th, 2017Murry B. Cohen, Appellate Lawyer
Gloria Hicks, v. Group & Pension Administrators, Inc., 13–14–00607–CV, (Tex. App. 2015). Reversing District Court and holding that a citizen’s email to school board trustees urging the board not to contract with plaintiff concerned a matter of public importance, was not commercial speech, and defendant was protected from suit by the Texas Anti-SLAPP statute.
Witch Doctors & Palm Readers
Sunday, July 16th, 2017Managed Care Executive
We just can’t think anything other than they are as stupid as stupid gets…….……
Political Subdivisions – Chasing Windmills Can Be Expensive
Sunday, July 16th, 2017The problem facing political subdivisions in seeking competitive bids are many. Politics almost always plays a pivotal role in the process and oftentimes encompasses a mixture of ignorance, money, clan loyalties, and employment.
Replacing Wrap Networks For Something Better
Saturday, July 15th, 2017Unwrap Me Please!
With Phia Unwrapped, The Phia Group replaces wrap network access and modifies non-network payment methodologies, securing payable amounts that are unbeatably low, based upon fair market parameters.
Lily Livered Republicans Cower in Trenches While Democrats Rule Congress
Thursday, July 13th, 2017Republicans are going to fund Obamacare subsidies that the Democrats forgot to fund?
It will be voter payback time in 2018 – Lily Livered, Yellow Bellied Cowering Republican elites will be targeted for punishment……….Too many lies for too many years will impact the 2018 mid term elections.
The Democrats are smart. They have learned “Never interfere when your opponent is committing suicide”
The Ultimate Secret In Controlling Health Care Costs
Wednesday, July 12th, 2017Joe’s choice of beer is a good example of his philosophy. He knows that in order for beer vendors to stay in business they must agree to sell based upon the price Joe and others are prepared to pay……………
Mike Dendy – Innovator & Market Leader
Wednesday, July 12th, 2017Mike Dendy, MBA/MHA, vice chairman & CEO, Advanced Medical Pricing Solutions (AMPS) is certainly a market leader and really “gets it”…………..…..Laura Carabello
In 2013 I wrote “Xerox, Eastman Kodak And Cost Plus Insurance” which predicted the inevitable rise of the Mike Dendy’s of the world.(See article at end of this blog entry).
In the article I wrote: “The challenge facing successful business ventures is to understand the necessity to continuously respond to market forces in a proactive manner since competition will certainly become a factor to consider at some point. To ignore this basic business premise by remaining complacent is business suicide……………..pioneering, successful business endeavors that fail to react quickly and appropriately to market threats end up losing market dominance……………….”
And then, as predicted, (a) Mike Dendy gobsmacked the market with a set of fresh eyes. His company, AMPS, has since become the national leader in Reference Based Pricing strategies, experiencing phenomenal market growth.
“Companies must work constantly to eliminate any cost factor that does not add value to a business process” – Mike Dendy
Texas Supreme Court Disputes Reach of Obergefell in Employee Benefits Case
Monday, July 10th, 2017Texas Supreme Court has ruled state governments do not necessarily have to extend marital benefits to same-sex married couples………………
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, Plaintiffs, v. THE CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG HOSPITAL AUTHORITY d/b/a CAROLINAS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM, Defendant.
Monday, July 10th, 2017This case involves the relationship between hospital system and insurance company, and how that relationship affects everyday patients and consumers……..
RiskManagers.us Business Statement
Saturday, July 8th, 2017The shared vision of RiskManagers.us and clients who retain our services is to establish and maintain a comprehensive employee health and welfare plan, identify cost areas that may be improved without cost shifting to any significant degree, and ensure a superior and sustained partnership with a claim administrator responsive to members needs on a level consistent with prudent business practices.
Plan costs, in all areas including fixed expenses and claims are open for review on a continuing basis. Cost effective plan administration and equitable benefit payment to providers are paramount to fulfilling our mutual fiduciary duties. As we proactively monitor and manage an entire benefit program we are open to any suggestions members may make or the dynamic health benefit market may warrant in order to accomplish these goals.
Duty of loyalty to our clients, transparency and accountability are essential to the foundation of our services. To that end, we expect our clients to realize a substantial savings based upon the services that we will deliver.
2017 RiskManagers.us All Rights Reserved
Email: RiskManager@RiskManagers.us
Selecting a Third Party Administrator
Saturday, July 8th, 2017By William Rusteberg
Selection of a third party administrator (TPA) is crucial to the success of a self-funded plan. Criteria usually revolve around several factors including compatibility. Corporate philosophies of the employer and TPA should harmonize.
Equifax Reaches Agreement To Acquire ID Watchdog
Friday, July 7th, 2017Retired Teachers Face Huge Health Care Cost Increases
Thursday, July 6th, 2017The average premium for a high-deductible health plan for a retired teacher under 65 with no beneficiaries could rise from $1,300 to $9,550 in 2018, under the legislature’s fix…..
11-Questions to ask your Group Insurance Company or Third Party Administrator
Thursday, July 6th, 2017
Having the right claim payer for your company’s healthcare program(s) will make a positive impact to your bottom line and employee productivity……………..
The Hospital Industry Is A Big Game Of Monopoly Right Now
Tuesday, July 4th, 2017The hospital industry is participating in a massive flea market, with large chains buying and selling hospitals like Pokémon cards or Monopoly properties.
Making A Hospital More Efficient?
Tuesday, July 4th, 2017Prime Healthcare Foundation has a record of purchasing distressed hospitals and making them profitable…………………….
Texas Association of School Boards Admits Security Breach – Members At Risk
Tuesday, July 4th, 2017MD Anderson Continues To Downsize – Victim of Narrow Networks?
Monday, July 3rd, 2017Last August, the center reported a 77 percent drop in its adjusted income over a 10-month span, then recorded an operating loss of more than $111 million for September through November 2016. In response, MD Anderson shared plans to eliminate roughly 1,000 jobs from its 20,000 and it also called of its collaboration with IBM Watson, which was projected to cost more than $62 million.
Guess What? There Are No Cuts in Medicaid
Monday, July 3rd, 2017Nobody is proposing to cut Medicaid. Republicans are merely proposing to limit annual spending increases…………….
MDLIVE
Monday, July 3rd, 2017Founded in 2009, MDLIVE is a leading telehealth provider of online and on-demand healthcare delivery services and software that benefit patients, hospitals, employers, payers, physician practice groups and accountable care organizations.