The following article appeared in the Laredo Morning Times almost a year ago. What has the county done since to address rising health care costs? From our vantage point, essentially nothing…………………

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Bernie & The Elephant In The Room

“If every major country on earth can guarantee health care to all, and achieve better health outcomes, while spending substantially less per capita than we do, it is absurd for anyone to suggest that the United States cannot do the same” – Bernie

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   THE COST IS TO DAMN HIGH!

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed significant cuts to the payment hospitals receive for care they provide to Medicare patients…………………

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Medicare is running out of other people’s money, and those other people happen to be our children……

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The CEOs featured on this list have overcome significant challenges operating rural community and critical access hospitals to lead sustainable and thriving organizations……………….

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Independent primary care providers donate over $10,000 to buy $1,474,987.25 in unpaid medical bills………………………….

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Hello again everyone. I’m writing you all once again, but this time to share two radio appearances I made last weekend.

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Founded by CEO Gary Becker, a health insurance and risk management consultant for more than 30 years, ScriptSourcing works with employers to rein in the costs of Rx spending through a coordinated, seamless approach involving several key programs.

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Since 2015, some El Paso school district employees and lawmakers have been asking the state to let them leave the program…………………………….

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Go Away, I’ve Never Heard of Them!

What must we do when a patient presents an insurance card that lists no insurance company and no PPO network? We must reject them, the bible says so!

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Teachers pay 100% of their health insurance, not their employers. How? Lower pay so the difference can be generously paid by the employer……………………………

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Do hospitals lose money on Medicare? Google that and see all the articles that claim so and the few that say not. So what is the truth? Here is one expert’s view (which we share by the way)………….

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Beware what you put on social media – you may be sued………………..

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     William O. Haff

After more than three years in limbo, William O. Haff has finally learned his fate.

Haff has plead guilty to accepting bribes to steer his consulting clients to broker The Mullen Group. Sam Mullen of The Mullen Group has been given a prison sentence related to the scheme.

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Americans may soon be able to get cholesterol-lowering medications and other widely used prescription drugs without seeing a doctor, a first step in what could amount to sweeping changes to how patients access treatments for chronic conditions…………….

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$25,308 Emergency Room Visit

Hospital sued for egregious pricing…………hospital responds by waiving all charges………Judge dismisses lawsuit…………Plaintiff appeals and wants to continue the lawsuit………….Appellate court agrees……..lawsuit continues……………..What is reasonable value of the treatment? Stay tuned……..

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The Reference Based Pricing movement is unstoppable. More vendors are entering the arena, moving away from managed care networks. HealthSmart is the newest entrant…………….

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William O. Haff

After more than three years in limbo, William O. Haff will learn his fate today before a Federal Judge.

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As part of its broad suite of cost-containment services, HHC Group provides Medical Necessity (Bill) Reviews (MNRs) for Group Health, Auto and Workers Comp claims. Our Board certified physician specialists review medical records and billed codes to ascertain whether the services and supplies are appropriate and essential. They base their determinations on CMS and other nationally published and recognized guidelines (FDA, AMA, MCG, Cancer Institute, etc.). We do MNRs for all types of claims; prospective, post-service/prepayment and post-payment.

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David Belk is at it again. Someone please send David a Schuessler Stick ( The Schuessler Stick™)

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The law of supply and demand doesn’t apply to health care. Lower demand means higher cost.

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I’m talking perception vs. reality on our next Expert Session, 7/17. The Pharma industry lobbies for big box PBMs and if you think you’re in good hands, consider this your wake up call…………….

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This one (lawsuit) appears to be all about outlier provisions, and what happens when a really high dollar claim hits a plan………………………………..

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Paychex ranks as one of the fastest-growing firms in the nation…………………….

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“And the verdict is…………….”

This case is instructive for employers who use reference pricing.  It is a good reminder that employers who use reference pricing should confirm that they fall within the guidance for establishing a network and confirm that their administrators are correctly explaining the plan terms to providers who call to determine coverage.

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I’m pleased to announce the launch of Association Health Plans of America (AHPA).  AHPA will be sponsored by Job Creators Network (JCN) an Association started by Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus to assist small businesses.  JCN has partnered with Dr. Tom Price former Secretary of HHS and the primary author of the AHP regulations and legendary business and sports legend Fran Tarkenton for the development and national deployment of an AHP targeting small employers and using the new regulations to place the group(s) upon an ERISA self-funded platform.

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By Mel Schlesinger

Editor: Another interesting observation by Mel Schlesinger: Lower your health care costs by enrolling for a 3 credit hour course at your local college………………………………

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The following article is another example of a broken health care system and the lengths some take to find affordable health care…………………..

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An Illinois benefits administrator is suing the telemedicine company Teladoc for $450,000 in overcharges, claiming the company tried to restructure a refund to avoid a negative outlook on its financial statements.

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“Just talked with Pfizer CEO and @SecAzar on our drug pricing blueprint,” Trump tweeted Tuesday night after arriving in Brussels, Belgium, for the NATO summit. “Pfizer is rolling back price hikes, so American patients don’t pay more.”

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The Schuessler Stick™, introduced to the market less than one week ago, is surpassing all sales expectations. It’s rumored to be a “must have” for all the attendees of the upcoming SIIA convention in Austin, Texas. Orders are averaging 2,000 per day.

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“Pfizer & others should be ashamed that they have raised drug prices for no reason,” Trump posted on Twitter. “They are merely taking advantage of the poor & others unable to defend themselves, while at the same time giving bargain basement prices to other countries in Europe & elsewhere. We will respond!”

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Most people believe they can tell when someone is lying…………….but some can’t. For example, an insurance agent representing a BUCA tells their client they receive no other compensation other than the disclosed PEPM fee. How can one tell if this is a lie………………?

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David Belk, M.D.

Hello again everyone, I hope you all had a great 4th of July!

I’m writing you all today to give you two updates about prescription medication costs. The first update has to do with the cost of generic prescription drugs: Their prices went down last year! That’s right, down, by an average of about 12%!!

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“You don’t need an act of Congress to make a difference when it comes to employer health” – Dave Chase

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“I always say I have to carry metal rod with the mirror at the bottom of it to run under my car before crank it up” – Carl Schuessler

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Delivering comprehensive resources to the advisor community…………………….

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When things are so bad that anything different than the status quo is considered a good idea…that’s when we find out just how bad it really can get.

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How many businesses do you know want to cut their revenues in half? That’s why traditional pharmacy benefit managers don’t offer a fiduciary standard and instead opt for hidden cash flow opportunities such as rebate masking. Want to learn more? – Tyrone Squires

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Brokers who survive in the long run will adopt both strategies by aggregating best in class services on a private label basis as a single source comprehensive branded model……………………..This will enable independent brokers to effectively compete with the big boys…………………….

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The two co-founders of PillPack are set to get about $100 million each in the startup pharmacy’s sale to Amazon.com.

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PillPack is an online pharmacy that packages, organizes and delivers presorted doses of medications.

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“We launched our advocacy program in Colorado in 2017, and drafted powerful legislation, which will serve as a prototype for our efforts in other states.” – David Silverstein

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A cost plus Rx (NADAC + dispensing fee) reimbursement model makes sense…………….

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