This conversation was recorded a few months back, but revisiting it this morning highlighted how little has changed - and what has.
In this episode I talk a lot about how nobody in Washington is coming to save employers, and that they will have to save themselves - that’s still true.
ERISA is still minded by the labor committees of Congress (no ambitious health policy staffer has ever wanted a job on the labor committees). The people who oversee coverage for 160 million Americans are still pension experts or labor wage union types.
Meanwhile, out in the real world, network contracts still say the claim goes to the carrier, the carrier’s rate is the rate, and employers and doctors/hospitals can’t cut a better deal with each other directly. This is the wall between us and a real cash pay economy.
But in just a few short months, things have moved significantly on our side of the table.
Cash pay has continued getting the attention of employers, patients and social media. It’s also becoming more “doable,” one vendor and one plan at a time. My nuns are even having luck getting seen at NYU. (Read the full story on how things are going here.)
And that is the story behind the headlines.
Nothing has been fixed for us. But some of us built around it anyway, and it’s working - slowly but surely.
Full episode below.
Can you name 5 things the federal government does well other than some parts of the military?