A Health Plan CEO Daydreams

By MICHEL ACCAD, MD Jim was at his desk, looking weary. The last few weeks had been brutal.  Despite working twelve-hour days, he felt that he had little to show for it.  His annual board meeting was to take place the next day, and he expected it to be tense. With a replacement bill for the ACA about to be voted on, and with Trump in the White House, the situation seemed particularly precarious.  The board members had asked him to present a contingency plan, in case things in DC didn’t go well. As CEO of a major health insurance company, Jim was well aware that business as usual had become unsustainable in his line of work.  No matter what insurers had tried to do in the last few years—imposing onerous rules, setting high deductibles, pushing for government subsidies—prices had been going up and up. Premiums, of course, had had to do the same but, evidently, the limit had now been reached.  The horror stories being told at town hall meetings across the country were all too real.  People were fed up, and politicians were feeling the heat. Something needed to be done to change course, but what?  He did not have any good plan to propose to the board. Jim asked his assistant to block any non-urgent calls, indicating that he needed time alone. He leaned back into his chair, put his feet up on his desk, and tried to relax for a few moments.  He launched his Twitter App and began to scan his feed. He came a across a Twitter exchange that made him chuckle: a do...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized AHCA health reform MICHEL ACCAD repeal and replace Source Type: blogs