California has the largest insurance market in the nation, valued at about $259 Billion in premiums annually. CA Insurance Commissioner, Dave Jones, is the man in charge of protecting both consumers and insurers in that massive marketplace and he joins Zac to talk about the unique challenges (or as he calls them: opportunities) this creates. In a refreshingly open and wide-ranging conversation, we discuss why the state felt it was better off with its own health insurance exchange, the rising costs of premiums, why the current Affordable Care Act replacement suggestions from Republican leadership would be disastrous for CA, and why he fought vehemently against the recent mergers of Humana, Aetna, Anthem & Cigna. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any of the important upcoming episodes with healthcare attorney, Bob King, and Senator Ed Hernandez!
Healthcare Futurist, Best-Selling Author & former Hospital CEO, Josh Luke, recently wrote that “Obamacare is D.O.A.” under the new administration. That is a scary thought for millions of Americans now living with health insurance, and he recently joined Gavin & Zac to discuss. Why does he think that an initial repeal could be largely ceremonial, how does he think most people will feel the impact of a repeal in 2017 and what do the nominations of Tom Price (Health & Human Services) and Seema Verma indicate about Trump’s vision of the future of the American healthcare system? All this and more on this episode PopHealth Podcast. Make sure to subscribe so you won’t miss upcoming episodes with CA Insurance Commissioner, Dave Jones, Chair of the Senate Health Committee, Dr. Ed Hernandez, and many more during these monumental changes!
Medicare Access and CHIP Re-Authorization Act (MACRA) is a mouthful and doesn’t necessarily jump off the page as a must-read, but in reality, it is about to change the way doctors can deliver (and bill for) better patient-centered care. For example, did you know that a physician and a specialist cannot both bill for a visit on the same patient on the same day, or that a doctor couldn’t bill Medicare for time spent making phone calls to patients? Gavin & Zac are joined by Dr. Ashby Wolff, Chief Medical Officer for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Region-9, to talk about innovations like MACRA, Accountable Health Communities and Bundled Payment Programs that are shifting the way we deliver and receive healthcare.