Inside Healthcare from Fulcrum Strategies

This week on the FLATLINING Podcast, Matthew and Ron discuss recent payor headlines. First, we all know the insurance companies make a lot of money and now that their 2022 Quarter 2 earnings reports are out, we take a look at how it affects providers and patients and what is says about the economy. In this episode we discuss Elevance (formerly Anthem) ($ELV ), UnitedHealthcare ($UNH ), Cigna ($CI...

On the FLATLINING Podcast this week, Matthew and Ron take a look at the newest data on opinions about COVID-19 vaccination for young children. More than four in ten parents say they will “definitely not” vaccinate their young child and nearly three in ten say they won’t be able to get the vaccine for their child from a place they trust. We break down the numbers. Medicare drug price negotiation co...

This week on the FLATLINING Podcast, Matthew and Ron discuss the recent proposal for the 2023 Medicare fee schedule. Analysis of that proposal shows a 4.4% cut across the board for doctors in all specialties, but there is a good reason not to worry. Plus, with the “public option” going nowhere in Washington, some states have taken matters into their own hands. One of those states is Colorado and t...

In this FLATLINING Podcast short, Matthew discusses what healthcare topics will be the main drivers in the 2022 midterms. As Republicans plan to talk about COVID-19 restrictions (still), Democrats seem ready to move on and talk about proposals to fix rising healthcare costs for millions of Americans. Let us know what you think in the comments below, email us at flatlining@substack.com , or tweet M...

This week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released their initial changes to the Medicare fee schedule for 2023. Analysis shows that this change could cut revenue from Medicare patients by 4.4%. For some specialties and hospitals, that is hundreds of thousands of dollars. Truth be told, however, by the time 2023 comes around the cut will probably not be that steep; no member of Cong...

This week on the FLATLINING Podcast, Matthew and Ron dive into some of the top healthcare headlines for this week. First, a new report shows that as many as 85% of hospitals are non-compliant with an Affordable Care Act rule that requires them to make their prices public. Then, a new analysis of Health Savings Accounts shows that they are becoming less and less effective. Is there a way to still m...

This week on the FLATLINING Podcast, Matthew and Ron take a look at the current state of the economy. If you thought that just because COVID-19 cases might be winding down that we are out of this thing, think again. The economic problems we are facing now are bigger than one president or election and can be traced back to problems caused by the virus. Matthew and Ron also take a look at the questi...

Earlier this year, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the Medicare for All Act of 2022. It is obvious that this bill is not going to get passed this year, however, that didn’t stop Ron and Matthew from taking a look at what some of the outcomes of the bill might be. Medicare for All is popular among young progressives and even among some physician and nurses’ groups. ' How would the Medicare...

This week on the FLATLINING Podcast, Ron and Matthew discuss private equity money becoming more and more involved in American healthcare. On one hand, it’s a way for struggling practices to “bailout” without selling their practice to a hospital, but on the other, it may turn healthcare’s focus away from patients and more towards money. Are their private equity benefits for doctors? What about bene...

Progressive American politicians frequently point to Canada’s Medicare system as a wonderful alternative to what we have in the United States. In that system, the federal government allots an amount of money to each province for them to handle healthcare individually. How Ontario handles that task was a hot topic at the premier debate a few weeks ago. In this episode of the FLATLINING Podcast, Mat...

Health insurance, at least in the United States, is one of the most difficult products to make an informed investment in and many Americans do not know what it is they are buying. Many don’t understand the deductible, the out-of-pocket maximum, and what is co-insurance anyway? Ron and Matthew break all of that down this week in this remedial discussion on the basics of US health insurance. Let us...

This week, we present another FLATLINING Podcast Short. In this short, Ron discusses the implications of another potential policy proposal coming up in this year’s midterms and the 2024 presidential election: Medicare at 50. In principle, the concept seems to make sense; it is a form of the public option. Can providers and healthcare delivery systems handle and, more importantly, afford this chang...

This week on the podcast, Matthew and Ron dive into some of the healthcare headlines over the past few weeks. They discuss quality and access to care for a closing/downsizing Chicagoland hospital, they take a look at where Anthem gets its money from, they wonder why the IG report on Medicare Advantage plans denying medically necessary care wasn’t a bigger news story, and they pick apart an opinion...

This week on the FLATLINING Podcast, Matthew and Ron discuss the nature of Big Insurance. You hear about Big Tech, Big Pharma, and, especially if it is an election year, you probably hear about Big Insurance. How did BlueCross and BlueShield, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, and Aetna get to be as big as they are today? Are their sizes and profit margins driving the costs of healthcare up? What if we redi...

In this FLATLINING Podcast Short, Ron discusses how, prior to the No Surprises Act, Congress was treating doctors unfairly when it came to legislating surprise billing. Listen on   Apple Podcasts ,  Spotify , the  iHeartRadio  app,  Amazon Music ,  Google Podcasts , and  Audible . This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, vi...

This week on the podcast, Matthew and Ron discuss the two other pieces of the healthcare equation; that is affordability and quality. The New York Times said two years ago (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic) that the United States had the least effective and most expensive healthcare system in the world. Is that really true? Take a listen to hear what Ron and Matthew have to say about American health...

This week on the FLATLINING Podcast, Matthew and Ron continue their discussion on the problems with the American healthcare system. Last episode, they identified three parts of the healthcare equation: access (or universality), quality, and affordability. Matthew and Ron discuss access in this week’s episode. What does it mean for the US to have universal access or universal coverage? How has the...

This week on the FLATLINING Podcast, Matthew and Ron begin to discuss the subject of Ron’s book, Flatlining: How Healthcare is Killing the US Economy. This isn’t to say that people haven’t proposed good or creative solutions (look at Medicare for All or the Affordable Care Act), but that as it stands now, healthcare puts a huge strain on the federal budget and the budgets of millions of Americans....

This week on the FLATLINING Podcast, Matthew and Ron discuss COVID-19. Last week, the United States ticked over the two-year anniversary of COVID-19 restrictions. Matthew and Ron discuss what is the coronavirus, the strengths and weaknesses of telemedicine, who you should trust to give you information on COVID-19, and what the US will look like going forward. You can find the FLATLINING Podcast on...

In the first full episode of the FLATLINING Podcast, Matthew and Ron discuss why economics plays such an important factor in healthcare, why you need to hear about doctors and the good that they do, and a man who wanted to “save the COVID patients.” Subscribe to the FLATLINING Podcast on these platforms: The FLATLINING Podcast will be available soon on Google Podcasts. Articles mentioned in this e...

Welcome to the new FLATLINING Podcast, the podcast that will be bringing you great healthcare analysis and discussion each week. Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and to signup for our FLATLINING newsletters. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.flatlining.net This is a public episode. If you...

On the FLATLINING Podcast, Fulcrum Strategies President and CEO Ron Howrigon and writer Matthew Handley discuss the most pressing issues facing doctors and healthcare providers across the United States. Their in-depth knowledge aids their analysis on: * The No Surprises Act * Medicare for All * Political healthcare rhetoric * American attitudes towards healthcare Subscribe to the FLATLINING Podcas...