Benet Heames

[Benet Heames @bheames]

@GasBuddyGuy @zerohedge And it can’t refill fully because the salt caverns used to store oil have been deteriorating because of the wrong water being pumped in. We have lost our ability to effectively store up to those previous levels.

[Dutch Rojas @DutchRojas]

A captive insurance company is an insurance entity created and wholly owned by the business it insures.

Large employers already use captives for property, casualty, and workers' comp. The structure is well-understood, legally tested, and tax-efficient.

Now apply that to healthcare.

If a large employer created a captive for healthcare, it would bypass the commercial insurance carrier entirely. It would contract directly with physicians and facilities. It would own its own claims data. It would set its own network terms.

The savings potential is 20% to 40% of current spend. That's not a guess. That's the spread between what employers pay carriers and what the actual cost of care delivery is.

So why don't more employers do it? Because the insurance industry, the brokerage industry, and the hospital industry are all organized around making sure they don't.

[Benet Heames @bheames]

Asked my doctor what the cash price was for his procedure in office. $750 all in. Asked if he knew what Cigna was charge or bill me since I am on an HDHP. He estimated it at $2100. I’ll pay cash…

He said their practice would make more on the cash price and that what Cigna charges me, they only get a fraction. And it would be months before they’d get payment at all.

[Thomas Yakopin @ThomasYakopin]

💡 WHY “INSURING” ROUTINE HEALTHCARE MAKES NO SENSE

Let’s look at real cash prices vs what happens when insurance gets involved 👇

🩺 Office Visit
• Cash: $60–$120
• Insured price: $180–$350

🧪 Basic Blood Work (CBC, CMP, Lipids)
• Cash: $10–$25
• Insured price: $100–$250

🩻 X-Ray
• Cash: $40–$100
• Insured price: $250–$600

🧠 MRI
• Cash: $450–$900
• Insured price: $2,000–$5,000

Same doctors. Same machines. Same care.
💥 Only difference? Insurance paperwork and middlemen.

Insurance was designed for rare, catastrophic events — not $20 lab tests or routine checkups.

👉 Insuring small care:
• Drives prices up
• Raises premiums
• Bloats deductibles
• Enriches the system — not patients

🧠 Smart healthcare =
✔ Cash pay for routine care
✔ Price transparency
✔ Insurance only for true emergencies

Insuring routine healthcare is like buying car insurance for an oil change or tire rotation. It’s foolish and drives the prices up up up…

[Benet Heames @bheames]

@DutchRojas Always follow the money - well done @DutchRojas

@IanCarrollShow @TheVinoMom may be of interest

[Forest Park Pharmacy @ForestParkPharm]

Healthcare in America has become a game of "Pass the Phone," and we’re all losing. 📞📉

In this classic skit, DGlaucomflecken and Senator Elizabeth Warren highlight the absurdity of vertical integration in our medical system.

When one conglomerate owns your doctor’s office, your insurance provider, your pharmacy, AND your pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), they aren’t just "efficient"—they’re a monopoly.

Why Your Bills Are Skyrocketing:

Zero Competition: When the same company sets the price and pays the bill, they have no incentive to lower costs.
Vertical Integration: Conglomerates control every step of the process, manipulating the system to maximize profits at the expense of patients and taxpayers.
The Runaround: Ever tried to dispute a charge only to be sent in circles? That’s by design.

Senator Warren and Senator Josh Hawley are introducing the Break Up Big Medicine Act to restore competition and lower costs for everyone.

But while we wait for legislation to catch up, you don’t have to stay stuck in the cycle. At Forest Park Pharmacy, we’ve fired the middleman. No more PBM games—just transparent pricing and direct care.

[Benet Heames @bheames]

@TrungTPhan At one point, all Americans actually agreed and honored one unspoken rule…regardless of socioeconomic status, race, age, or religion.

Be kind, rewind.

Our society began to decay when we lost that agreement.

[Sama Hoole @SamaHoole]

Doctors prescribed opioids for moderate pain and told patients they weren't addictive.

500,000 dead from overdoses later, and Purdue Pharma paid a fine smaller than their profits.

No one went to prison. The FDA approved it all.

But questioning medical advice makes you a conspiracy theorist.

[Benet Heames @bheames]

@FinanceLancelot @peruvian_bull I struggled to pay off student loans (mix of private and federal) for nearly 15 years post college. It was a ‘conditioned’ statement and belief that student loan debt is good debt…I am grateful I am not six feet under a SLAB, but the thought crossed my mind during that time.

[Financelot @FinanceLancelot]

This is messed up on so many levels @peruvian_bull

What happens when people under 35 hit 25% unemployment and stop paying their student loans?

How many retirement funds have these structured products in their portfolio?
https://t.co/InKn3gNjJv

[Benet Heames @bheames]

@ClownWorld PCU

[Benet Heames @bheames]

@RiceTVx @samtripoli I think the one with Nicholas cage

[Benet Heames @bheames]

@cooked_files Well said

[Benet Heames @bheames]

When working to get a fully insured group into a self-funded model, we constantly get declinations from stop loss carriers because there is no experience (CA groups). Without experience, stop loss and carriers use tools like Gradient or other databases that underwrite the groups and inevitably decline. We get stuck. How accurate are these databases and are the SL carriers putting too much trust in these Ai tools? Without SL protection, going self funded is not an option for smaller/sub 500 EE employers

[Benet Heames @bheames]

@BarronTNews_ If I fail to pay a car loan, the bank pays someone to repossess my car and this is enforced by police, right? So who would enforce the US default? Is there another country or police force that would come ‘reposses’ our everything? Does the Fed have a police or military force?

[Benet Heames @bheames]

Drone? Wasn’t balloons or a helicopter. Stayed in same place for 15 minutes today in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. No idea what it is.

#uaptwitter #ufo #socal #ranchocucamonga #uap

[Benet Heames @bheames]

@JennyBGoodX I like it and after reading about why it was kept out of the US, liked it even more. Big sugar does not want this to be used because it is a great replacement. Minimal spike in my blood sugar when I used it.

[Benet Heames @bheames]

@peruvian_bull Graduated in 2008 with a chunk of private student loan debt from Sallie Mae. Application process was so easy - biggest mistake of my financial life. By the time I graduated, they were well over six figures as they accrued interest at 10%+ prime while in school. Max Pain.

[Benet Heames @bheames]

@samtripoli This was a top 10 episode. Thanks @samtripoli

[Benet Heames @bheames]

@samtripoli Bring him on the pod @samtripoli he usually has some great takes on things.