Flint Benson

Lifelong political geek. All opinions expressed are mine, but in a perfect world, should be yours too!!

[Ardis Watkins @ArdisWatkins]

NC’s population has grown 20% over the last 20 years but we have closed 22% of the prisons. Word is that another one of those prisons is about to be closed and possibly sold to a developer? Are we worried about public safety or private profit? #ncpol @SEANC

[Mark Cuban @mcuban]

The greatest problem in healthcare ? Hospitals, even market dominant hospitals, won’t walk away from the big ins companies that underpay, late pay, clawback, deny claims, waste their time in denial appeals, and require them to pay up to 8 pct of revenue to RCM consultants so they think they are getting what they are owed.

Here is the crazy part. The ins companies ARE NOT THE ONES ACTUALLY PAYING THEM on commercial plans. Employers are.

60 pct of employees get their insurance from their self insured employers. The ins carrier is just a middleman that pretends to add value.

All the clinical “value” they add, the hospital could do better, for both medical and pharmacy.

Most hospitals have no idea whether they make or lose money with their big ins contracts. They are just afraid to lose patient flow.

But. They actually know which companies their patients are coming from. They actually know or can find out, how much more the employers are paying the ins company, than what the ins company pays them (the spread, just like in pharmacy )

And to make it worse, those ins companies negotiate their rates as a discount from the “charge master “, which is like WAC in pharmacy. Just a made up list price.

Because the hospitals are afraid or too uninformed to walk away from these deals, the hospitals use the inflated charge master prices as the basis to charge uninsured , or out of network , or insured but not covered for their care, at charge master rates. Which of course the patients can’t afford. And it crushes their finances or they go without care

I’ll summarize. Employers , and their members , are paying far more than they should to companies they don’t like working with , that effectively rip off both the employer and hospital , and they could eliminate the middlemen if they went directly to to the employer.

It’s so simple. Sell your services to the employers that use your services at a price that is less than what nine companies charge for your services and you will make MORE money and employers will save a ton

And if they did this, they could dump the chargemaster and reduce the price they bill patients when they are at their most vulnerable

But they don’t want to change. And don’t get me started on how much hospitals over pay for drugs and devices because of the GPO deals they do. It’s just stupid.

Which in turn leads to the hospital being a bad actor with 340b , facilities fees and afraid of their doctors who demand they pay more for things like glue and implants so they can get vacations.

If you are a politician and reading this. Now you know why this is so fucked up and it’s not about capping rates. The insurance companies are smarter than you. They will just move the money to other places. It’s not about giving money to patients. You can’t shop for care from hospitals that are too gutless to walk away from the ins companies that distort all of healthcare economics

Go to your local hospitals , particularly those at risk of closing and ask for their profitability by carrier. Fully burdened. Ask how much they spend on RCM and consultants. In many cases they could survive if they ran like a real business and hired execs that could do the work rather than just manage consultants. They could work out contracts in their communities rather than with ins companies and benefit everyone.

The middlemen are not needed. Get rid of them

[Flint Benson @FlintBenson911]

Overheard in Legislative Office Building elevator, by a State Senator, she said “If they had a pantyhose color to match my skin tone it would be called corpse.” #LetTheSessionBegin #FrustratedFuneralDirector

[Brian H @Dukeblogger]

Coaches using the UNC vacancy to get raises...

[Flint Benson @FlintBenson911]

@PatrickWelter Does Phil Jackson have a young girlfriend??

[Mark Cuban @mcuban]

I don’t think people realize how much healthcare costs are driving big companies to fire and not hire.

It costs them $30k per family, per year for premiums and care. Most of that goes to the massive, vertically integrated insurance companies that send weekly bills that no one reviews in details. And it doesn’t include the company overhead to deal with it all. It’s usually the 2nd largest expense after payroll. Which is insane

It’s far easier to blame AI than it is to blame Healthcare costs.

Want to increase jobs, wages and improve affordability for every American ?

Break up the biggest insurance companies. Make divest non insurance companies. They don’t need thousands of subsidiaries. That’s how they game and abuse the system and increase costs for all of us.

Call your senator and tell them to support the BreakUp Big Medicine Bill by @HawleyMO and @SenWarren.

[Flint Benson @FlintBenson911]

Actually the UNC Board of Governors is probably inquiring to see if Pat Riley has a young girlfriend…. #golddigger

[Jeffrey Lichtman @JHLichtmanLaw]

@SethDavisHoops In fairness, UNC is waiting on their top choices to make up their minds. John Wooden, Red Auerbach and Phil Jackson haven’t gotten back to them yet.

[Flint Benson @FlintBenson911]

@SidneyPowell1 @NCGOP Explain how an “open primary” works with an unopposed candidate that is not even on the ballot??

[Flint Benson @FlintBenson911]

@Allenby48 @SidneyPowell1 @NCGOP Next thing you know you might confuse someone with facts. This has absolutely nothing to do with open primaries.

[Mark Cuban @mcuban]

To build on this bipartisan issue. The big insurance companies realize their PBMs are facing hard core legislative changes. Which are great. However.

The ins companies aren’t dumb. They are greedy. They are already moving charges and fees across their subsidiaries.

It starts with the insurance plan that unfortunately, your CEO (if you get it from work) made the mistake of approving , or from your MA plan

They push you into the medical care, pharmacy and specialty pharmacy , clinics, and practices they own or contract with.

Those outlets will charge you more than enough to compensate for the lack of rebates they would hold back from their GPOs

Plus they will charge you and or your companies fees that you have no idea they are charging you or why. Then they will make your company pay fast and get their rebates slow, or use Pre Auths to delay, both so they can earn interest on the premiums for as long as possible

They are too Big to Care. Make them divest.

Next class is on how Pharmacy Wholesalers are complicit in high drug prices. Hint: they are multi hundred billion dollar companies , and they buy from manufacturers at retail price. No other industry in the history of industries that I know of , so this. And it helps PBMs/ins companies benefit from higher prices.

Break them up !

[Mark Cuban @mcuban]

For any hospital that says they lose money on Medicare/caid patients, I would LOVE to see the bill of materials and direct overhead attributed to the procedures you lose money on

How much you pay for that hip implant, the anesthesia, disposables, the doctors/nurses etc, for the period of time they are working on that hip replacement. The same for any operations or procedures

It's crazy that I can't find that information ANYWHERE

Please show me how you lose money on Direct Costs at Medicare or Medicaid rates , then we can discuss the value of all the consultants , paintings , beautiful buildings , etc contribute to your inability to make money on the Medies

I even bought and went through hospital cost accounting text books and found no real numbers 😂

[Mark Cuban @mcuban]

Want another reason why healthcare costs are insane ?

Hospitals will not only charge a facility fee and other random costs BUT ALSO , if they believe the insurance company is willing to pay MORE THAN WHAT WAS ON THE PATIENT BILL, THEY WILL INCREASE THE BILL to the insurance company.

Of course the insurance company then charges the self insured employer the higher amount.

Our healthcare has become a game of who can rip off who and get away with it.

Too Big To Care - all of it.

Break em up !

[SEANC @SEANC]

SEANC’s @Sthrnbelle211 and @FlintBenson911 recap the week at the #ncga after the House gives its final approval to its budget proposal. #ncpol

[Ardis Watkins @ArdisWatkins]

We have thousands of state job vacancies because the State of NC doesn’t pay enough. So…the NC General Assembly is looking to cut even more jobs in order to give folks a whopping 2.5%. Do they think that will make the rest stay? Make it make sense #ncpol

[Ardis Watkins @ArdisWatkins]

.⁦@seanc President ⁦⁦@KMatt13⁩ is in Raleigh today lobbying hard for state employees and retirees with SEANC lobbyists ⁦@FlintBenson911⁩ and @thekid1988 #ncpol

[Ardis Watkins @ArdisWatkins]

House Bill 549 (make Auditor’s office hires political) is in House Rules today. It replaces good government with good ole boy government & kills merit hiring by replacing the best employees with the best connected employees. Vote no if you don’t like swampy government #ncpol

[Flint Benson @FlintBenson911]

@billmaher Well probably private prisons will provide inmates at minimum wage to work the factories #richgetricher.

[Flint Benson @FlintBenson911]

@KubeJ9 Try the fry calamari and get back with me on that.

[Flint Benson @FlintBenson911]

I'm really wondering where I will find such overrated and over fried seafood again. #ncpol.

[The News & Observer @newsobserver]

42nd Street Oyster Bar, one of Raleigh’s signature restaurants, will close. What we know https://t.co/x7BvUuV6Tr

[Flint Benson @FlintBenson911]

@KubeJ9 Red Lobster has never let me down like 42nd Street. The fried calamari they served me in January was so deep fried it was unidentifiable and no taste. Vic's in Raleigh would never have brought something like that out. Was hoping it had changed since I was last there but no luck