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Sunday, March 8, 2026 Business owner and friend – knowing what I do for a living – changed the conversation to his health insurance.   He asked, “Is a Level Funded Health Plan  a good deal?’    Need a little context, Pal. What are you paying and what/who does it cover?   He pulled up a copy of the last invoice on his phone; the February premium was $13,000 and listed 21 employees, split about 50/50 between single and family coverage.   I asked him if he was happy with his cur

Sunday, March 1, 2026 Some of the key drivers of health care inflation were explained in a 45-minute webinar entitled “2026 State of the Industry” earlier this week.   A few highlights.   Drug spending from 2023 to 2024 increased by 11%; 47% of that is for GPL-1 weight loss therapies that cost $11,000 - $16,000 per person per year. And the ROI for that spend? (Ya might want to sit down.) A 91% increase in the cost PMPM (Per Member Per Month); from $930 to $1,774. Most of tha

Sunday, Feb 22, 2026 There are many factors to consider when choosing a health plan. Provider networks are usually at the top of my list, but for today, let’s focus on plan design. A $5,000 deductible HSA Plan (i.e., one with no co-pays) has a monthly premium of $573; a $5,000 deductible plan with first dollar coverage for office visits and drugs (i.e., co-pays) $660. The annualized savings is $1,044 or about 13%. Interestingly, the savings is only about 4% for plans with and

Sunday, Feb 15, 2026 There were six of us at breakfast Friday morning; guys just ‘chewing the fat’ (literally and figuratively). Turns out, two of us had colonoscopies this  week!   That defies the odds, considering 40-44% of Americans (all ages) don’t even get an annual exam!   BTW, colonoscopies at a free-standing ambulatory surgical center (ASC) run about $1,600 - $3,100. Coincidentally, I have a client's EOB on my desk; his wife’s colonoscopy at a local hospital  was $6,5