TAHU Update December 2004
Next Meeting
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Brier Creek Country Club
Main Clubhouse
11:45 am, Luncheon Meeting
Please RSVP before Friday, December 10, 2004
to David Smith, at
david@beninslaw.com
GUEST SPEAKER
Robert Simes
Director of Strategic Planning and Health Information, MedCost
Topic: Health Care Cost Trends
SPONSORED BY
MedCost
 |
Golf Tournament:
Clay Garst |
Be sure to mark your calendars for TAHU's annual charity golf tournament scheduled for Monday, April 4, 2005 at Brier Creek Country Club. Please contact Clay Garst or Mike Alexander for more details. Look for further information after the first of the year on our website, www.nctahu.org
Clay Garst
Lunsford Financial Services
P.O. Box 98446
Raleigh, NC 27624
919-602-7959
CGarst@chaslunsford.com
 |
Law and Legislation:
Bill Hendrickson |
Congress came waddling back for their lame duck session and passed gigantic spending bills (including $23 million for public transportation in the Triangle), but did nothing to accomplish any much needed health legislation. But, who knows, maybe if Congress continued to do nothing, we all might be better off.
But here are some summaries of health care issues from other sources:
CATO INSTITUTE/CHRISTOPHER CONOVER OF DUKE UNIVERSITY—After reviewing 47 health care regulations, Conover found that the cumulative red tape cost society a net $169.1 BILLION!!! in 2002. These costs included $80.6 billion for overly generous settlements of medical liability and for measures taken by businesses to avoid risk. Other costs included FDA net costs of $41.6 billion to regulate pharmaceuticals and medical devices and $25.1 billion to regulate hospitals and other medical facilities, mostly spent for accreditation and licensure requirements. While some of this money is spent to protect society, many deaths are the result of waiting for drugs to be approved and Conover suggests that 22,205 deaths are induced by health care regulations.
JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE, US CONGRESS---James H. Cardon, a Professor of Economics at Brigham Young University claims that Health Savings Accounts will not produce adverse selection claimed by others. He stated that health insurance plan choices are linked more with income and other demographics than with health risks and there is no evidence of adverse selection in the health insurance market. Cardon had other reasons to support his claims, but a major point he made is that markets will determine whether HSAs or more traditional plans work better. If HSAs perform poorly, companies and employees will drop them. The appeal of using tax-preferred money to cover small medical expenses will encourage the use of HSAs.
GALEN INSTITUTE---You have heard this before in this column and from the mouths of our luncheon speakers, but it is important to be aware of the bogey number of 45,000,000 uninsured Americans. 5.7 million of these are “short term” uninsured—young people including recent college graduates and people between jobs. More that 15 million have incomes over $50,000 and could probably afford insurance while the fastest growing segment of the uninsured have family incomes in excess of $75,000. Another segment of the population includes 14 million who are uninsured, but are eligible for public programs such as Medicaid or the CHIP program administered by the states for children. When you are in conversation with those bemoaning the 45 million, be sure to set them straight with these little known facts.
NORTH CAROLINA LEGISLATURE COMMITTEE ON NATUROPATHIC LICENSURE---Naturopath treatment comes from two sources—1)graduates of four year accredited naturopathic medical schools or 2) those with degrees from mail order schools. Those with ND degrees from the accredited schools warn the public to avoid naturopaths with correspondence school diplomas. It currently is a misdemeanor to practice naturopathic medicine in North Carolina and licensing would make the practice legal for the graduates of the accredited schools and restrict the mail order naturopaths. During the testimony it was noted that BCBSNC has established “Alt Med Blue, a discount program for their customers to use alternative therapies.
HEALTH AFFAIRS---Health care spending is approximately 36 percent higher among obese adults under age 65 than for those with normal weight. No further comment necessary.
William Hendrickson
Hendrickson & Company, Inc.
2219 Lawrence Road
Hillsborough, NC 27278
919 644-8636
919 644-6433 Fax
bill2219@mindspring.com
 |
Media Relations:
Elizabeth Barnard |
Monthly meetings are the 2nd Tuesday of each month starting at 11:45 AM
The next meeting will be held on December 14th, 2004 at the Brier Creek Country Club, Main Clubhouse
Come enjoy the food, fellowship, and presentation.
| Featured Speaker: | Robert Simes, Director of Strategic Planning and Health Information, MedCost |
| Subject: | Health Care Cost Trends |
| Sponsor: | MedCost |
All members and their guests are invited to attend.
Member Lunch: $12.00
Guest Lunch: $16.00
Guaranteed seating for the luncheon meeting is by reservation only.
RSVP to: david@beninslaw.com
Elizabeth Barnard
Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
Eastowne 600 3d Floor
5901 Chapel Hill Road
Durham, NC 27702
919-765-4686
919-765-3819 Fax
elizabeth.barnard@bcbsnc.com
 |
Public Service:
Fran Richardson
|
 |
Public Service:
Nancy Gibson
|
THANKS for GIVING your generous gift in support of the Raleigh Rescue Mission at our November meeting. Fran Richardson delivered a check for $150.00 to assist in providing a Thanksgiving meal to the folks that the mission serves. There was a full complement of turkeys for the meal so our gift was used for all the “fixings”. They were truly appreciative of your generosity and we have already received a letter of acknowledgement from them.
We hope that in December you will remember your favorite charity through your personal service and/or donations. There are certainly many needs to be filled and they come to our thoughts during the holiday season.
With that thought in mind, we will not be soliciting your help until February to assist another organization.
We wish you and your families a joyous holiday season.
Frances H. Richardson
4020 Westchase Blvd., Suite 275
Raleigh, NC 27607
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 30995
Raleigh, NC 27622
919-755-3210
919-326-9868 Fax
f.richardson@nmfn.com
 |
Website:
Michele Gregory, MHP, RHU, REBC |
TAHU’s “Ghost of Christmas Past” says that you can tell a lot about what our chapter has done over the years by visiting the Board page and reading minutes from meetings beginning in 1997 AND by reading back issues of our newsletters, beginning in 1991. (Note – please check your old files to see if you can contribute any months we are missing.)
Our “Ghost of Christmas Present” keeps us up to date by listing all our members on our Member List page, and by announcing the current month’s events on our Home page.
The “Ghost of Christmas Future” is a little hazy, but every time one of the “TBA” listings is replaced by actual data on our Events page, you get a glimpse into what is coming up. We have a "Dickens" of a time getting information for this.
Our Home page is decorated for the season again - just our way of saying "Happy Holidays" to all our members. And, in keeping with the theme, we are changing our president’s first name to “Berry” until the end of the month.
Michele Gregory, MHP, RHU, REBC
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
2501 Aerial Center Drive, Suite 200
Morrisville, North Carolina 27560
919-765-4671; 800-228-6216
919-467-2823 Fax
Michele.Gregory@bcbsnc.com
Special Announcements:
Please remember that the cost of lunch for TAHU members is $12. Guest and non-member lunches are $16.
There will be a $3 charge for lost or misplaced name badges. Please remember to turn in your badge at the conclusion of each meeting.
As the success of the Triangle Association of Health Underwriters largely depends upon the benevolence of corporate contributors, we are proud to honor the following organizations for their continued support of our many programs and activities:
Diamond Sponsors
2004-2005
Pfizer Managed Care
Please extend your appreciation to the Triangle members representing these organizations and remember their generosity when placing coverages.
Triangle Association of Health Underwriters
P.O. Box 19177
Raleigh, NC 27619-9177
