Tag Archives: health care costs

Who’s Picking Up the Tab?

When a small business is sold, the total price of the business includes not only the cash paid, but any obligations assumed by the buyer on behalf of the seller. Transfer of a loan balance, accrued vacation pay for employees or … Continue Reading

Posted in Economic Trends, Exit Planning, John's Opinions, Politics and Regulation, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2014 Outlook: Are We There Yet?

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Franklin Roosevelt’s inaugural address on March 4, 1933 was an early recognition of the power of consumer confidence in bolstering our economy. In 1933 The US GDP was falling to about … Continue Reading

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Turning a Competitive Advantage into an Entitlement

The Affordable Care Act is here to stay. Although Republicans have voted to repeal Obamacare dozens of times, the “debate” over its implementation has taken on a sense of theatre. The Federal behemoth continues to chug along. Cancelled policies, the … Continue Reading

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Can Small Business Survive Federal Regulation?

It has always been tough to start a business, but as Niall Ferguson points out in his excellent article “How America Lost Its Way” in the Wall Street Journal, it’s getting tougher. According to an annual survey by the World Bank, in only … Continue Reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship, John's Opinions, Managing Employees, Politics and Regulation | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Healthcare Reform: Managing What You Measure

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) expanded health coverage to millions of people. It did little or nothing to control costs, and is just the tip of the iceberg in improving the quality of care. Think about how you select your … Continue Reading

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Health Care Costs: Is Medicine a Market?

There is an excellent article in The New Yorker comparing the production and quality control methods of the Cheesecake Factory to certain advances in “Big Medicine.”  It focuses on the savings available from large health systems through standardization and quantity purchasing. In reality, … Continue Reading

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Thinking Isn’t Doing

My friend Phil owns a mobile imaging company. His employees criss-cross the major cities in South Texas in dozens of trucks outfitted with portable X-Ray and ultrasound machines, responding to calls from nursing homes and home health providers. In th beginning, … Continue Reading

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Is It All About the Money?

If you have more than ten employees, and an outside observer (like me) asks them confidentially to say in one word what their boss cares about the most, what do you think they will answer? We’d like to think that answer … Continue Reading

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Do you understand where this is going? Three

We worked on an interesting hypothesis with a client the other day. He has 100 employees (or close enough to make the math easy.) The company pays for 75% of each employee’s health insurance. Additional coverage for the family is at … Continue Reading

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Do you understand where this is going? One

One of my TAB Board meetings has an insurance broker who followed the reform debate closely. The discussion was illuminating. It is one of many that I’ve had in the last three months, and it’s all beginning to come together. … Continue Reading

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Just sign here

In January of 2000 I was asked what I thought the first big change would be in the new century. I said (and it’s been documented elsewhere) that we would have a national health care plan by 2011. It wasn’t … Continue Reading

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Is America the next Rome?

James Fallows has written a massive, thought-provoking  article about America’s current social, political and economic issues in The Atlantic. Like so many of us that have spent time overseas, he looked at the US with fresh eyes on his return.In Fallows’ case, … Continue Reading

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