GDP Blog

Earlier today, the Senate released their version of an ACA partial replacement bill.  One of the key topics our clients are tuned into is the Employer Mandate and how it is addressed in the Senate's bill.  

In today’s U.S. political climate, information is often times not based on facts, but rather on opinions. In today's video we will outline facts necessary to cure healthcare.

I'm often asked why I am so passionate about solving the healthcare chrisis in the United States.  As we prepare to share our solutions, I hope that you will allow me the opportunity to also share with you a personal connection to the problem of healthcare that keeps me motiviated.

Growing up, our family didn’t have health insurance.  My father was the Pastor of a small church in Midland, Texas, and the congregation operated on a limited budget.  For this reason, health insurance for its staff was, unfortunately, not an option.  By the age of 12, I would require more than 10 surgeries due to a non-life threatening a medical condition.  While minor in nature, these procedures created a significant financial burden to our family.  Not realizing the reasoning at the time, I watched as my father would take jobs outside of his role at our church to be able to either obtain health insurance and/or earn enough money to pay for the treatments of my condition. 

Both of my parents were selfless like that, always putting their family first, others second and themselves last.  Growing up, we were not poor, but didn’t have a lot of money either.  I don’t recall ever going without, as a matter of fact, I always thought we must have had significant means because my brothers and I always seemed to have more than we needed or really wanted.  We were rich, but not in the monetary sense, rather in that we had two parents who first loved each other, loved us, and showed us that love often. 

Healthcare in the U.S. is broken. As congress continues to debate the ACA as well as the AHCA, our opinion is that they are focusing on the symptoms rather than the actual problem. Healthcare in the U.S. can be cured, but we must focus on the right things to do just that.

In the coming days, we'll be posting a series of videos on our proposed solutions to the challenges healthcare faces, and how all of us together can fix the system.

Recently while on a return flight home from a business meeting in California, I had the pleasure of sitting next to Dr. Henry “Hank” Foster.  Now to some, the name Henry Foster may not sound familiar, but I assure you that to many, the name means quite a lot.  On top of being a renowned OBGYN and the only black graduate from his medical class at the University of Arkansas in 1958, Mr. Foster also served as a policy advisor for the Clinton administration, and was President Bill Clinton’s nominee to be Surgeon General in 1995. 

To me, “Hank”, as he asked to be called, was my neighbor on a three hour flight who quickly became a friend.  I always look forward to the randomness of potential acquaintances to be met by happenstance on a flight – sometimes the randomness can prove to be an annoyance, but in this case, it proved to be an absolute pleasure.

Throughout the course of our brief, although in-depth, conversation, the topic of healthcare, and its current state in the U.S., came up.  When discussing not only the ACA, but also the newest version of its replacement, the AHCA, Hank said something to me that I will not soon forget.  While he claimed that his statement was an adaptation from something said by Winston Churchill, his comment with regards to healthcare in the US was this: “Americans will almost always do the right thing – so long as they’ve tried all the wrong things first”. 

Earlier today in a bi-partisan vote the US House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA) in a 217-213 vote.  With 20 Republican legislators voting against the bill, the AHCA passed by the slimmest of margins.  The bill will now go to the Senate for consideration.

As I lay awake watching the returns roll in, I thought about all the doing that would need to be undone.  On Christmas Eve, 2009, in the hours following the Senate’s passage of the ACA and the certainty that passage in the House of Representatives would follow, I remember having the same feeling, and thinking through all the ways the healthcare market and my industry would change. I put my thoughts to paper as I wrote a message to all of my clients, encouraging them to take a deep breath as the details of what had just occurred would become clearer over time.  While it is now 2016, and many of the players are different, the message is still the same – hold on, the details are always the most important part, and let’s see what plays out as the dust settles.

I know that the title for this article might sound odd, but it was an actual question posed to me recently while presenting to a prospective client.  While we make it a point to NEVER present based on any specific inadequacy of our competition, rather base our presentations on our value and merit, this question is one we often get when having a strategic discussion with our prospects. 

First, please know that I did not in this circumstance, nor do I ever speak negatively about my competition – they are not in the room to defend themselves nor do I know any specifics regarding what they may or may not know – instead, we present what we DO know and what we do with the information we have.  At our core, we are educators.  We believe that our clients should be making educated decisions rather than blindly taking a recommendation or believing something is right, just because it’s what the insurance

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