REVIEW: Dr. Murray Sabrin — The Finance of Healthcare (BOOK)
Dr. Murray Sabrin’s new book is a welcome relief to the typically dry horde of books belonging to the nonfiction subcategories of financial advice, leadership advice, business, and expertise. With The Finance of Healthcare: Wellness and Innovative Approaches to Employee Medical Insurance, he’s able to cut through the proverbial BS and get straight to the heart of the matter.
WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Sabrin
ABOUT DR. SABRIN: https://www.murraysabrin.com/
The approach, while not humor-laden or in any way comedic, almost reminds me of the irreverence and candor of work like Michael Lewis’, particularly his book and subsequent film adaptation of The Big Short by Adam McKay. It’s a reminder that in some ways, complex and expertise-mandated issues are not as irretrievable as they may seem for a layman. If anything, work like Sabrin’s puts others to shame — as if making them culpable whether they mean to be or not about misleading people with overly complex articulations and statements. This is particularly pertinent not to do when it’s a subject as delicate as the one Sabrin covers extensively from A to Z.
“In short, the unintended consequences of lockdowns and other policies that have caused stress, anxiety, and frustration, which led to more food and alcohol consumption than otherwise would have occurred absent the pandemic, will probably lead to greater increases in chronic illnesses in the future. The country’s medical bill will undoubtedly increase markedly if the weight gains by tens of millions of Americans cause the number of adults to succumb to type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, and other life-threatening diseases in the next several years,” he writes in a key passage, in aforementioned vein.
“This would create a great challenge to businesses that pay for traditional medical insurance to cover their employees, the self-employed who must obtain insurance coverage in the private marketplace, and the federal government, which picks up the tab for tens of millions of retirees (Medicare) and eligible low-income families under Medicaid. States pick up some of the costs of the more than $800 billion Medicaid outlays (about $1,800 per person in the United States). Retirees may also see their Part B (traditional Medicare) or Part C (Medicare Advantage) premiums increase as well. Both cover physicians’ bills, medical tests, and other non-hospital medical expenses.”
He adds, “Individual choices may account for 40 percent of premature deaths in the developed world. It is common knowledge that smoking, eating unhealthy foods, and sitting on the couch too much tend to shorten life spans. Public officials have addressed lifestyle choices and health outcomes with taxes on alcohol and tobacco products to discourage consumption and introduced information campaigns to persuade the public to discard unhealthy choices…But what about employers?…One approach employers have implemented — personalized incentives — is based on a simple proposition: what is important for employees to improve their health and maintain a life of optimal well-being? Financial incentives for weight loss and reducing A1C scores (for diabetics) by using mobile apps so employees can monitor their progress have shown success in improving employees’ well-being.
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Finance-Health-Care-Innovative-Approaches-ebook/dp/B0B9FBCFV7
Other incentives include so-called socially motivated goal setting as a member of a team or on an individual basis. These activities include weekly steps, gym attendance, and other measures to burn off calories.”
Colin Jordan
