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Generation Gap of Trump/Clinton Vote
In my post “Brexit Unleashes Generational War. Is US Next?” I discussed how the generation gap plays out in politics.
This week, people 45 and older voted for Trump 53% to 44% for Clinton. Voters under 45 pulled the lever for Clinton over Trump.
Trump appeals to older people who are proud and nostalgic, and not dependent on jobs and education.
Paying for software in healthcare
The complicated payment formulas of Medicare will become a relic of the past. Instead, doctors will receive value-based payments. This is the promise of “MACRA.”
But how do you define “Value?” Doctors will need new software to track “value” across different types of patients. For example, what is the cost of care for everyone with high blood pressure.
The need to buy new software will be a windfall for Healthcare Information Technology vendors.
How do doctors and hospitals that treat Medicare patients afford this new, complicated level of software?
Nobody knows where this money comes from… the Federal government? States?
The answer might be developed by Trump’s advisor on health care: Paula Stannard, a lawyer steeped in electronic medical records and H.I.T. Politico
Paying for Medi-Cal
You’ve heard 20 million people now get healthcare under Obamacare. 5 million of those are in California, and most of them have their care paid for by Medi-Cal (California’s name for Medicaid).
Trump said he’ll change how states are paid.
Today, states get per-person funds from the federal treasury to help pay for care.
Trump said payments will be made in block grants. This is one large payment from the treasury to California (and every other state), no matter how many people are enrolled in Medi-Cal.
What a move to Block Grants means
Block-grant payments will be smaller than today’s “per person” payments, but have more flexibility, fewer restrictions on how the money can be spent.
California doctors are already paid 2nd-lowest in the United States for Medi-Cal patients. Further cuts in funding will mean:
- California’s taxpayers pick up a larger portion of the tab for Medi-Cal
- Medi-Cal pays for fewer types of services
- Medi-Cal reduces the number of people who are enrolled, possibly by raising income thresholds, currently at $33,534 for a family of 4. NPR
Feds planned to reduce States’ Medicaid payments 35% to 49%
Under Republican’s block grant proposal of 2011, federal funding for Medicaid would fall 35 percent in the 1st 2 years. By 2030, funding would continue to decrease -49% by 2030. Bristol Press
Paying for retirement
Millennials are too busy paying off college debt. Baby boomers hit retirement age with nothing saved.
Financial advisors should understand the specific reasons why people are not prepared for retirement (LifeHealthPro).
Without payroll deductions, most working people have difficulty saving. This is the “Default Effect” applied to behavioral economics in action: people stick with what they have instead of making change. If what they have is “no plan,” they stick with that. If their employers’ default plan forces retirement savings, few will opt-out.
In the private sector, requiring a savings plan that employees can “opt-out” of has met fierce resistance from financial services firms.
Even the NYTimes is hoping the new President will make changes that help working people save for the future.
Amazon In-Home Help
Amazon is hiring full-time employees to be in-home assistants.
The job is to tidy people’s homes, do laundry, put groceries away and “assure that customers return to an errand-free home.”
Amazon will provide training, health insurance, Amazon stock and flexible schedules. Seattle Times
How Aetna keeps its marketing Agile
Agile principles can be applied to marketing:
- Name a team that includes marketing and business mangers
- Create “2 pizza teams” — small teams that can be fed with 2 pizzas
- Fast morning meetings — daily stand-up meetings (not sitting) to discuss yesterday’s results and today’s actions
- Work in 2-week sprints to test new ideas
- Go bigger with successful ideas >> HBR
What do your salespeople think of Marketing?
Ask them: On a scale of 1 to 10, how much value does Marketing bring to the sales team?
If it’s less than 7, I can help build a bridge between sales and marketing so that:
- Marketing planning and KPIs are aligned with sales results
- Sales and marketing have feedback and “ambassador” mechanisms
- The technology used by sales and marketing works in harmony
Let’s talk about what this looks like. Contact me at lisa@getgenerations.com.
This post edited Monday, Nov. 14 to include link and comments in the Bristol Press regarding Medicaid.
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