Rarely do I watch a Zombie movie and when I do, I don’t look to get lessons in business from the movie. However, one movie did give me a lesson in business and since then it has been a conscious part of my daily work-life. If you read previous articles that I had published on LinkedIn or on my blog at http://www.joemarkland.wordpress.com , you will see a somewhat constant theme which is also the tagline to my blog titled, “Challenging Everyday Thought”. The movie, Word War Z, and its lesson have contributed to my writing. It also has also somewhat prepared me and my business for the changes Trump made to the Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) rules where effective January 1, 2020, an employer can give money to employees on a pre-tax basis to purchase personal health insurance.
To summarize the clip from the movie, it is about threat assessment. The Israeli’s (in the movie), because of constant threats against their nation, developed the concept of the 10th Man. In their threat assessment process, they have a panel of 9 people who look at evidence of a threat and vote as to whether it is a threat of concern and would require action. The job of the 10th Man is to take the opposite position of the vote and try to prove them wrong. In the movie, the Israeli’s were assessing a threat of a virus spreading in a small African village that turned people into Zombie’s. The 9-person panel voted that it wasn’t a threat but the 10th Man convinced the other 9 they were wrong. (You can see the clip below.)
In my own business I play the role of the 10th Man. I don’t have a panel of 9 people assessing threats to my business, but I do read many articles in industry magazines and attend webinars and seminars on the health insurance and health care industries to try and get some idea as to where the business is going. My staff has their share of opinions too. I do this because I need to make sure my business stays relevant. The thing is, I have almost always disagreed with what I was hearing in the mainstream media of the industry. I wrote about this in my article, “Sometimes I Feel Like George Costanza”. The current health care and health insurance system is broken, and I see ways to fix it that everyone is seeming to ignore, that is until now, with these changes by Trump.
As one who looks for potential business threats, I have paid close attention to signs from those who have no interest in protecting the status quo. Those voices are hard to find. I did, somewhat accidentally, come across two instances where I heard very credible people talk about the coming changes in the health insurance and health care markets. One was Mark Bertolini, past CEO of Aetna, who I referenced in my article, The Coming End to Employer-based Health Insurance back in December 2014. (See article link below.) In Mark’s presentation to the Mayo clinic, he drew the picture of a future health care system where employers were no longer in the middle. Individuals would choose their own health insurance.
The other I heard while on a hike one Saturday morning in the summer of 2016 while listening to the Larry Kudlow radio talk show about economic issues. HIs guest was from the Trump administration, and they were talking about health care. The Trump advisor stated that somewhere in the second half of Trump’s first term, or the beginning of the second if he were re-elected, he would propose moving the deduction for health insurance from the employer to the employee. He said that the power of the individual consumer would create a new competitive environment and would be the catalyst needed to drive down health insurance and health care costs. While Trump has not done this though tax law changes yet, the new HRA rules are a start to giving the consumer the power. It just happens that Larry Kudlow is now part of the Trump administration as his Director of the National Economic Council.
I find it amazing that I had never heard any reference to the Bertolini presentation, or the position stated by Trump’s advisor, in any other media source including all the health insurance industry publications or at conferences. When I have written about these changes in the past I have often been chastised, as if I was the one proposing these changes.
After hearing these two positions, I evaluated the threat and took action, which is now my current business. However, these current changes to the HRA rules are just the tip of the iceberg and I am not naïve enough to think I have it all figured out. What I do know is that we are in the first inning of a new game and Trump just started this game. I believe there will be much bigger changes in the next 5 years that will transform health insurance and health care in America forever.
If you listen to the same people over and over, you won’t hear anything new. I think most people tend to seek out others whose opinions mirror their own. However, if you listen closely, you can hear those out there telling a different story. So, become your own 10th Man and either take action, or maybe you will need to watch out for the Zombie’s.
Article References:
You Tube of the World War Z Scene
Sometimes I Feel Like George Costanza
The Coming End to Employer-based Health Insurance
JOE MARKLAND 