Are you covered under BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Network S? You may not have known that prior to this year, BlueCross had an agreement with HCA TriStar hospitals to provide emergency care at in-network rates, even though HCA TriStar hospitals are not a part of Network S. 

That agreement ended as of January, and the result is a $14 million headache that may soon affect patients’ pocketbooks. HCA has announced it will soon begin balance billing BlueCross members for out-of-network care received at TriStar facilities. 

What does all this mean?

Tech companies like Amazon, Apple, and Google have revolutionized our lives. Many of us hail rides on our smartphones, run our homes with virtual assistants, and can have almost any item we need delivered directly to us.

But there’s one corner of the American economy that has, so far, held tech disruption at bay—healthcare.  Perhaps more than any other industry, healthcare has resisted the trends that have radically changed the ways we shop, bank, travel and more.

We still use paper forms at the doctor’s office, you still have to call to make appointments, competition has dwindled, and prices have skyrocketed. Sounds like an industry ready for disruption, right?

The above companies seem to think so. So far this year, several big tech companies have announced plans to tackle healthcare. While no single company could solve all of the healthcare industry’s issues, the companies are proposing solutions to different pieces of the puzzle.

Here are plans from Amazon, Apple, Uber, Lyft and Google to bring healthcare into the 21st century.

These decisions will be influenced by recent proposals by President Trump’s administration that would allow carriers to offer plans that don’t meet current Affordable Care Act standards. This could result in more coverage options outside of the ACA, but it could also lead to fewer options and premium increases for ACA plans.

In other words, these health policy changes could create two separate insurance markets, one for healthy consumers, and one for sicker consumers.

To see how this could happen, let’s look into the health care crystal ball and see how these health care policy changes might play out in Tennessee and elsewhere.

Employers teaming up to address healthcare

America’s legislators have been debating health policy for years, but very few proposals have addressed the one issue consumers say they are most concerned about — the high cost of receiving health care in the U.S. 

Americans pay more for health care than anyone else in the world, even for the exact same services and prescriptions. For example, consumers in the U.S. pay $2,669 for a 28-day supply of the rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, while the Swiss pay just $822 — less than a third of the U.S. price.

The reasons are numerous and complicated, but pricing issues have largely been ignored by Congress in the past decade.

Here are three policy ideas that would affect healthcare pricing. While these proposals would represent a shift, they could lead to more affordable health care in the U.S. 

Employers teaming up to address healthcare

Any consumer who has experienced a major medical event has probably been unpleasantly surprised at America’s high healthcare costs. It can be truly shocking to see the sticker price for surgeries, hospital stays, and prescriptions.

Even one of the richest men in the country, Warren Buffett, can relate. In January, Buffett called healthcare costs “a hungry tapeworm” on the American economy.

Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, is teaming up with Amazon and JP Morgan to tackle healthcare costs for their employees and, potentially, all Americans.

In other words, three of the country’s biggest employers are teaming up to take on the tapeworm, and Nashville is paying close attention.

Why? Healthcare is Nashville’s biggest industry, and any disruption to healthcare costs will affect the many healthcare companies that call Music City home.

Policy changes lead to confusion

When it comes to health care, things are as confusing as ever. Possible changes to the Affordable Care Act made plenty of headlines in 2017, but actual changes were few and far between. 

This disconnect has created a lot of misinformation. Polls show a third of Americans incorrectly believe President Trump has repealed the Affordable Care Act, and many other myths have cropped up around healthcare, especially regarding insurance and costs.

Here are three healthcare myths that could be costly for consumers in 2018.

Trying to beat the tax time rush?

The most recent open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act marketplaces was unique. It was the first administered under anyone other than former President Obama, it was half as long as previous periods, and it was the last open enrollment for which the individual mandate applies.

These different circumstances may be signals of what’s to come for the ACA.

Trying to beat the tax time rush?

Mid-January marks the start of tax season, and health care items throughout the past year can impact how you file your taxes. 

This time of year typically creates a lot of consumer confusion, and getting all the facts straight can be tricky. With the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate recently in the news, this topic is certain to cause particular issues this year. 

Aside from the individual mandate, other health care expenses can also affect your tax return, including Health Savings Accounts and high-cost medical expenses. 

If you’re trying to beat the tax time rush, here are a few tips on what you should know about these items.

When is the repeal effective? 

Republicans successfully repealed the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate through their tax reform legislation, which has created many questions for consumers.

How will this decision affect insurance markets and consumers’ ability to get coverage? Without additional legislative action, there are three things we can expect.

With the individual mandate repealed, many healthy people will drop their coverage. This will likely lead insurers to expect to lose money, and they will either exit the individual market or raise premiums. As a result, there will be increased pressure on Congress to come up with a solution before consumers’ access to coverage is reduced.

Let’s go through each of these predictions, but first, a little more on repeal.