0920_September Comstock's Magazine September 2020 | Page 45

rate increase for one of its plans, and on June 3, Aetna requested an 8.2-percent bump for one of its own. Orlov says one likely outcome is more mergers and acquisitions in Northern California’s alreadyconsolidated hospital market. He predicts struggling hospitals will hang on for a while longer before declaring bankruptcy or being taken over. Oligopoly power has already driven up the region’s health care prices. “It’s going to be a real challenge for policymakers,” he says. “Do I let this tweener hospital close, or do I let Sutter take it over with its monopoly power? And it’s not going to be, from my perspective, an easy choice.” There’s one glimmer of bright side for businesses that offer to cover their employees’ health insurance. Telemedicine — medical services by phone or internet — is here to stay, and studies show it can save a bundle on health care costs: $242 per episode of care, according to one study. Pre-coronavirus, most large employers offered telemedicine in their packages, but few employees actually used it. Now people have gotten used to talking to doctors remotely to stay out of waiting rooms. For smaller businesses, a telemedicine plan could be a more attractive perk now. Andrea Murphrey, a benefits consultant at Sacramento’s Capitol Health Management, says she offers a stand-alone telemedicine product that runs $10 a month and lets covered members contact a physician and get a prescription, which is the outcome in 70 percent of regular appointments, she says. For now, hospitals are just trying to make it through the fall. “If we have seen the worst of it, or we’re very near seeing the worst of it, and Dameron “It’s going to be a real challenge for policymakers. Do I let this tweener hospital close, or do I let Sutter take it over with its monopoly power? And it’s not going to be, from my perspective, an easy choice.” BERT ORLOV DIRECTOR, EISNERAMPER can continue to execute on the strategy that we had in a pre-COVID world, I’m very optimistic about the combination between Dameron Hospital and Adventist Health’s ability to serve the community,” says Wolcott. “But it’s all an unknown due to COVID.” Steven Yoder writes about business, real estate and criminal justice. His work has appeared in The Fiscal Times, Salon, The American Prospect and elsewhere. Online at www.stevenyoder.net and on Twitter @syodertweet. Q A ASK YOUR SALES COACH How do I stay motivated to produce when the market is down and I’m working from home? Action breeds confidence and increases energy. But what actions should we take when things are slower? It’s more important now than ever before to use a layered approach to business development activities. The effort required to use email, phone, social media, and personal connections all together in a coordinated effort to open up new conversations is substantial. By focusing on the steps of the process and simply taking more actions than we’ve had to in the past, we’ll see small wins from the more coordinated effort, which creates optimism. Now is also the time to pursue market segments that we “didn’t have the time to pursue” when things were moving which often energizes with new opportunities. Submit your sales questions to [email protected] Good selling, DALE BIERCE Sandler Training www.sandler.com September 2020 | comstocksmag.com 45