July 22, 2017 – AssociatedNews.info

Sports July 22, 2017

Saturday Sports: Cleveland Cavaliers, The British Open

Kyrie Irving blindsided LeBron James by talking about wanting out of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Plus, the British Open features a new star, and the Tour de France wraps up with little fanfare.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

And now it’s time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: It’s July, but play in the NBA never really ends. Word out of Cleveland – Kyrie Irving wants out of Cleveland. And the Cavs would have a hole the size of Lake Erie to fill. But first, some sports history. On the other side of the pond, NPR’s Tom Goldman joins us. Good morning, Tom.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Good morning, Scott.

SIMON: Third round the British Open golf championship today the story had been about Jordan Spieth, the American in front – and he’s playing well. But tell us what South African Branden Grace has done.

GOLDMAN: He is the first man to shoot a 62 in a major championship. Scott, break out the champagne. Grace was 8-under-par for the day. He has a pretty flawless round, no bogeys on any holes. A bogey, of course, is 1-over par. And Grace took full advantage of calm conditions on the Royal Birkdale course. The weather, of course, is often a character in the British Open dramas on those seaside golf courses.

So there have been 31 rounds of 63…

SIMON: Wow.

GOLDMAN: …In major tournaments and several near-62s, including just last year at the British Open, when a putt on the final hole by American Phil Mickelson missed by about an inch or less.

SIMON: I remember that, yeah.

GOLDMAN: So it’s a big deal. Beyond the excitement, Grace was thrilled that his round pulled him into a tie for second place behind leader Jordan Spieth. And I’ll tell you, Scott, a lot of players are making moves today, taking advantage of this nice weather – for now.

SIMON: Well, Branden Grace is a name to mark – right? – as we go on.

GOLDMAN: Yes, yes.

SIMON: Staying in Europe, although actually they just voted not to be a part of Europe.

GOLDMAN: (Laughter).

SIMON: I’m thinking of the British Open. The Tour de France – final time trial today. Chris Froome of Britain, which used to be in Europe and is negotiating to get out of it now…

(LAUGHTER)

SIMON: …Held the lead. And if he wins that will be, what, his third in a row?

GOLDMAN: I’m so confused. Yeah, it would. And it looks like he is very close to doing that and claiming his third in a row and fourth overall. You know, that would put him in the legend category. But sadly, beyond the cycling world, in the general public, the post-Lance Armstrong haze has obscured the sport, you know, created so much distrust about doping. It’s made cycling the butt of jokes. You, Scott, have seen the HBO mockumentary “Tour De Pharmacy.”

SIMON: And I loved it. I might have recommended it to you. I thought it was bawdy and brilliant. It has an all-star cast. And Lance Armstrong himself is in there – don’t want to give away any plot points…

GOLDMAN: Right.

SIMON: …Saying, look, everybody juices. Isn’t that obvious? Can’t you tell?

GOLDMAN: As if there are plot points. Yeah, but it is going to take cycling time to emerge from the haze. And it’s a shame that Froome – if he’s clean and isn’t that what we always say?

SIMON: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: It’s a shame that what looks like his fourth Tour title won’t be fully appreciated.

SIMON: So now to the NBA news that has us Cavs fans disheartened – Kyrie Irving, the superlative point guard, according to sources, says he wants to be traded. And of course, this follows some news that we’ve heard for several weeks that LeBron James doesn’t like the team’s direction. They’ve been in the finals like – what? Three times now, right? – three times but of course, have only won twice. And, you know, maybe he won’t always be there once he becomes a free agent. You know what they say in Cleveland, don’t you?

GOLDMAN: What’s that?

SIMON: Oy, my aching Cavs.

(LAUGHTER)

GOLDMAN: Hey. You know, what they’re saying in Boston, though?

SIMON: No. What, what, what? Yes. What?

GOLDMAN: Wicked awesome…

SIMON: Oh, right.

GOLDMAN: …Because a Cavs team in disarray is nothing but good news for the Celtics. Look, absent comments from Kyrie Irving or his agent, we are left to speculate as to why he wants out. We’re hearing he doesn’t want to play with LeBron. He wants to prove to the world he can lead a team. We’re also hearing it’s proactive on Irving’s part – that he doesn’t want to wait for LeBron to leave and then be left behind. If this news is true, Scott, it is disheartening, as you say. They have sure looked good together, playing together like they love playing together.

SIMON: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: But what we see isn’t always what is happening.

SIMON: All right, a lesson for life, as usual. NPR Sports correspondent Tom Goldman, thanks so much.

GOLDMAN: You bet.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE QUANTIC SOUL ORCHESTRA’S “TERRAPIN”)

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Health July 22, 2017

Health Insurance CEO On Expanding Coverage

NPR’s Scott Simon talks with Michael Neidorff, CEO of the health insurance company Centene Corporation, which has expanded coverage on the insurance marketplace even as other insurers have withdrawn.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The debate over how to reform or repeal the Affordable Care Act might be stalled in Congress, but insurance companies are already making plans for 2018. Some insurance companies are pulling out of the Obamacare exchanges because of uncertainty about the federal government’s commitment. That means a number of so-called bare counties in Nevada, Indiana and Ohio could lose all of their marketplace plans next year. But other companies have found a way to expand coverage. Centene Corporation is one of them. Its CEO, Michael Neidorff, joins us now from St. Louis. Mr. Neidorff, thanks so much for being with us.

MICHAEL NEIDORFF: Thank you. It’s very nice to be with you.

SIMON: Do I get this right, your company has more than doubled in exchange customers in recent years?

NEIDORFF: Yes. We went from – in 2016, we had about 480,000 lives. And in ’17, we have 1.2 million at the beginning of the year.

SIMON: So what are you doing differently?

NEIDORFF: Well, I think we’re just doing our thing our way. We believe it’s a good program. We’re focused on our population, which is at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale. And it’s a matter of giving them access, having the proper networks and truly medically managing it in the most constructive way. We believe the highest quality is the most cost effective, and we’ve been doing that. And it’s working.

SIMON: But are you often alone in these areas? Are you often the only provider?

NEIDORFF: In some counties, we’re the only provider. And that’s fine because we want the very sick and the very well. We want that balanced book of business. So…

SIMON: Yeah.

NEIDORFF: …You know, being the only one does not bother us.

SIMON: Well, it’s very fine for you. But can you see where people might prefer to have more than one possibility for their health care coverage?

NEIDORFF: I am pleased when they have a choice. I can show you one county in Southern California where they have a choice. And we have 85 percent of the market, pushing 90 percent. So in fact, I like when they have a choice because it makes us look that much better.

SIMON: You, as we note, certainly seem to be doing well. But I gather you’ve said in interviews that the Senate’s health care overhaul is headed in the right direction.

NEIDORFF: Well, I felt that where they were – it needed some more tweaking. It was headed in the right direction, in the right place. And I think it’s now going to be very stalled. The parliamentarian ruled last night and was just studying all the things she said. But it’s just going to further complicate what they can get done.

SIMON: Yeah. What kind of tweaks do you think need to be made?

NEIDORFF: Oh, I was looking to put in a – what we had titled the copper plan. And this was where there was wellness, a higher deductible and then catastrophic care for the young, healthy people who tend not to buy insurance because they’re not going to need it.

SIMON: Yeah.

NEIDORFF: But when – if they had the right policy, I wanted to see reinsurance as opposed to high-risk pools. Reinsurance keeps the health plan involved on a – maybe an 80-20 basis. I’m getting a little technical on you.

SIMON: Yeah, I don’t understand reinsurance.

NEIDORFF: Well, reinsurance is where if a case goes over, let’s say, $100,000, there is a reinsurance pool within the state. They pick up 80 percent of the cost, but we still have 20 percent, which means we’ll continue to manage it. And it’s a way to handle catastrophic care without trying to rate everybody.

SIMON: Is it hard to do business, Mr. Neidorff, when you’re in your business, if – in the midst of all this uncertainty?

NEIDORFF: No, I don’t find it that way. We have taken the point of view that you make your decisions based on the facts as they are today, you know. If you do the what-ifs, you’re going to be like what Ansoff once said over in Amsterdam, analysis by paralysis, or, I should say, paralysis by analysis. And so what we do is we’re deciding, what do we have today? And we’re playing by those rules, and it’s working.

SIMON: Michael Neidorff is the CEO of the Centene insurance company. Mr. Neidorff, thank you very much for speaking with us, sir.

NEIDORFF: It was my pleasure. Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF TYCHO’S “AWAKE”)

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Business July 22, 2017

Health Insurance CEO On Expanding Coverage

NPR’s Scott Simon talks with Michael Neidorff, CEO of the health insurance company Centene Corporation, which has expanded coverage on the insurance marketplace even as other insurers have withdrawn.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The debate over how to reform or repeal the Affordable Care Act might be stalled in Congress, but insurance companies are already making plans for 2018. Some insurance companies are pulling out of the Obamacare exchanges because of uncertainty about the federal government’s commitment. That means a number of so-called bare counties in Nevada, Indiana and Ohio could lose all of their marketplace plans next year. But other companies have found a way to expand coverage. Centene Corporation is one of them. Its CEO, Michael Neidorff, joins us now from St. Louis. Mr. Neidorff, thanks so much for being with us.

MICHAEL NEIDORFF: Thank you. It’s very nice to be with you.

SIMON: Do I get this right, your company has more than doubled in exchange customers in recent years?

NEIDORFF: Yes. We went from – in 2016, we had about 480,000 lives. And in ’17, we have 1.2 million at the beginning of the year.

SIMON: So what are you doing differently?

NEIDORFF: Well, I think we’re just doing our thing our way. We believe it’s a good program. We’re focused on our population, which is at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale. And it’s a matter of giving them access, having the proper networks and truly medically managing it in the most constructive way. We believe the highest quality is the most cost effective, and we’ve been doing that. And it’s working.

SIMON: But are you often alone in these areas? Are you often the only provider?

NEIDORFF: In some counties, we’re the only provider. And that’s fine because we want the very sick and the very well. We want that balanced book of business. So…

SIMON: Yeah.

NEIDORFF: …You know, being the only one does not bother us.

SIMON: Well, it’s very fine for you. But can you see where people might prefer to have more than one possibility for their health care coverage?

NEIDORFF: I am pleased when they have a choice. I can show you one county in Southern California where they have a choice. And we have 85 percent of the market, pushing 90 percent. So in fact, I like when they have a choice because it makes us look that much better.

SIMON: You, as we note, certainly seem to be doing well. But I gather you’ve said in interviews that the Senate’s health care overhaul is headed in the right direction.

NEIDORFF: Well, I felt that where they were – it needed some more tweaking. It was headed in the right direction, in the right place. And I think it’s now going to be very stalled. The parliamentarian ruled last night and was just studying all the things she said. But it’s just going to further complicate what they can get done.

SIMON: Yeah. What kind of tweaks do you think need to be made?

NEIDORFF: Oh, I was looking to put in a – what we had titled the copper plan. And this was where there was wellness, a higher deductible and then catastrophic care for the young, healthy people who tend not to buy insurance because they’re not going to need it.

SIMON: Yeah.

NEIDORFF: But when – if they had the right policy, I wanted to see reinsurance as opposed to high-risk pools. Reinsurance keeps the health plan involved on a – maybe an 80-20 basis. I’m getting a little technical on you.

SIMON: Yeah, I don’t understand reinsurance.

NEIDORFF: Well, reinsurance is where if a case goes over, let’s say, $100,000, there is a reinsurance pool within the state. They pick up 80 percent of the cost, but we still have 20 percent, which means we’ll continue to manage it. And it’s a way to handle catastrophic care without trying to rate everybody.

SIMON: Is it hard to do business, Mr. Neidorff, when you’re in your business, if – in the midst of all this uncertainty?

NEIDORFF: No, I don’t find it that way. We have taken the point of view that you make your decisions based on the facts as they are today, you know. If you do the what-ifs, you’re going to be like what Ansoff once said over in Amsterdam, analysis by paralysis, or, I should say, paralysis by analysis. And so what we do is we’re deciding, what do we have today? And we’re playing by those rules, and it’s working.

SIMON: Michael Neidorff is the CEO of the Centene insurance company. Mr. Neidorff, thank you very much for speaking with us, sir.

NEIDORFF: It was my pleasure. Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF TYCHO’S “AWAKE”)

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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