Series · Life AI
The Agent at Your Table
Every institution the reader interacts with has automated its side of every financial transaction. The reader has a kitchen table. This series covers twelve categories where agent technology can finally argue back: medication prices, medical bills, service contracts, Social Security timing, insurance selection, long-term care, legal documents, and the subscriptions nobody remembers starting. The representation is partial. Partial is still dramatically better than what came before.
BML-02.PRE
The Doctor Who Cannot Help You
Series 02: The Agent at Your Table
Catherine Nguyen is 61, has 1,640 patients, and spends her Wednesday mornings on prior authorizations before her first patient arrives. She knows about Cost Plus Drug Company and patient assistance …
BML-02.02
Prescriptions Without the Markup
Series 02: The Agent at Your Table
Gerald Pruitt paid $1,100 a month for two medications his pharmacist was not allowed to find cheaper. The same drugs cost $8 through Cost Plus Drug Company and $0 through the manufacturer's patient …
BML-02.03
The $3,200 MRI and the $450 MRI
Series 02: The Agent at Your Table
Raymond Kozlowski's knee MRI was quoted at $3,200 by the hospital affiliated with his physician's practice. Nine miles away, the same scan on the same class of machine with the same accreditation cost …
BML-02.04
How to Fight a Medical Bill and Win
Series 02: The Agent at Your Table
Clarence Watkins received a $14,000 bill for his appendectomy and was reaching for a pen when his daughter called. She found four coding errors and two duplicate charges. The correct bill was $3,200. …
BML-02.05
Negotiating the Rest of Your Life
Series 02: The Agent at Your Table
Helen and Robert Dietrich reviewed their budget quarterly for nine years and missed $4,783 annually in overpayment across five service contracts. The loyalty penalty is the standard pricing practice …
BML-02.06
The House, the Car, and the List That Never Ends
Series 02: The Agent at Your Table
Donald Merritt's wife Barbara managed their house for 40 years. After she died, he did not know about the $12 HVAC filter that costs $4,200 when it is not changed. He did not know because the …
BML-02.07
The Social Security Decision That Costs $100,000
Series 02: The Agent at Your Table
Two couples, same ages, comparable earnings histories, comparable pressures. Different Social Security claiming strategies. By age 75, the cumulative difference in lifetime income was $118,000. …
BML-02.08
Insurance After 65
The Decision That Compounds
Sandra Kowalski chose Medicare Advantage at 65 for the dental coverage and the $0 premium. In year two she was diagnosed with breast cancer, her oncologist was out of network, and prior authorization …
BML-02.09
The Long-Term Care Conversation Nobody Wants to Have
Series 02: The Agent at Your Table
Margaret Eriksson had a stroke at 73 with no long-term care plan. Three years and $338,000 later, her savings were gone and her daughter was managing a Medicaid application while holding her hand on …
BML-02.10
The Documents That Save Your Family
Series 02: The Agent at Your Table
Two adult children in two different hospital waiting rooms, and the difference between their experiences is four pieces of paper. A healthcare power of attorney, a living will, a POLST form, and a …
BML-02.11
When You Need to Fight and Don't Know How
Series 02: The Agent at Your Table
Evelyn Chambers's Medicare claim for a power wheelchair was denied by an algorithm. She did not know she had the right to appeal. She did not know the appeal success rate is approximately 40%. She did …
BML-02.12
The Slow Leak
Series 02: The Agent at Your Table
Martin and Joyce Ferreira reviewed their budget quarterly and missed $293.95 a month in charges they had approved once and never revisited. A gym membership unused since the knee replacement. Three …
