The Hidden Costs of Not Being Medically Insured

A well-established Birmingham, Alabama, financial executive, Michael Mullis directs Kelley & Mullis Wealth Management and provides proven strategies for the preservation and growth of assets. A recent feature on Michael Mullis’ company blog brought focus to a Forbes article on the hidden costs of not having health insurance.

While all hospitals are required to provide treatment for patients who are severely ill, they are also able to bill for those services. With financial insolvency a major concern, people who do not have insurance are more likely to either stay away from emergency rooms altogether or travel significant distances to receive care at institutions known for being more forgiving where medical debt is concerned.

This avoidance of costs associated with essential care leads the uninsured to take potentially life-threatening risks. Benefits of coverage involve something as basic as getting a case of “heartburn” looked at, rather than pushing aside a potential predictor of heart attack because of the associated costs. An Annals of Internal Medicine study concluded that the insurance coverage provided through Obamacare helped ease the situation by enabling patients to have conditions checked at local hospitals in a timely manner.

Top 1,200 Financial Advisors List Recognizes Industry’s Best

Michael Mullis serves as managing partner and wealth manager at Kelley & Mullis Wealth Management, a Birmingham, Alabama-based financial planning and investment firm. Throughout his tenure with the firm, his success in the financial industry has been recognized on numerous fronts. In February 2017, Michael Mullis was named one of Barron’s Top 1,200 Financial Advisors for the third consecutive year.

Each year, the financial magazine Barron’s names the top advisors in the industry. Its rankings are compiled into four lists, which are the Top 100 Women Financial Advisors, the Top 100 Financial Advisors, the Top 100 Independent Advisors, and the Top 1,200 Financial Advisors. Barron’s developed the Top 1,200 Financial Advisors listing last in order to make it more inclusive, as the shorter Top 100 lists tended to be dominated by individuals from a few wealth-concentrated states. Remedying that disparity, the Top 1,200 list evaluates advisors on a state-by-state basis and ranks the top financial advisors in each state.

Barron’s selection methodology involves a close consideration of each advisor’s generated revenue, assets under management, quality of practice, regulatory record, and philanthropic work. The selection committee examines internal company documents, regulatory records, as well as a large amount of information provided by the advisors themselves. The committee selects at least six advisors from each state, after which they determine additional advisors in proportion to the state’s population and asset accumulation. The Barron’s lists are generally considered to represent the top 1 percent in the industry.