Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
For the update, see UPDATE below. Also, if you would like a copy of Todd’s marketing presentation, email me at infoAThealthstrategyassocDOTcom. The presentation is not copyrighted, marked confidential or proprietary, or otherwise protected from distribution. Original post The world of … Continue reading UPDATE – Ethics in workers comp managed care
Read More...Few things I’ve encountered in my twenty-five-plus years in the insurance business are as outrageous as the prosecution of Sandy Blunt, the former head of the North Dakota work comp fund. I’ve posted on this case several times; what originally … Continue reading Who’s the crook?
Read More...From comments made by management at Coventry’s presentation at Morgan Stanley investor day last week, the company’s efforts to refocus on core businesses appears to be working. Of he two key takeaways one was wildly obvious while the other much … Continue reading Coventry Healthcare – they’ve solved yesterday’s problem
Read More...There are two key takeaways from the WCIRB report on California’s work comp costs (as reported by workcompcentral.com). Medical costs are rising fast, and managed care costs are rising much faster. Medical expenses climbed 7.9% last year, led by a … Continue reading Comp cost escalation in California; no answer in sight
Read More...The Democrats are pushing hard, very hard, to get health reform passed this year. Heck, they want to get it done this summer. And so far, the GOP’s involvement has been limited to standing on the sidelines lobbing rhetorical rocks … Continue reading Health care reform and the alternate world of the Republicans
Read More...It’s here. Almost. At long last, health reform is no longer just an idea, a glimmer in the distance, a subject of interest only to those writing doctoral theses, policy papers, and other intellectually interesting but practically useless missives. Dare … Continue reading Health Reform – what’s happening and why
Read More...Earlier this week the NYTimes’ Robert Pear did a piece that delved into the Dartmouth Atlas of Healthcare, one of my all-time favorite publications. The Atlas, and the research that spawned it, provides a clear and detailed picture of the … Continue reading The NYTimes on health reform; we expect better
Read More...A loose group of health care organizations, vendors, and providers, including hospitals, pharmaceutical manufacturers, medical device makers, physicians and labor organizations, will voluntarily reduce US health care spending by $2 trillion over the next ten years. According to a White … Continue reading Health industry commits to reducing costs. No, really!
Read More...In one of those all-but-unnoticed moves that could have a dramatic effect on workers comp, the FDA has moved to ban a number of currently-dispensed pain medications, medications that are currently prescribed to many work comp claimants. These aren’t the … Continue reading FDA move to hit workers comp hard
Read More...Merrill Goozner reminds us of why so many dollars are wasted in the US health care system. The prostate cancer scare is exhibit one in the ability of device manufacturers, pharma, and advocates thereof to raise America’s health care costs … Continue reading Doing the devil’s work
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