Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
Ohio’s Bureau of Workers Compensation will no longer be subsidizing indigent care at the state’s hospitals. The recent announcement that BWC is cutting reimbursement for inpatient care to Medicare plus 15% is one of the positive outcomes of the Hydra-headed … Continue reading Ohio’s BWC to cut payments to hospitals
Read More...Hospitals in Ohio are complaining that proposed cuts in reimbursement by the Bureau of Workers Compensation are unfair, even though the proposed reimbursement level is Medicare +15%. According to one spokeswoman for the hospitals, “There is a misconception that a … Continue reading Ohio hospitals’ misguided complaints
Read More...National health care will be reality within five years. All the theory, intellectual debate, politicking, lobbying, trips to Scottish golf resorts and campaign contributions funded by lobbyists, insurers, providers, and big pharma will come up against two overwhelming forces – … Continue reading National health care is coming.
Read More...The law of unintended consequences continues to dog the much-maligned Part D program. So far, seniors and states have been depicted as the primary victims of the program’s operational, structural, and marketing faults. Now there’s news that the program’s impact … Continue reading Pharmacists, Part D, and politics
Read More...There are lots of moving parts, political agendae, and battling priorities in the pay for performance movement, and it is getting even complicated-er. Today’s announcement by the AMA that it will produce metrics for assessment of physician quality (registration required) … Continue reading Health care quality measures, politics, and dollars
Read More...A new report published in Health Affairs provides an excellent history of cost-shifting, gives an excellent analogy and and quantifies its impact on private payers. Cost shifting occurs when providers, typically hospitals, recoup lost revenue resulting from underpayments by some … Continue reading Cost shifting to private payers
Read More...A suit has been filed by Arizona’s Attorney General accusing 42 drug manufacturers of inflating Average Wholesale Prices on drugs sold to physicians. According to an article in the Arizona Republic, at least 14 other states are also pursuing action … Continue reading Suit filed against drug manufacturers for price manipulation
Read More...I have been engaged in an email debate with a libertarian about the value of “freedom of choice”, impact of payment sources on health care expenditures and inflation thereof, and potential impact of consumerism on health care costs. He is … Continue reading The myth of consumerism in health care
Read More...The recent report on hospital expenses in Ohio’s workers compensation system which indicated WC generates less than 1% of cases but 12.5% of profits for hospitals has become the proverbial kick that overturned the ant hill. The governor has ordered … Continue reading Ohio’s Work Comp hospital cost problem
Read More...On a plane yesterday I engaged in a brief conversation with a professional woman (accountant) working for ING Insurance about health care. An opinionated person, she was quick to tell me that employer-based health care was the only solution and … Continue reading The health care consumer/voter
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