Updates from the wonderful world of medicare set asides…

There’s been a lot of ‘under the radar’ activity in the work comp space of late, with much of it coming from the Medicare Set Aside sector. As ‘unique’ as the workers comp services sector may be, there’s no niche as…fascinating as the MSA business.
It is brutally competitive; rife with personal, public attacks; and abounding in claims, counter-claims, and counter-counter-claims. Here’s a quick tour of some of the news.
Coventry sales chief Ken Loffredo will be leaving CVTY after over a decade to take an equity role at Med-Allocators. The departure isn’t imminent, as he and Work Comp Division boss David Young are working together to find a successor, looking at both internal and external candidates.
Coventry isn’t doing much in the MSA business these days, and reports indicate management probably wished it didn’t do anything with MSAs in the past.
Gould and Lamb and (former CEO) John Williams have parted ways, reportedly because Mr Williams ‘wants to spend more time with his family’; evidently G&L’s owners are fully supportive of that desire. No announcement yet on a replacement.
The book on G&L has been out for some time; no word on whether the company is still looking for a sale or additional investment. The costs associated with preparing for CMS reporting, and challenges thereof, may be a factor
Despite some competitors’ statements (public(!)) to the contrary, PMSI is not contemplating, thinking about, planning to, or even preliminarily exploring a sale of the company’s MSA division. Don’t know how that got started, but there’s nothing to it
Those are just the highlights.
The rough-and-tumble MSA industry reminds me of the oil and gas business of a hundred years ago. So far no John D Rockefeller has made an appearance, but the industry is ripe for consolidation. Lots of folks are trying, but no one’s looking like a clear leader.