Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
There has been a lot of discussion about the WCRI report on Washington State’s workers’ compensation pharmacy costs. Unfortunately a good bit of the discussion has been rather simplistic, citing some of the findings without placing those findings in the … Continue reading Work comp drugs – What works in Washington…
Read More...Now that health reform is the law of the land, the focus has turned to implementing the law itself. As anyone knows, the real work, and the real impact, is in the details, the definitions, the requirements and operating guidelines. … Continue reading Implementing Health Reform – Health Wonk Review reports
Read More...There’s something missing from the debate/argument/shouting surrounding Wellpont’s rate increase announcement; nowhere, in any statement I could find, did the company or it’s critics address the core issue, Wellpoint’s inability to control costs. Isn’t that what healthplans are supposed to … Continue reading The Anthem Wellpoint mess: the other part of the story
Read More...There are few Americans angrier or more frustrated than House and Senate liberals. They’ve made concession after concession on issues as dear to them as abortion, single payer, the public option, taxes on high income earners, and tougher regulation of … Continue reading Health reform – when will the next shoe drop?
Read More...AHIP – did they jump or were they pushed? I’m not pointing any fingers, but if I were, all ten would be pointed right at Bob Laszewski. Yesterday Bob pointed out that AHIP could not possibly have screwed up any … Continue reading From Harry and Louise to Thelma and Louise
Read More...The reports from consulting firms Segal and Aon that health benefit costs will jump more than ten percent next year shows exactly what we’re in for if reform efforts fail. And by ‘reform’ I mean reform with strong cost controls. … Continue reading Your life without healthcare reform – Part One
Read More...The latest argument in favor of Washington getting serious about health care reform came late last week with the announcement that health premiums increased 95% since 2000. Even more troubling, that premium increase isn’t in ‘2000 plan dollars’; deductibles and … Continue reading It’s about cost, stupid!
Read More...There are definitely more than ten, but here’s my list. 10. A federal death panel will decide who gets care and who gets ‘suicide-d’. This has been debunked almost as many times as it’s been ‘bunked’, Section 1233 of America’s … Continue reading Top ten misconceptions about health reform
Read More...(Some) Opponents of health reform have abandoned all pretext of honesty, and instead have embarked on a campaign of fear, intimidation, and outright lies in an effort to halt Congressional action. That’s not to say advocates of reform haven’t stretched … Continue reading Health reform – just the facts
Read More...‘Managing the Impossible’, an analysis of catastrophic case management firm Paradigm’s results and comparison of those results to those achieved by work comp insurers, has been sitting on the upper right corner of my desk for a couple of months … Continue reading Why doesn’t Paradigm have more business?
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