Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
The Bush health care reform (his words, not mine) package was supposed to be revenue neutral. Then, it was going to result in an increase in Federal tax revenue of half a trillion dollars over ten years. Now, it looks like the increase will be a third of a billion.
What gives and who cares and why should they?
The two major third party billers have been on the block for a few months. The first round of queries went out to financial buyers and lately they’ve opened the process up to potential strategic buyers as well. Why?
Continue reading What’s up with the third party biller auction?
First Health and Concentra (the managed care part, not the clinic part) have been out talking wiith customers and prospects, and information is starting to bubble up from other sources as well. At this point, no final decisions have been made (as the deal is not final that’s no surprise), but there are some clear directions.
Continue reading First Health & Concentra – predictions for the near term
Actions, or lack thereof, speak louder than State of the Union addresses.
From California HealthLine comes the news that the Administration has failed to comply with its legal obligation to respond to the Citizen’s Health Care Working Group.
Return with us once again to the enlightened pens (ok, keyboards) of the policy wonks as they pass on their pragmatic, practical, and perspicacious prose to you, dear reader, in this publication of HWR.
Consumers will price shop for some medical services, and won’t for others. And the times they are most likely to shop are when services are after a diagnosis has been made, the services sought are relatively simple and elective, and the consumer’s insurance plan motivates shopping.
Those are the key points in Paul Ginsburg’s MarketWatch piece in Health Affairs‘ most recent Web edition. (full access requires a subscription to HA)
Workers comp reform is moving thru Albany at blinding speed. The state Senate and Assembly both passed the reform bill unanimously, a previously unheard-of accomplishment for an issue that has been so contentious.
I’m on a bit of a tear these days on the work comp drug thing; the more I talk with knowledgeable people the crazier it gets. Several recent conversations concerned the factors driving up costs: here’s what a few industry experts believe.
Big changes are coming to Medicare, changes that are going to dramatically effect health plans, providers, PBMs, and pharma.
Medicare Advantage’s “bonus” payments are going to be cut significantly, Part D sponsors will likely see reductions in their payments from the Feds, and the planned 10% reduction in Medicare’s physician reimbursement is not going to happen.
So why isn’t the stock market reacting?
Continue reading The stock market’s take on health care reform
Jim Andrews of Cypress Care (a consulting client and WC PBM) gave a talk yesterday about some of the differences between drug spend in WC and group health. Here are a few of the main points I picked up.
