Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
Consolidation among health systems and hospitals continues apace, and with it comes higher costs, more utilization, and longer disability durations. Get the details from WCRI’s much-watch webinar on the impact of vertical provider integration on prices, medical utilization and outcomes. … Continue reading Two major drivers of healthcare outcomes and costs – Consolidation and Medicaid expansion
Read More...Three pictures tell the story of the biggest problem in workers’ comp medical cost management. A reminder that facility costs are the biggest chunk of medical spend from Kaiser Family Foundation. A seemingly-unrelated graphic illustrating the status of Medicaid expansion; … Continue reading Hospital costs, Medicaid expansion, and workers’ comp
Read More...Too darn busy last week to get my usual 3-5 posts up…things are calming down this week so expect to see posts in your inbox. Followup on One Call; after the Debtwire article about OCCM debtholders organizing to prepare for … Continue reading Monday morning quick hits; OneCall, WCRI, and a correction/expansion
Read More...The fine folks at the Kaiser Foundation held a webinar on Medicaid expansion today; here are a few of the highlights I picked up… WA and MN showing significant increases in enrollment AR IL WV are enrolling via SNAP – … Continue reading Medicaid coverage expansion – status update
Read More...Lost in the political arguments over whether or not to accept federal dollars to expand Medicaid is a rather basic question – what happens if you don’t expand Medicaid? This is especially important in states such as Florida and Texas, … Continue reading Medicaid expansion – waiting for the alternatives
Read More...As governors look more closely at the benefits – and costs (political and financial) of the Medicaid expansion slated to begin next January, more and more are deciding it isn’t such a bad thing after all. Ohio’s governor has been … Continue reading Medicaid expansion will…expand.
Read More...If Medicaid isn’t your business, you may be tempted to ignore the implications of the current kerfuffle over whether or not states should accept free money to expand Medicaid. That would be a mistake. As all-powerful and influential as Medicare … Continue reading The Medicaid expansion and political choice
Read More...The state legislation that will MOST affect workers’ comp is often not ABOUT workers’ comp – rather it deals with other parts of the healthcare ecosystem. For example: Regulating Pharmacy Benefit Managers FromWaPo: At least 41 state legislatures introduced bills … Continue reading State moves that will affect workers’ comp
Read More...Lots of good stuff going on these days. First, good …well actually great news is from Pennsylvania. From WESA: Pennsylvania is getting another $29 million in federal funding to clean up abandoned mines, as part of the mine cleanup projects … Continue reading Good news Friday! All lines equal new jobs, more Texans get health insurance, and solar is growing.
Read More...There’s a LOT of good news today… The House finally approved a massive aid bill for Ukraine – and the aid is already flowing – hallelujah. Several encouraging takeaways… It was bipartisan, with strong support from both parties (who’da thought??) … Continue reading Good news Friday – Ukraine, more insurance coverage, and 54 years in jail for work comp fraud.
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