The information every work comp professional needs is ready – the annual comparison of every state’s workers comp laws is available here. Put together by the experts at WCRI and IAIABC, it includes laws for each of Canada’s provinces too.
Oh, and in case you missed it, you can still get WCRI’s compilation of state laws on treatment guidelines and medical management here.
From NCCI we get a report on the impact of changing workforce demographics on injury frequency. One major change from previous research – older workers are getting injured more often than their younger co-workers. That’s a significant change, and one we need to monitor carefully.
Sticking with work comp, CWCI released it’s analysis of the impact of California’s formulary – more drugs that are “exempt” from review were prescribed, but that’s just one finding
If you want to know what your REAL cost of healthcare is, check out the Kaiser Family Foundation’s healthcare cost calculator. Plug in some basic information, and – spoiler alert – be shocked.
Finally, there’s much talk about Medicare for All, who supports what, and all that stuff. And, a majority of people in a Fox News “town hall” indicated they support MFA, surprising Bernie Sanders and his interviewers. Find out how much support there really is here.
And happy spring!
I love when they asked if the audience supported Medicare for all… and everyone cheered. Why wouldn’t they? What choice do you have now and there are no cost controls on healthcare so it continues to go up by double digits everywhere. Only industrialized country in the work with out national healthcare. What a crazy country… for most working people, the only way you can get healthcare is through your employer… and what a burden for the employer. We need a nationalized healthcare system, like Canada, UK, France, and so many others.
Hi Joe- Appreciate the recent attention you have given to what seems like an inevitable move to some variation of MFA or single payer system sooner rather that later in the US. While I know it is highly dependent on how that system ends up being structured I am curious hear your thoughts on impact to the private sector. Which areas of the private sector do you see experiencing growth and where do you see a decline in revenue due to such a change? My instant reaction would be that large carriers providing employer sponsored plans would suffer the most while hospital systems, primary care facilities and the vendors serving them would see an uptick with more individuals having coverage I know this is a drastic over simplification so I am interested to hear more detailed thoughts and predictions.
Hello Pat and thanks for your comment.
I believe employer-based healthcare will survive however big healthplans will see a revenue decrease. I also see revenues at health systems and facilities declining as we’ll possibly end up with an all-payer fee schedule that will be close to where Medicare is now.