Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
From our friends on the west coast comes a story that demands much more discussion – the California State Fund’s (SCIF) decision to change its contracts with treating physicians in SCIF’s Medical Provider Network. [membership required] To read the response … Continue reading Those horrible people at the California State Fund
Read More...I’m in DC for a couple of meetings focused on the use, abuse, and impact of narcotics in workers comp. To say this is starting to get major traction would be an understatement; payers, policymakers, employers, and pharma are all … Continue reading The cost of narcotics in workers comp
Read More...Our colleagues at Workers Comp Insider sent us news of Florida Governor Rick Scott’s latest idiocy – he issued an executive order requiring drug testing for all state employees every quarter. The master of simple solutions to complex problems has … Continue reading Drug tests for everyone – Rick Scott goes off the deep end again
Read More...In the online edition of Risk and Insurance, fellow work comp consultant Maddy Bowling authored a piece focused on a rapidly growing segment of the work comp managed care industry – drug testing. Maddy’s a very experienced, and very knowledgeable … Continue reading Drug testing in workers comp – we need more, not less.
Read More...Peter Rousmaniere’s piece in Risk and Insurance outlines precisely what needs to be done to reduce unnecessary medical costs in comp. To date, most ‘managed care’ programs have had little real impact; most just shift costs around and develop phantom … Continue reading If you read one article on managing work comp medical – read this one
Read More...A family matter required my full attention last week, which was why you didn’t see any new posts on Managed Care Matters. A lot happened which we’ll reprise here quickly. Alex Swedlow of CWCI published another report on the ongoing … Continue reading What happened last week?
Read More...I wasn’t there, but certainly heard enough about it to wish I was. I’m referring to CWCI’s annual meeting held yesterday in San Francisco, a meeting that might well have been subtitled “Opioids and the Doctors who prescribe them”. The … Continue reading Docs and drugs – details on the ‘high prescribers’
Read More...This always seems like a good idea in January, looks like a not-well-thought-thru idea in July, and by December morphs into a well-it-coulda-been-worse idea. But I’ve got a short memory, so here goes – in no particular order, predictions for … Continue reading What’s up for 2011 – predictions for work comp in the Next Year
Read More...So, how’d my predictions for 2010 turn out? Well, I won’t e jumping for joy – or out any windows either. Here’s what I predicted back in January for 2010, and a (mostly) objective assessment of the accuracy thereof. 1. … Continue reading How’d those 2010 predictions turn out?
Read More...A lot happened in the work comp world in 2010 – here are the top issues discussed here on MCM. Mergers, acquisitions, and buyouts This has been a very busy year for the financial folks. OneCall Medical, Intracorp, Sedgwick, SRS, … Continue reading The top work comp stories of 2010
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