Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
In the very narrow world of work comp managed care, there’s an even skinnier slice focused on managing pharmacy. As pharma accounts for almost a fifth of all medical dollars spent in comp, its an area that certainly deserves attention … Continue reading Texas’ efforts to control WC Rx
Read More...To no one’s surprise. work comp medical costs appear to be on their way up, and at a rate significantly higher than the medical CPI. First the what, then the why. The latest data from NCCI indicate comp medical inflation … Continue reading Work comp medical costs – heading up…
Read More...Last week’s announcement that the FDA is considering requiring physicians’ to obtain additional training in order to prescribe certain Schedule II narcotics is welcome news – for payers and patients. Physicians aren’t so welcoming. The list of drugs includes several … Continue reading FDA’s limits on prescribing of narcotics
Read More...Regulators are increasingly seeking politically low-cost ways to reduce workers comp costs. Some have decided to use the Medicaid reimbursement rate for drugs for Workers Comp, evidently figuring that if pharmacies accept it for Medicaid, they’ll do the same for … Continue reading Why Medicaid Rx reimbursement rates don’t make sense for Workers Comp
Read More...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.
Read More...I’ll be releasing the fourth annual survey of prescription drug management in workers comp in a few weeks. Here are a few early findings.
Read More...Actiq is a narcotic taken in lollypop form, a technique that gets the drug to the pain centers quickly. Developed for break-through cancer pain, evidence now suggests that only 10% of Actiq users have cancer.The high-powered narcotic has been the … Continue reading Actiq – the off-label poster child
Read More...Workers comp payers will be seeing a new drug on their top 25 lists soon – Fentora. While it may take a couple of years to attain Actiq’s top-five status, it will.
Read More...I spent most of Sunday and yesterday speaking at several sessions at the Florida Workers’ Comp Educational Conference in Orlando. Nothing like Orlando in August. Also on the panels were several physicians from Florida, Gerry Sander, a PharmD from Express … Continue reading Drug problems in workers comp
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