Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
Yesterday I highlighted four main ways health reform will impact workers comp. Today we’ll focus on the less-noticeable ways reform will change the comp industry. But we’ll start by addressing one of the common misconceptions; people without health insurance are … Continue reading Reform’s impact on workers comp; Part 2
Read More...Medicare Set-Asides are one of those narrow but very deep niches in the workers comp (and other insurance lines) business that look simple at first glance, but are anything but. The Federal government, more specifically the Center for Medicare and … Continue reading Progress in revamping the MSA process?
Read More...Prostate cancer may be one of the most over-diagnosed and over-treated conditions in the nation. It is also one of the most over-publicized, with ex-politicians (Bob Dole) and sports figures (Ed Randall) encouraging all men over 50 to get a … Continue reading Time for more science in medicine – and less marketing
Read More...Next month I’m going to be speaking at the Geisinger Clinic on the subject of Comparative Effectiveness – the payer’s ethical dilemma. I’m fascinated by this issue as it strikes at the heart of the problems with, and perhaps solutions … Continue reading The ethics of clinical guidelines
Read More...As presently conceived, health reform will fail. I’m talking not about the chances of a bill being signed into law but rather what happens when that happy day arrives. I say this with deep regret, as I am an ardent … Continue reading Health reform will fail
Read More...An oft-repeated goal of reform opponents is their desire to ‘get the government out of health insurance’. Let’s say they get their wish, and the vaunted free market is allowed free rein (or reign) to do as they would. What … Continue reading Be careful what you wish for: health insurance without regulation
Read More...There’s something missing from the debate/argument/shouting surrounding Wellpont’s rate increase announcement; nowhere, in any statement I could find, did the company or it’s critics address the core issue, Wellpoint’s inability to control costs. Isn’t that what healthplans are supposed to … Continue reading The Anthem Wellpoint mess: the other part of the story
Read More...Anthem Wellpoint’s announcement that it was raising premiums up to 39% for members covered by their California individual insurance product hit at a really bad time – for Anthem. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius reaction was immediate and blunt, as she … Continue reading The Anthem rate increase – the reality behind the politicking
Read More...Probably a lot. Perhaps most. And certainly a big chunk of the bucks your insurer/TPA is paying. Unlike surgery, imaging, drugs, and other types of medical treatment, PT has long been a bit of a black art. The clinical guidelines … Continue reading How many dollars are wasted on physical therapy?
Read More...The recent demise of the health reform effort was killed in large part by Americans’ overwhelming demand for more and more, while wanting to take less and less responsibility. Uwe Reinhardt’s recent column describes the problem quite well. Americans want … Continue reading Have their cake, eat it too, and have someone else pay for their gluttony
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