Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
2017 will be a very misleading year. There will be no changes to health reform, markets, Exchanges, Medicaid, or Medicare. More people will be insured, hospitals and health systems will enjoy financial stability, and while losses in the individual market … Continue reading Healthcare in 2018
Read More...Workers comp and Medicaid are intertwined. First, a few factoids about Medicaid. Medicaid accounts for about 17% of US medical spend (work comp is about 1%) It is very state-specific; states have a lot of control over who and what’s covered. … Continue reading Workers comp and Medicaid – Implications aplenty!
Read More...Good morning all. Out in SoCal for the CompLaude event; looking forward to two days of great discussion about the good things in workers’ comp. More evidence that WC medical trend is flattening WCRI released it’s Indiana CompScope report earlier … Continue reading Friday catch-up; CorVel, deals, & drugs
Read More...Geek alert! For work comp wonks, in this post I’m reporting on what transpired at this morning’s meeting at DOL on Work comp; a summary and perspective will be the subject of a post tomorrow. OSHA’s Director led off this morning’s … Continue reading Live blogging on the DOL’s State Workers’ Compensation Forum
Read More...Is set for release at a public meeting in Washington this Wednesday, October 5, at 10 AM. While the content has been closely held, sources indicate topics include: increasing inadequacy of benefits, restrictions on medical care for injured workers, new procedural … Continue reading The Department of Labor’s report on workers’ comp
Read More...WCRI’s report on variations in hospital outpatient costs is yet more evidence of the wide and seemingly nonsensical variations in work comp regulations, fees, payments, and practices among and between states. Among the findings: an eight-fold variation in costs from the … Continue reading Workers’ comp hospital costs – implications for payers
Read More...And those two often don’t match up very well. Example. Work comp insurance companies benefit when medical and indemnity costs are lower than expected. So, lower medical costs = better “outcome” for the company. Many – if not most – … Continue reading Companies need strategies, Execs need success
Read More...AIG just increased reserves for workers’ comp claims in Florida by $109 million. Attorneys reacted positively… NCCI’s just-released analysis indicates this isn’t an anomaly; their experts estimate the unfunded liability may exceed $1 billion. To give you some context, total workers’ comp … Continue reading Party Time for Florida work comp attorneys
Read More...People who obtained private health insurance coverage thru the Exchanges in 2014 were less healthy than those previously insured. A just-published article in HealthAffairs provides details on their medical issues and conditions, more on this below. [sub req] That’s not … Continue reading More insured via Exchanges is good news for Work Comp
Read More...Swamped these days, so here’s what I don’t have time to opine upon in any depth… In eight years, “Health spending growth…is projected to average 5.8 percent—1.3 percentage points faster than growth in the gross domestic product—and to represent 20.1 percent of the … Continue reading Thursday catch-up
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