Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
Following on yesterday’s post, I received several emails from payers and vendors alike suggesting other pertinent questions payers may want to pose to their vendors. The most common pertained to fee-sharing between TPAs and vendors. This practice has long existed … Continue reading Another question for your work comp managed care vendors
Read More...Last week I posted on the pending change in pharmacy pricing that will reduce prices by about 4% for most brand drugs. The pharmacy and big food-and-drug chains are negotiating with the big PBMs; they are seeking ‘cost neutrality’; that … Continue reading The coming change in drug pricing
Read More...There are definitely more than ten, but here’s my list. 10. A federal death panel will decide who gets care and who gets ‘suicide-d’. This has been debunked almost as many times as it’s been ‘bunked’, Section 1233 of America’s … Continue reading Top ten misconceptions about health reform
Read More...Yesterday we examined the potential impact on insurers and insureds of a failure to pass meaningful comprehensive health reform . Today we’ll look at the effect on providers. Again, we’ll leave aside the possibility of individual bills addressing physician compensation … Continue reading If health reform fails, part 2 – the providers
Read More...The fierce battle over the public plan option is much ado about very little, an epic battle over a useless piece of political ground. It is the health care debate’s version of the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest – a … Continue reading Why the fight over the public plan option is pointless
Read More...According to an article in the NYTimes, the answer is yes. President Obama is actively considering some form of limits on med mal lawsuits as part of his health care reform plan. Before we get too excited about this, let’s … Continue reading UPDATE: Could changes to medical malpractice be on the horizon?
Read More...Coventry released its financial results for Q1 2009, and the work comp financials are, to say the least, strong. Revenues were up almost 10% quarter over quarter to $188 million, while gross margin actually declined by a couple points to … Continue reading Coventry’s work comp financial results – stellar
Read More...If you thought the first few posts from NCCI were esoteric, here comes one that makes them look amazingly general. You’ll either yawn or be right on the edge of your chair… Chris Brigham, MD, senior editor of the AMA … Continue reading Workers comp Impairment ratings
Read More...A loose group of health care organizations, vendors, and providers, including hospitals, pharmaceutical manufacturers, medical device makers, physicians and labor organizations, will voluntarily reduce US health care spending by $2 trillion over the next ten years. According to a White … Continue reading Health industry commits to reducing costs. No, really!
Read More...Dennis Mealy, Chief Actuary at NCCI, got into the details with his State of the Line address at NCCI’s annual conference. We’ll focus on workers comp, but it’s important to remember comp is a part of the overall property and … Continue reading How’s work comp doing – the details
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