Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
The private equity and venture capital folks have been prowling around the WC managed care world for a couple of years now, looking for opportunities to invest their hard-solicited cash. Firms have invested in PBMs (MSC and Cypress Care), bill … Continue reading So, you want to invest in workers comp managed care?
Read More...Massachusetts’ health reform plan is going to cost far more than projected – $1.35 billion annually within three years. That’s compared to the original estimate of $725 million. That’s bad, right? Actually, it’s not all bad. Projected costs are increasing … Continue reading Massachusetts – bad news and good news
Read More...What does the Florida GOP primary say about voters’ views on health care? At first blush, they aren’t concerned.
Read More...My post on the GOP Presidential candidates and universal coverage elicited more than a few responses, most of which were cordial and helpful. Several took exception to the poll I cited (conducted by GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio’s firm) noting (accurately) … Continue reading UPDATE – What do Republicans really think about Universal coverage?
Read More...My post on HSAs earlier this week struck a few nerves, with several coming to the defense of HSA. Some raised good points; others appeared to misunderstand the point of the original post. Let’s start with an easy one. A … Continue reading Touchy readers
Read More...NCCI’s latest report on drug costs makes for pretty compelling reading. At least among those of us who find this stuff remotely interesting. The report, published this November, adds much-needed depth to our understanding of the factors driving drug costs. … Continue reading Drug utilization in comp: more details
Read More...The RAND Health Insurance Experiment study demonstrated that people factored in costs when making decisions about utilizing health care services. And cost-sharing reduced hospitalizations by about 25%, with little to no negative effect on health status. For 25 years, this … Continue reading RAND – right or wrong?
Read More...If GOP Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani had been a British resident, he may well have died of prostate cancer. At least that’s what he claims. He’s wrong.
Read More...I’ve always been a ‘non-advocate’ of tight fee schedules and broad based discounted networks. Actually it’s a little more than that – I believe mandated across-the-board low fees are counterproductive, ill-conceived, harmful, and may actually increase costs while decreasing access … Continue reading What happens when a fee schedule goes up?
Read More...I’m attending the annual WCRI meeting in Boston today and tomorrow, and will be blogging from the meeting. For those not up on all things workers comp, the workers comp research institute is, along with NCCI and the CWCI, among … Continue reading WCRI conference report – how’s Texas doing?
Read More...