Week of the Carnivals – we are a tad tardy in posting to last week’s great issue of Health Wonk Review, hosted over at Ezra Klein’s blog. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ezra, he is a journalist and a regular commentator on health policy issues. His work has appeared in The LA Weekly, The Washington Monthly, and The LA Times, and he contributes regularly to Tapped, the blog of The American Prospect. Also, this week’s edition of Cavalcade of Risk is hot off the presses, hosted by Spencer Hill of Hill’s Personal Finance, a blog that’s well worth a visit in its own right.
Ohio Watch – In the shadow of the Thomas Noe rare coin trial, which is well underway, we learn of a new criminal investigation underway involving the troubled Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation – Toledo Blade reports that the special investigations unit and internal auditors at BWC are probing potential premium manipulation.
Market trends – Joe Paduda discusses a CIAB survey of underwriters that points to the fact that P&C market is continuing to soften, noting that “workers comp rates have been affected more than most lines, with almost 90% of larger risks seeing flat to negative renewal rates.”
Health and safety – As usual, there are many items worth your attention at Confined Space. Here are a few: Jordan reminds us that on average, two workers a day die in falls and how yesterday was no exception; tells us that popcorn lung is surfacing in Wisconsin; and in his provocatively titled post Who’s Sleeping with the Secretary of Labor, he examines the political influences on Elain Chao and how those influences affect miners and farm workers.
Health care polls – Bob Vineyard at Insure Blog has posted about a survey of consumer attitudes on health care – with some surprising results. The post is generating a lively discussion in the comments section.
Wellness initiatives – If you have any wellness fairs planned for your company, you may want to double check to ensure your wellness initiatives are not violating federal or state discrimination statutes, such as the ADA. A post by Tina Simson at HR Web Cafe informs us about the issue and tells us how the how the Department of Labor is issuing guidance for initiatives that may have a disparate impact on any group of employees.
Carpal tunnel ruling – Roberto Ceniceros of Business Insurance reports on an Illinois Supreme Court ruling that overturned two lower courts in awarding compensation to a worker for a carpal tunnel injury.
