Health Wonk Review — The “Just the Facts, Ma’am” Edition – hosted by Vince Kuraitis at e-CareManagement – Dragnet fans take note!
NCCI report on medical benefits – The medical share of total losses has grown dramatically — from just over 40% in the early 1980s to almost 60% today. NCCI takes a closer look: Analyzing the Shift in the Medical Share of Total Benefits (PDF)
Price hikes forecasted – economists at Swiss Re are predicting a deep recession and price hardening across all lines of insurance through 2010, insurance and reinsurance inclusive.
Walmart death – This topic has been making waves in the law blogs. Troy Rosasco talks about the likelihood that exclusive remedy will preempt any lawsuits in the case of the trampling death of a Walmart employee in a post-Thanksgiving sale stampede, and talks about how the retailer could face criminal investigations. Of course, that doesn’t mean that lawsuits haven’t been filed – Eric Turkewitz updates us on the family bringing suit; Walter Olson offers his perspective on “5 minute after” suits. My colleague Jon had blogged about this last week: Walmart’s Killer Bargains.
Can you say Joint & Several liability? – a recent study profiled in Risk and Insurance shows that small business owners are not fully aware of the financial risks involved in obtaining workers’ compensation insurance through self-insured groups. Despite several high-profile failures, “…85 percent of respondents indicated that they had not seen, read or heard about the closure of several self-insured groups over the past year. More than one-half (58 percent) of respondents reported that they were unaware that companies belonging to self-insured groups remain financially responsible — often for years — for the claims of all companies in their group, not just their own businesses.” See: joint & several liability.
Fumes and confined space – We noted a sad story last month about two amateur winemakers in France who died after being overcome by fumes while trampling grapes. While this might sound like unusual circumstances, the issue of confined space and the danger of fumes is a significant agricultural risk. Hydrogen dioxide-related deaths (PDF) also occur in manure pits – there have been several instances when rescuers enter the pit only to succumb to the fumes as well.
Tags: confined space, economy, fumes, health policy, joint and several liability, laws, rates, self insurance
