Health Wonk Review, economic stimulus & insurance, AIG, and choosing MDs for quality

March 5th, 2009 by Julie Ferguson

Brady Augustine of MedicaidFrontPage is this week’s host of Health Wonk Review – the Watchman Edition – catch up on this week’s buzz among health policy wonks.
In other news…
Economic stimulus & insurance – Robert Hartwig of the Insurance Information Institute discusses the potential impact of the economic stimulus plan on the insurance industry. He states that workers’ comp is the most likely beneficiary – the administration’s target of 3.5 million jobs would translate into $1.1 billion in private workers’ compensation premiums. He notes that any effects would not be likely to be seen until late 2010.
AIG – Our friend and colleague Joe Paduda has a post on The AIG breakup – implications for workers comp. Having previously been a manager at AIG, Joe has been in the media spotlight for commentary lately – check out some of his recent appearances on Fox news and his commentary in a New York Times article on AIG.
Quality over quantity – For workers’ comp medical networks, “less is more” is the operative rule. Peter Rousmaniere offers a seven-step process for selecting quality physicians for your medical provider network in his column in .