Health Wonk Review, Compensability Challenges, Accommodations & More

March 14th, 2013 by Julie Ferguson

Chewy Health Wonk Review – David Williams has posted Health Wonk Review: A Lot to Chew On at Health Business Blog. – and he is right, with the Affordable Care Act implementation proceeding, he notes that it is “the golden era for health wonks.” When you stop by David’s place, drop a note of congratulations – he is celebrating his 8 year blogiversary, which, in Internet years, is very old indeed.
CompensabilityRisk & Insurance features an interesting case study by Jared Shelly that deals with compensability as it relates to business travel in From Russia, Without Love. After his business was completed, 60-year-old American executive decided to see “the sights” in Moscow and mayhem ensued. Are injuries sustained in a shady barroom compensable? Click to see the adjuster’s decision. And for another interesting study in compensability: She got food poisoning in the company break room; does she get workers’ comp?
Accommodations – Jon Hyman of Ohio Employer’s Law Blog offers tips for what to do if you doubt an employee’s disability. It’s worth checking out – a Los Angeles waste disposal company made the wrong choices and was awarded $21.7 million by a jury.
Caveat Emptor – Sarah Kliff of Washington Post’s Wonkblog looks at how much anankele MRI costs in the D.C, area and finds that prices range from $400 to $1,861. She talks to John Driscoll, president of Castlight Health, a firm that studies and is dedicated to improving healthcare cost transparency.
Changing workforce – In the United States, 10,000 baby boomers reach 65 every day, and many retire, taking with them valuable experience, skills and loyalty to their employers. Ed Pound looks at global labor trends and the impact on the insurance industry in his article The Stagnant Labor Pool, which appears in this month’s Leader’s Edge.
Blankenship Addendum – earlier in the week, we posted about the ongoing criminal investigation into the UBB mine disaster. Since that posting, Ken Ward has updated his site with a transcript of proceedings which was recently made available.
Fraudster of the weekBoston Bus Driver Convicted In Staged Shooting. Her actual criminal conviction was not for the related workers’ comp, but for deliberately misleading an investigator, which is a felony under the state’s witness intimidation statute.
More News of Note