Our colleague David Williams hosts the Cavalcade of Risk #198: Short and sweet edition. He always does a terrific job hosting the roundups – and if healthcare is on your radar, his blog should be a regular read.
Group Health Plans Pay for ‘Zero-Cost’ Workers’ Compensation Claims – study by Abay Asfaw, PhD, and colleagues of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health published in the December Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).
Businesses Object To Posting On-Job Injuries Online – OSHA wants to make records of on-the-job injuries by employer easily available on a website. It says that would lead to safer workplaces. Manufacturers and businesses are objecting, arguing the data could be misinterpreted.
The other ways health care will change – Joe Paduda recaps some of the points he is making at a talk before the New York Academy of Medicine. In other ACA news, Jonathon Cohn talks about The Obamacare Flaw That Worries Me the Most; Sarah Kliff reports that Since October, 1.2 million have gained Obamacare coverage: 803 via Medicaid and 365 via exchanges. In Medicaid, here are the next 5 battleground states. This is significant because there are reports that hospitals are closing in states that blocked Medicaid expansion. In other news, three states are implementing transparency measures: More healthcare cost transparency for MA, NH [and NC] consumers.
Severity Trends by Undeveloped Size of Loss – NCCI research report.
10 Strategies to Combat the Rx Abuse Epidemic – An Insurer’s Perspective – In October 2013, the Trust For America’s Health (TFAH) issued a report titled, “Prescription Drug Abuse: Strategies to Stop the Epidemic” identifying ten strategies being employed at the State level.This article provides a brief recap of the strategies and shares some insurance company considerations.
In this one year anniversary of the horrific shooting at Newtown, how are we doing? USA has made slight progress on mental health since Newtown; Meanwhile, Two-thirds of gun laws passed since Newtown massacre eased gun regulation – and in that year, about 8-10x the number of children killed in Newtown have been killed by guns. The New York Times issues a report Children and Guns: The Hidden Toll, which attempts a census of accidental gun deaths of children but finds a pattern of underreporting due to idiosyncrasies in the way deaths are recorded. They looked at 259 deaths of children under age 15, while a report from Mother Jones documents 194 children under the age of 12.
News Briefs
- BLS: Employer Costs for Employee Compensation
- The Lobotomy Files: Forgotten documents reveal government lobotomy of U.S. troops
- Firms that Don’t Publish Corporate Responsibility Reports Are ‘Swimming Against the Tide’
- Leadership Lessons from Nelson Mandela
- DePaolo: Comp IS Complicated
- Volcker Rule: A Tall Order and a Small Victory
- Atlanta pays about $1 million a month in worker’s comp claims, a higher rate than national average
- Frostbite: A seasonal prevention/safety issue
- Study aims to boost safety in construction
