Catch up on your Health Policy Wonkery for the summer – Jennifer Salopek has posted Health Wonk Review: Polar Vortex Edition at Wing Of Zock. It’s a great edition and one of only two to be published during the abbreviated summer schedule, so get your wonk fix now!
Up? Down? Sideways? What’s up with health care costs? – Joe Paduda: “First, let’s not confuse “costs” with “insurance premiums”. Unfortunately, many mass media outlets don’t understand that insurance premiums are not costs…which certainly contributes to the confusion … Second, let’s not confuse “price” with “cost”, as this report does.”
NCCI data reveal need for new model for workers’ comp claims management – “What’s easy to notice and applaud is the industry’s improvement. Not only is the 2013 workers’ comp combined ratio of 101 far from the 2001 peak of 122, it is also a seven-point improvement over the previous year. However, the improvement represented in this data must be considered carefully, as the second, more telling story highlights a systemic problem the industry has yet to reconcile.”
It’s Just Work Comp – DePaolo: “…why is there so much controversy in workers’ compensation?”
Can You Link Insurance Premiums To Smoking? – “Another recent study found that smokers missed an average of 6.16 days of work per year as opposed to the 3.86 days missed by non-smokers, and that a smoker taking four 10-minute smoke breaks actually worked one month less over the course of a year than a non-smoking employee. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate that each smoking employee costs a company an additional $3,391 per year – including $1,760 in lost productivity and $1,623 in excess medical expenses. So, smoking employees seem to be an excellent target to help an employer manage its costs, and not just the cost of providing healthcare.”
CDC: Opioid Painkiller Prescribing Varies Widely Among States – “Health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for opioid painkillers in 2012 – many more in some states than in others – according to a Vital Signs report recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that highlights the danger of overdose. The report also has an example of a state that reversed its overdose trend.”
News Briefs
- CDC’s Firefighter Fatality Map
- Can businesses work without bosses?
- After Lapses, C.D.C. Admits a Lax Culture at Labs
- WCRI Releases New Edition of Its Medical Price Index for Workers’ Compensation
- Demolition-site deaths prompt OSHA to update safety resources
- Fanny Pack Mixup Unravels Massive Medicare Fraud Scheme
- A Lawsuit Peeks Inside the Goldman Sachs ‘Boys’ Club’
- Obscure Rule Restricts Health Law’s Expansion of Care for Addicts
- Don’t hire your next bad claim: Safety in the workplace
- Data-driven scheduling predicts patient no-shows
- Employee-driven Non-compete Litigation: A New Hook on an Old Line
- Survey reveals small business owners overlook safety training for summer student employees
- North Carolina, Workers’ Compensation Is Not An Immigration Control Device
- 9 Presidents and the jobs that got them started
- This Company Saved A Lot Of Money By Tracking Their Employees With Fitbits
- NY Governor Cuomo Signs Bill to Establish Comprehensive Medical Marijuana Program
- Protect footballers from concussion risk, says journal
- How to Understand Air Pollution and be Prepared for High Risk Days
- Rates of Uninsured by State Before & After Obamacare
- Brace Yourself: Judges Are About to Rule on Obamacare Again
