Brad Wright has a super excellent edition of Health Wonk Review: The Game 7 of Politics Edition. His post skillfully ties two of America’s favorite and most contentious pastimes together: sports and politics. Many good entries from the web’s best health wonks: the ACA, the rigged healthcare system, the Internet of Things and more – check it out.
… and in other news that caught our attention:
Drug spend is down by 8.7% – according to CompPharma’s 13th Annual Survey of Prescription Drug Management in Workers’ Compensation. “Payers credited tighter clinical management, better integration with their pharmacy benefit managers, and prescriber interventions for the decrease. All have opioid management programs to limit the number of initial opioid prescriptions and/or decrease morphine equivalents across as many claims as medically appropriate.”
Will Zika be a work comp issue? That’s an issue being raised by two Miami Beach police who believe their illness was work related. One cop “…was originally granted workers’ compensation, only for the city to yank it away from her days later. The other officer was denied outright.” Their union is going to bat for them. Union Says Miami Beach Cops Caught Zika on Duty, But City Won’t Pay Their Bills
Injury rates are plummeting, insurance premium rates are flat or dropping, medical costs are down as well. Joe Paduda talks about what’s really happening in workers’ comp.
If I knew then: Conference Chronicles offers Lessons Learned from Retiring Insurance Executives, a panel at the 2016 PCI Annual Meeting.
Roberto Ceniceros offers kudos to employers who are building injured-worker advocacy programs.
At Working Immigrants, Peter Rousmaniere keeps us up-to-date about demographics and trends. His latest post of note offers a perspective on the Hispanic vote on November 8.
Quick takes
- U.S. Supreme Court Rejects FL Workers’ Comp Case
- California Rules About Violence Against Health Workers Could Become A Model
- Unused dental surgery prescriptions may help fuel opioid epidemic
- New JOEM Review Shows Mental and Physical Toll of Workplace Fatigue
- CWCI Study Shows Regional Differences Among California Workers’ Comp Claims
- As Freelancers’ Ranks Grow, New York Moves to See They Get What They’re Due
- SAMHSA Releases App to Help in Treating Opioid Abusers
- Read about the Don Blankenship Appeal
- Obesity and Hiring
- Who Wins in the Gig Economy, and Who Loses
- Reducing Deaths Inside Walk-in Freezers
- Employers On the Hook for Navy Yard Massacre
- What to Expect in Commercial Insurance Pricing in 2017
- Insurance buyers see favorable rates as soft market continues
