Posts Tagged ‘HWR’

Fresh Health Wonk Review at medicareresources.org blog – check it out!

Friday, February 10th, 2017

Steve Anderson has posted the latest and greatest Health Wonk Review – the #alternative_facts Edition at medicareresources.org blog.

The Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) is not all that’s on our wonks’ minds of late, but it certainly takes up a huge portion of the mind share as evidenced by the plethora of related posts. We are a diverse crew, though, so there are also posts about a variety of other topics: the reaction to/impact of the immigration ban on healthcare industry, best cancer treatments, the process of healthcare M&As, legal liability in the form of class action suits for a data breach. and workers comp. One thing we find: the contributors are all very knowledgeable people – even if a topic is not on your radar, it’s a good way to learn something new.

Two posts we think are particularly worth calling out:

If ACA is repealed, how many will max out on restored lifetime coverage caps?

If ACA is repealed, how many are at risk of losing coverage by U.S. Congressional District? (Data covers 35 states)

Fresh Health Wonk Review posted at Joe’s place

Friday, January 27th, 2017

As we embark on the second week of a new administration, Joe Paduda has posted Health Wonk Review’s Inauguration Edition at Managed Care Matters. Rather unsurprisingly, the Affordable Care Act is much on the minds of the wonks, so there’s quite a few posts dealing with various aspects of repeal and replace.

Related to the topic of this week’s health wonkery, Joe also has a post on his blog about how the demise of the ACA would impact workers comp, specifically. A key quote:

“If ACA is repealed without a simultaneous and credible replacement, we may well see a rise in the number of workers without health insurance. The key issue to track is a cutoff of funding for Medicaid expansion – ACA added about 13 million more employed people to the insured rolls; if they lose coverage they’ll need a different payer to cover their injuries. Bad news for workers’ comp.”

And we’d point you to one other not-to-miss post at Managed Care Matters – Beware of Astroturf, the infuriating story of the American Pain Foundation, an pharma industry sponsored opioid-peddling outfit masquerading as a patient advocacy organization.

A 10 year anniversary Health Wonk Review & more noteworthy news

Thursday, September 22nd, 2016

It’s Health Wonk Review week! Louise and Jay Norris host a special edition at Colorado Health Insurance – not only is it a mere 46 days to the next election so that has the wonkers opining – it is also the 10th blogging anniversary for the hosting blog – The “We’re Ten!” Edition of the Health Wonk Review. There are great entries from both the usual subjects and some fresh faces. Louise is a great host, framing everything nicely. Congratulations on 10 years of blogging, Louise & Jay. *clinks champagne glass*

More news of note

Just by way of coincidence, September is our birthday month here at Work Comp Insider, too – we launched in 2003! That makes us a grizzled old timer in Internet time.

Oklahoma and opt out– in case you missed it, the Oklahoma Supreme Court Ruled Workers’ Comp Opt-Out Unconstitutional:

Justice Watt, in the Court’s highly anticipated written decision, said the OWCC previously found the Opt Out Act: “1) constituted an unconstitutional special law; 2) denied equal protection to Oklahoma’s injured workers; and 3) denied injured workers the constitutionally protected right of access to courts.”

And the high court agreed, finding that the core provision of the Act “creates impermissible, unequal disparate treatment of a select group of injured workers.”

The PCI and AIA were quick to applaud the decision. Joe Paduda hopes this is the end to what he sees as the pointless debate about Opt-Out (we hope so too). Bob Wilson looks at some of the loose ends in the wake of this decision.

Psych indicators – Most of us in the industry are pretty familiar with triggers or warning signs that would indicate an accident investigation or the need for early medical intervention — but perhapsare  less familiar with indicators that might signal the need for a psychological evaluation. Our friends at Work Comp Psych Net have posted a handy reference list of Predictive Psychosocial Triggers For Workers’ Compensation Claims.

Obesity’s toll on WC – A new study in the September Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine shows that obese and overweight workers are more likely to incur high costs related to workers’ compensation claims for major injuries;

But for workers with major injuries, high BMI was associated with higher workers’ compensation costs. In this group, costs averaged about $470,000 for obese and $270,000 for overweight workers, compared to $180,000 for normal-weight workers.

After adjustment for other factors—including high-cost spinal surgeries or injections—obese or overweight workers with major injuries were about twice as likely to incur costs of $100,000 or higher. Body mass index had no effect on costs for closed claims or for less-severe injuries.

Safety Culture Does Not Exist!  – This is a half-hour podcast interview with Dr. Edgar Schein, Professor at MIT Sloan School of Management. Well worth a listen. We weren’t aware of this podcast series and it looks great: The Pre Accident Podcast is an ongoing discussion of Human Performance, Systems Safety, & Safety Culture. The Dr. Schein interview is the #88th edition!

Speaking of safety …. It’s Farm Safety & Health Week from September 18-24.

More news of note

Today’s must-read at Health Affairs Blog

Thursday, June 16th, 2016

ha-mastheadHWR

Get your health policy reading while it’s hot: Chris Fleming has posted A Pot Luck Health Wonk Review at Health Affairs Blog. The biweekly best of the health policy blogosphere usually includes many posts of interest – but this week’s edition seems particularly varied. Maybe because the health wonkers are going to take a bit of a summer hiatus – after this issue, we’ll only be up once a month in the summer, so get your fill of wonkery now.

If you are interested in health care news, then the Health Affairs Blog should be top of your reading list. It’s an adjunct of the prestigious Health Affairs, a  peer-reviewed journal of health policy thought and research. The blog regularly features commentary and analysis from noted health policy experts from a wide variety of perspectives, as well as regular Health Affairs contributors and staff. Health Affairs Blog has been cited in congressional testimony and by members of Congress. Media outlets that have cited the Blog include The New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, National Journal, Reuters, and many others.

Please join us for a HWR Blab (video conversation / text chat), Health Wonk Review On Air With HealthBlawg Tuesday, 06/21/2016 at 1:00 pm ET for half an hour. You can watch from here or sign in to Twitter account to log in.

Check out a fresh Health Wonk Review at HealthBlawg

Thursday, June 2nd, 2016

David Harlow has posted Health Wonk Review Is Bustin’ Out All Over at HealthBlawg. It’s a packed issue – don’t miss out on what all the health wonks are opining about.

This is part of David’s month long Festschrift of the Blogosphere, in celebration of his blog’s 10th Blogiversary. Ten years is an eternity in blog years, so kudos to David for being a consistent health policy voice in the independent blog world – and a smart and influential one at that!

Please join us for a HWR Blab (video conversation / text chat), Health Wonk Review On Air With HealthBlawg Tuesday, 06/7/2016 at 1:00 pm ET for half an hour. You can watch from here or sign in to Twitter account to log in.

New Health Wonk Review at Boston Health News

Friday, May 20th, 2016

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based health and science journalist Tinker Ready hosts the current edition of Health Wonk Review at her Boston Health News blog: The Health Wonk Review: HIT, LGBT and ACA. Check it out! It’s an eclectic edition covering a cornucopia of health policy topics.

And please join us for a HWR Blab (video conversation / text chat), Health Wonk Review On Air With HealthBlawg Tuesday, 05/24/2016 at 1:00 pm ET for half an hour. You can watch from here or sign in to Twitter account to log in.

New Health Wonk Review at Wright on Health

Thursday, May 5th, 2016

Check out the latest & greatest from the web’s noteworthy health policy pundits: Brad Wright has posted Health Wonk Review: Pivoting Towards the General Edition at Wright on Health. We’re 186 days away from the election but his edition is complete with hilarious photos of our next president so you’ll want to check it out.  Lots of good posts, too, from the usual suspects.

Please join the wonkers for a new multimedia experience (video conversation and text chat), Health Wonk Review On Air With HealthBlawg Tuesday, 05/10/2016 at 1 pm ET for half an hour. Watch it live here or click to login via Twitter.

Freshly posted Health Wonk Review: The Early Bird Catches the Worm Spring Edition

Thursday, April 21st, 2016

Peggy Salvatore has posted Health Wonk Review: The Early Bird Catches the Worm Spring Edition at Health System Ed Blog . Get the latest on ACA, P4P, ACO, CMS and much, much more from the best health wonks in the blogosphere.

And now – another way to follow Health Wonk Review – please join us for a Blab, a video conversation / text chat: Health Wonk Review On Air With HealthBlawg next Tuesday, April 12, at 1 pm ET for half an hour. You can view it here, or sign in using a Twitter account to log in. Join us live, or watch the replay here later if you can’t make it at #healthwonkreview blab

New Health Wonk Review, New Host: ACASignups.net

Thursday, March 24th, 2016

Charles Gaba has posted an all-new Health Wonk Review: ACA Anniversary Edition! at the ACASignups.net blog. It’s an eclectic and robust issue covering an array of topics.

Charles is a new host to HWR and we are delighted with his participation – particularly on this, the 6th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. Health wonks, policy analysts and the mainstream news media alike all turn to Charles and ACASignups.net to track enrollments in the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. In addition to numbers tracking, his site’s blog is a favored stop. Go there to check out this week’s Heath Wonk Review but also to poke around his site. If it’s not a regular bookmark yet, it should be!

Fresh Health Wonk Review posted at Health Business Blog; WCRI recap

Friday, March 11th, 2016

Grab a coffee and head over to David Williams’ Health Business Blog for this week’s dose of health wonkery:  Health Wonk Review: Tales of the Trump. And while there, don’t miss David’s 11th blog birthday roundup of best posts from the prior year.

Tom Lynch is at WCRI conference yesterday and today – you can see some of his recaps here on the blog. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

If you didn’t make it to the conference, no worries. You can follow along with a list of people who are live tweeting the conference.

Other folks blogging the WCRI conference