Posts Tagged ‘prescription drugs’

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Health Wonks, drug epidemic, ACA mandate, exploding hog farms & more

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

Health Wonk Review – Jason Shafrin has posted the Health Wonk Review: More than Birth Control Pills edition at Healthcare Economist. And there is indeed much more than birth control in this issue: politics, health care reform, the Affordable Care Act, and a grab bag of other timely topics. Check it out!
CDC calls prescription drug problem “epidemic” – The CDC weighs in on the prescription drug abuse problem, calling it “epidemic” and “the fastest growing drug problem in the United States.” Risk & Insurance offers a concise summary. And on the same theme is a story about how New Jersey has implemented a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. “In unveiling the program last month, state officials related that one patient obtained more than 2,500 doses of oxycodone and methadone in a four-week period. The patient presented what are now believed to be forged prescriptions to three pharmacies on 14 separate occasions, spread out his visits among the pharmacies, and paid sometimes with cash and sometimes by insurance.”
Affordable Care Act: What if… – What if the Supreme Court overturns the mandate? At Managed Care Matters, Joe Paduda looks at what the repeal of the mandate would mean for workers comp.
Marijuana & impairment Roberto Ceniceros recently discussed the issue of marijuana use and impairment. He cites a recent Louisiana appeals-court ruling that upheld benefits for an injured worker who showed positive in a post-injury test for consumption of marijuana and a prescription drug.
Emerging Risks: Exploding Hog Farms – Hog farmers take note: the Minnesota Daily covers reports of a mysterious foam that has caused Midwest swine barns to unexpectedly explode. The foam can build up to heights of four feet on manure pits. “The foam traps gases like methane and when a spark ignites it causes an explosion. About a half dozen barns in the Midwest have exploded since the foam was discovered in 2009. / In mid-September 2011, a barn in Iowa was added to the growing number of barns taken down by the foam. In the explosion, 1,500 pigs were lost, and one worker was injured.”
Contractors in conflict zones – At Risk Management Monitor, Jared Wade discusses contractor deaths in Afghanistan as reported in a recent New York Times article. He notes that, “In 2011, for the first time, there were more civilian contractors working for U.S. companies that died in Afghanistan than there were U.S. soldiers.” He follows up with excerpts and links to a prior Risk Management story on working in the world’s most dangerous locations
Economy & Insurance – Global financial woes will not derail the economy, according to Robert Hartwig, President and Economist at the Insurance Information Institute, who has been a reliable forecaster and source of information on both the overall economy and the impact on the insurance industry. He sees opportunities for insurers beyond waiting for rate increases. Read more in Chad Hemenway’s story at Propertycasualty360: Hartwig: U.S. Insurers Should Look at ‘New Trajectory of Growth’
Aging & Construction Work – The Center for Construction Research and Training analyzed 100,000 workers comp construction industry claims for the
state of Colorado to understand the relationship between the claimant
age and costs by the causes and natures of injuries and illnesses. Consistent with other aging studies, the report says “Older construction workers filed a small percentage of the total workers’ compensation claims; however, when they did file a claim the associated costs were greater.” Review the key findings: The Role of Age on the Cause, Type, Nature and Cost of Construction Injuries (PDF)
News briefs

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Risk roundup, student athletes, pharma report, misclassification, war of the giants & more

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

Cavalcade of Risk – The Terrorism, CyberWar, Floods, Bad Mortgages, Robberies, Investment Losses and Disease Edition of Cavalcade of Risk is hot off the press and posted by Jaan Sidorov at Disease Management Care Blog. Check it out!
Tribute to Workers – A few weeks ago, we made a 9/11 memorial post, which focused heavily on the event, the aftermath, and the losses. More recently, we came upon an excellent New York Times feature that focuses on portraits and stories of workers who are rebuilding the World Trade Center, the largest construction project in the United States. It’s a positive testament to the future, to resilience, and to some great American workers. The rebuilding effort has employed 3,200 workers. NYT features more about the WTC rebuilding project.
Student Athletes? – Jared Wade posts about how the NCAA Has Used the Term “Student-Athlete” to Avoid Paying Workers Comp Liabilities – part of a longer article that The Atlantic featured on college sports. Wade notes that, “For our purposes, however, the most interesting excerpt chronicles the how and the why of the NCAA’s creation and widespread promotion of the term “student-athlete.” According to Branch, the main reason that former NCAA head Walter Byers, in his own words, “crafted the term student-athlete” and soon made sure it was “embedded in all NCAA rules and interpretations” was because it was an excellent defense against being held liable for workers compensation benefits that those injured in athletic competition could seek.”
Prescription Drugs – NCCI has issued Workers Compensation Prescription Drug Study: 2011 UPDATE (PDF), a 31 page report. The key findings:
*The indicated Rx share of total medical is 19%; this is slightly higher than the estimate given in our 2010 update
*OxyContin climbs from the number 3 WC drug in Service Year 2008 to number 1 in Service Year 2009
*Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen drops from the top WC drug in Service Year 2008 to number 3 in Service Year 2009
*Recent overall cost increases are driven more by utilization increases than by price increases
*Physician dispensing continues to increase in Service Year 2009 in almost every state
*Increased physician dispensing is associated with increased drug costs per claim *Per-claim Rx costs vary significantly by state
At Managed Care Matters, Joe Paduda offers his educated observations on the pharmacy study.
Agricultural worker protections – Laura Walter of EHS Today writes about A Disposable Work Force: Farm Worker Advocates Push for Agricultural Worker Protections. Her article focuses on a new report published by the advocacy organization Farmworker Justice which criticizes the H-2A temporary guest work visa program. The report claims that it makes agricultural workers vulnerable to poor working conditions. Farm worker advocates argue that to improve these conditions, foreign agricultural workers should be able to seek legal immigration status.
Battle of the giants – In catching up on a backlog of blog reading, we find a post from Roberto Ceniceros’ Comp Time of great interest. It focuses on the battle of the giants chronicling the ongoing dispute between two workers’ comp behemoths, AIG and Liberty Mutual. The dispute is being fought in court, and now in the court of public opinion via dueling websites.
Hunt for misclassification is getting muscle – The Department of Labor and the IRS will be teaming up with other federal agencies and the labor departments of 11 states to share information that will help to track down employers that misclassify workers. For more on this, see Jon Gelman’s post, US Dept of Labor Moves Aggressively on Misclassification of Employees and Dave DePaolo’s post One Way to ID Scofflaw Employers: IRS Co Op
Social Media – The more we use Twitter, the more we like it – we’ve certainly come across some great users and learned about some great pointers and links to breaking news. One Twitter user we’ve found particularly helpful is Kyle Thill posting for @ToyotaEquipment, a forklift dealership from Minneapolis. With 15,000+ followers, he must be doing something right! Safety is one of the ongoing themes of his posts, so if that’s of interest to you, he’s a good Twitter user to follow. He also issues The #Safety Daily Update, which is a curated “newspaper” of web-related safety matters. It’s worth checking out.
Signs of life for the elusive hard market – At Terms + Conditions, Claire Wilkinson talks about an uptick in commercial insurance prices as reported by Tower Watson’s latest commercial lines pricing survey.
Administrative note – We’ve shut down comments due to an unbelievable flood of comment spam. We’re sorry about that – but we don’t have the time to deal with it. If we come up with any new magical solutions to curtail it (we’ve tried many) we may reinstate comments at a later time.

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Florida is getting tough on the pill mills

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

Florida doctors bought 89% of all the Oxycodone sold to practitioners nationwide last year and thousands of outside visitors flocked to the state to buy drugs at the 1,000+ pain clinics. But armed with new legislation, the state is cracking down hard by shutting down pill mills and suspending the licenses of about 80 physicians who were high-volume prescribers. And physicians are now generally barred from dispensing narcotics from their offices. In October, things will get even tougher as a new prescription drug monitoring system will be implemented.
Lizette Alvarez reports on on the Florida pill mill crackdown in The New York Times, stating that “As a result, doctors’ purchases of Oxycodone, which reached 32.2 million doses in the first six months of 2010, fell by 97 percent in the same period this year.” This article has some eye-opening observations about the scope of the prescription drug problem: “Last year, seven people died in Florida each day from prescription drug overdoses, a nearly 8 percent increase from 2009. This is far more than the number who died from illegal drugs, and the figure is not expected to drop much this year.”
You can read more about how authorities are going after medical licenses of over-prescribers in a Miami Herald article by Audra Burch. This article discusses some egregious abuses, including a physician who dispenses from the back of a car and an office with long lines waiting outside and many cars with out-of-state license plates in the parking lot.
Related Resources
The issue of physician dispensing is one that our colleague Joe Paduda has covered extensively. See:
Physician dispensing – Exactly how much more does it cost?
Why Florida’s work comp costs are heading up
Florida’s dispensing legislation clarified
The issue of transparency related to a physician’s relationship with pharmaceutical companies is one that ProPublica has been taking on in their Dollars for Doctors campaign. See:
Patients Deserve to Know What Drug Companies Pay Their Doctor
Piercing the Veil, More Drug Companies Reveal Payments to Doctors
For more about Prescription Monitoring Programs, see:
Alliance of States with Prescription Monitoring Programs – The Alliance was formed in 1990 to provide a forum for the exchange of information and ideas among state and federal agencies on prescription monitoring programs. Since then, it has grown to be a valuable resource to all those concerned with combating the increase in prescription drug abuse, misuse and diversion. Currently, 48 states and one territory either have operating Prescription Monitoring Programs, or have passed legislation to implement them.

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Health Wonk Review’s Health Policy Heat Wave and assorted work comp news briefs

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Joe Paduda has posted a steamy Health Policy Heat Wave edition of Health Wonk Review over at Managed Care Matters. He notes that “Far from the summer doldrums, activity related to the debt limit, IPAB, Medicare reform and Health Exchanges is at a late-September pace.” Get in on the action, Joe always hosts a lively and informed edition.
Coming & Going – Roberto Ceniceros discusses the compensability case of a NC public school principal who was shot while driving to work. This is an interesting case because the principal was conducting phone business on a school-issued phone while commuting and he was also paid for travel expenses. He was awarded benefits, but the case is headed for appeals court. Ceniceros notes that injuries that occur during a commute generally are not compensable. He also notes that this might be some of the earliest case law on this issue. And with the brave new world of ubiquitous work enabled by mobile devices, it surely won’t be the last.
Radical change – Peter Rousmaniere talks about the recent Illinois workers’ comp reform and the radical change that the reform signified for workers’ comp, change that he notes has largely gone unnoticed. He discusses two significant issues that surfaced in the reform: the “nuclear option,” which Rousmaniere noted “freaked out almost everyone” – yet despite the dramatic language, an opt-out or non-subscribe program has long existed in Texas. The second issue that he notes is “an easy-to-overlook provision” that allows for union carve outs, which he discusses in greater detail. Peter’s take on all things workers’ comp is always well worth reading.
FL CFO tackles check-cashing fraud – WorkCompWire reports that the Florida CFO will be reviewing check cashing services for collusion in workers’ comp fraud, which is said to be diverting more than a billion dollars from Florida’s economy. According to CFO Jeff Atwater, this latest workers’ compensation premium scheme is highly organized and orchestrated by individuals who know the construction and subcontracting industry and are intent on evading payment of workers’ compensation premiums.
MA AG recoups millions in drug overcharges – In the latest of a series of settlements, Rite-Aid will pay $2.1 Million to resolve allegations of prescription drug overcharges. The settlement is the 5th in a series of similar settlements, the result of an investigation by Attorney General Coakley’s office into prescription drug overcharges by pharmacies to public entities under the workers compensation insurance system. Settlements now total $7.9 million. Walgreens recently settled for for $2.8 million. Other pharmacies with settlements include CVS, Shaws Supermarkets, and Stop & Shop. Recouped money will be returned to cities and towns.
OH BWC publishes Facebook fraud page – If you commit workers comp fraud in Ohio, you may find your photo on Facebook. Yesterday, we posted about workers’ comp and social media, so we were interested to see that the Ohio Bureau of Workers Comp has launched a special investigations Facebook page. It will include news on recent investigatory action, a most-wanted section and a link to report fraud. The page can be found at www.facebook.com/ohiobwcfraud
World’s scariest job? – If not the scariest, it certainly is a contender: Chinese Road Workers. For other scary jobs, see our post on the workers on the cruise from Hell and the untethered tower workers. I’ll stick with blogging, thanks.
Quick takes

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Pharma in Parma

Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

Dr. Jean Zannoni, 77, runs a family practice in Parma, Ohio. It would be a mistake to assume that by specializing in families, she is not interested in treating injured workers. She treats them all right – to pill after pill after pill. She was recently sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay more than $7,500 in fines and restitution after pleading guilty to theft, attempted workers’ compensation fraud and telecommunications fraud.
According to authorities, two Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) undercover agents were provided narcotic medications without proper medical examinations and BWC was billed improperly for the office visit.
Dr. Zannoni instructed her staff (in writing!) to bill all injured workers under the same code and charge BWC $75, regardless of the circumstances of the visit. She also manipulated “pain” ratings to ensure that patients qualified for narcotics. And she continued to prescribe narcotics to patients who were known doctor shoppers, even after receiving warnings from pharmacies, parents, spouses, social service agencies and police departments. Some family, some practice.
A Microcosm
In the scheme of things, Dr. Zannoni is a bit player. But when you try to figure out how narcotics became such a major cost driver in workers comp, you have to take into account doctors like Zannoni, who parlay a little pain into big profits.
Given the scale of her crimes – she overbilled WBC by $65,000 – the penalties in this case (small fine plus probation) seem a bit modest. On the other hand, the (Feel)Good doctor, at 77, is probably nearing the end of her practice, which may well have played into the decision to let her off relatively lightly.
Ironically, if you Google her name, Zannoni’s patient ratings are uniformly high (pun intended). One anonymous patient even commented on an article describing her conviction as follows:

This is one of the sweetest most nieve (sic) people on ths planet. I know her personally and she has no idea what goes on. All she knows is how to do is practice medicine and nothing about finances at all. God bless her and I hope everything works out for her sake.

We’ll let that stand as written. And one thing is certain: those seeking pills in Parma may not be able to count on Dr. Zannoni any longer, but surely they will find other sources to make their pain go away, to get a little buzzed, and, who knows, make a little money on the side.

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Chronic pain management in workers’ comp

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Recently, I attended the 2010 Health and Productivity Forum jointly sponsored by the Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI) and the National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH) in San Antonio. I had been invited to participate in a panel discussion by Gary Anderberg, of Broadspire, who, as I have written previously, is one of the smartest people I’m fortunate to know.
With me on the panel were Dan Shaughnessy, Director of Disability Programs, Textron, Inc., and Mike Machanich, Chief Executive Officer, Workers’ Comp Solutions. Gary’s charge to us was to discuss the effect of national health care reform on workers’ compensation. Thanks a bunch, Gary. But we had a stimulating discussion as we opened that colossal can of worms. I’ll write more about this in another post. One of the issues our panel tossed around was chronic pain. We’ve written about chronic pain many times over the last few years. Here are links to a couple of the relevant posts:Workers Comp Drugs: Paying too much…For the Wrong Medicines!; The Pain Conundrum.
Our concern is that the treatment of chronic pain often involves what is to us a highly problematic overutilization of narcotics. So, I was a bit surprised to learn of Broadspire’s well thought out and relatively holistic approach to treating this debilitating and often times life-changing medical condition. With that in mind, I invited Broadspire’s medical team to submit a guest blog post for the Insider. Our one requirement was that it be informative to our readers, but not a self-serving advertisement for Broadspire. The company accepted our invitation, and what follows is Broadspire’s approach to the treatment of chronic pain. I’d be remiss if I didn’t add that Broadspire is not a client of Lynch Ryan’s and our publication of this guest blog post does not constitute an endorsement of the company’s products or services.
Chronic Pain Management Matters
Candy Raphan RN, BSN, ARNP, MAOM and Dr Jacob Lazarovic, MD, FAAFP, Broadspire
In 2006, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its 30th annual report on the health status of America, “Health, United States, 2006” which found that the overall health of the nation seemed to be improving or holding steady, but highlighted one particular condition as needing further attention: pain.
Pain is a common and troubling condition around the world. In a 2005 European study, it was estimated that 20% of the world’s population deals with some form of chronic pain. In Europe, chronic pain accounts for over 30 billion euros in lost productivity. In 2002, an American study found common pain conditions caused 13% of workers to experience a loss of productivity over a two-week period. The estimated cost to corporate America was $61.2 billion dollars that year. In fact, pain has been such a prominent health care issue that the 106th U.S. Congress passed Title VI, Sec. 1603, of H.R. 3244, declaring the period between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2010 the “Decade of Pain Control and Research.”
Solutions
Conventional treatment of chronic pain is time-consuming and often very expensive, particularly for those claims that continue without resolution over the course of several years. For this reason, it is important that employers and payers understand the dynamics and drivers of the costs associated with chronic pain. By employing a focused, multi-disciplinary clinical approach very costly segments can be targeted. It is then possible to effectively manage chronic pain from the overall costs associated with medical care and treatment as well as loss of a productive workforce.
Using evidence-based medicine to create a plan of action for those individuals with inadequately managed chronic pain promotes optimum results. Medical management programs can provide information and resources to the claimant’s current treating doctors, clinics and hospitals. These types of consultations with providers help achieve the following objectives:

  • Safe, rational and effective management of the chronic pain population
  • Maximized functionality and return to work
  • Management of medical costs
  • Focused and designated processes/people to reduce internal duplication of effort
  • Documented and measurable results and ROI metrics

How It Works
Broadspire’s Chronic Pain Program, for example, uses a defined and rigorous process. After an initial eligibility assessment, a team of specialty physicians and nurses reviews the medical and psychosocial aspects of each case. The team establishes a list set of customized strategies in the form of recommendations to ultimately achieve the goals and objectives for each case. The team then monitors the impact of interventions during subsequent meetings and follows the case through to timely resolution.
The key to the program is the expertise clinical and claim professionals bring to each claim. A highly experienced staff performs the data analysis, oversight and management of the process. An expert panel of specialized pain physicians (anesthesiologists, physiatrists, orthopedists, and psychologists or psychiatrists) provides guidance. Other contracted resources such as selected, accredited pain management facilities and urine drug monitoring labs help ensure that patients are compliant with prescribed regimens.
A Chronic Pain Program has the power to make a sizable difference. With proven methods, resources, and expertise it can provide the support and control to help employees beat pain back and return to productivity.

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News Roundup” Cavalcade of Risk, networks, docs & drugs, scandal watch & more

Friday, May 11th, 2007

Carnival time – Cavalcade of Risk #25 is posted at Getting Green. Among other fine entries, we note there are two posts about data security. In one case, the Transportion Security Office lost the records of 100,000 workers – great, that speaks well to their ability to protect us! And in another item, we learn that Chase is careless in disposing of sensitive client materials – and they are obviously not the only ones. Not good. Is your agent, insurer or TPA properly disposing of any claim-related data and records for your organization? You may want to add this item to things you check for in renewals or RFPs.
WC networks – Joe Paduda has some thoughts on the future of workers compensation networks. After meeting with several network executives at the recent RIMS meeting, he sees a definite continuation of the trend away from the national broad-based, discount-oriented networks to regional hybrid networks. Not sure what a Hybrid network is? Joe offers a good explanation in his post. His expert analysis on these matters is worth your attention.
Docs & Drugs – Those free drug samples that physicians hand out may not be such a good idea after all, or so says a recent article in the New York Times. Critics see these as just another example of the close ties between physicians and drug companies, and say that ” … they may actually drive up the cost of health care in the long run, because the drugs being promoted are the most expensive brand-name medications.” We’ve talked about docs and drugs a few times before. (Thanks to HealthLawProf Blog for the pointer to the article)
Scandal watch – We’ve written quite a bit about the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation Coingate scandal. Today we learn that the BWC’s former CFO faces 5 years in prison. His sentence was reduced based on cooperation with authorities, so there is the potential for further shoes to drop. There have been 16 public officials and money managers convicted of various offenses thus far. In other state news, trouble is brewing in the North Dakota workers comp system too.
Geek safety – 25 Free health Tips for Computer nerds This blog may focus on work-related risks, but play can be dangerous too – In 2005, a 28-year-old South Korean man who played computer games for straight 50 hours died of heart failure. Pass this article on to your IT folks and the bloggers in your life. Via Ergonomics In the News
Notes from the Blogosphere – Congratulations to Michael Fitzgibbon at Thoughts from a Management Lawyer ob his 4-year Blogiversary. Michael is a Toronto-base attorney and professor who keeps us informed about the employment-related goings on in our neighbor to the North. And speaking of Canadian bloggers, we told you that rawblogXport had announced the blog was winding down, but we are happy to note that items are still being posted daily.

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News Roundup: Health Wonkery, DBA, NLRB ruling, and more

Thursday, October 5th, 2006

Health Wonk Review – Joe Paduda hosts Health Wonk Review – the Harvest Moon Edition – a meaty issue with lots ‘o links to substantive posts. With 57 percent of the claims dollar going to medical costs, we are inextricably linked to the larger health-care market. HWR is a good way to keep an eye on the trends.
Additions to the blogroll We’re adding a few links to our blogroll in the sidebar: Labor and Employment Law Blog by George Kittredge and The HR Lawyer’s Blog by Texas labor and employment attorney Christopher J. McKinney – both are worth checking out.
Absolute Shocker of the Week – Worksafe Victoria’s construction safety program publishes weekly photos of dangerous construction work sent in by inspectors and subscribers so that they can be used for safety training or tool-box meetings. Safteng.net hosts and archives these Weekly Shockers and Bodgey Scaffolding photos.
Defense Base Act (DBQ) – The Defense Base Act extends workers’ compensation benefits to employees working for private employers affiliated with the military or certain government-related business outside the continental. Learn more about coverage and 10 Things You Should Know About the DBA. Actually, the article lists 17 things you should know. Regardless of the number, it’s a good overview.
Topical fun – The Drugs I Need – an amusing animated music video clip about prescription drugs by the Austin Lounge Lizards.
NLRB rulings – Jordan Barab provides an in-depth analysis of the National Labor Relations Board’s recent Kentucky River rulings from the labor perspective. The rulings set parameters about who is considered a manager and who is considered an employee. Jordan discusses how this ruling excludes millions of workers – notably nurses – from union membership. He quotes extensively from the dissension offered by two Board members. Wilma Liebman and Dennis Walsh.

“Liebman and Walsh point out that the legislative history of the act distinguished between real supervisors “vested with such genuine management prerogatives as the right to hire or fire, discipline, or make effective recommendations with respect to such action ” and “straw bosses, leadmen, set-up men, and other minor supervisory employees.”

“… Walsh and Liebman note that unlike real supervisors, charge nurses do not have the ability to hire, fire or discipline, nor do they have any formal role in the employee grievance process. In addition, they spend the vast majority of their time in line work “a fact that strongly tends to establish their status as s minor supervisory employees.”

“… Today’s decision threatens to create a new class of workers under Federal labor law: workers who have neither the genuine prerogatives of management, nor the statutory rights of ordinary employees. Into that category may fall most professionals (among many other workers), who by 2012 could number almost 34 million, accounting for 23.3 percent of the work force.”

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Boston pilot to import prescription drugs from Canada

Monday, August 2nd, 2004

In the continuing saga of the high cost of prescription drugs, a report in Business Insurance last week announced that Boston launched a drug reimportation program. It’s a pilot program so far, but in taking this step, Boston becomes the largest municipality to defy federal law against drug imports. The pilot is currently restricted to Boston employees and retirees. Mayor Menino estimates that it will save more than $1 million in the first year.
The issue of drug imports isn’t just a controversial one here – some in Canada are expressing concern over the Boston deal too, fearing that it may lead to Canadian prescription drug shortages.
For more information, see past posts:
More on the prescription drug saga
Ouch! Pain drugs or drug pains

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Trading tax cuts for health care?

Sunday, April 11th, 2004

How important is health care to the average American? We certainly knew it was important, but an article in bizjournals about a recent poll on health care conducted by the Commonwealth Fund drove the point home: It is apparently important enough that “62 percent of Americans would be willing to give back all of the recent federal tax cuts in exchange for universal health insurance coverage.”

And also on the topic of health care coverage or the lack of it, read 10 Myths of the Uninsured, testimony presented to a congressional committee by economist Len Nichols, Ph.D., vice president of the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). He pokes holes in many common assumptions about health care, including the idea that American businesses pay $400 billion a year to provide coverage for workers, stating that “Economists believe that ultimately most workers end up paying for health insurance in the form of lower wages.” Thanks to Pulse for pointing us to this article.

George’s Employment Blawg also has a good post on health care issues, including a link to a report entitled Health Care Benefit Crisis: Cost Drivers and Strategic Solutions (note: 30 page pdf file) by Eric Parmenter of Grant Thornton. We will quote George in summarizing it:

Packed with facts and figures, this document begins with a comprehensive, yet concise analysis of sources of increases in health care benefit costs, including: the aging of the baby boomers, costs of new technology, legislative initiatives such as HIPAA, “managed-care saturation,” “direct-to-consumer prescription marketing,” “insurance industry consolidation and profit-taking,” our “litigious society,” poor health care quality, “preventable and avoidable accidents and health problems,” lack of insurance, and “consumer cost insulation.”

Rounding out our reading on the health care crisis, Tom Mayo at HealthLawBlog updates us on recent developments on the issue of drug costs. Tom says: “Who knows? Maybe drug costs will be the leading edge of a health-care reform movement that drags the country, kicking and screaming, into universal coverage (maybe single-payer, but probably not).”

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