The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated an appeals court ruling that went against the University of Notre Dame, in a case that revolves around the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that employers should pay for contraception as part of women’s health insurance. Last February, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago backed a lower...
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Using Telemedicine in Workers Compensation
Telemedicine is viewed by many as an opportunity to reduce the cost of medical expenses and promote efficiency in the workers’ compensation system. While this practice may be new in workers’ compensation claims, it should be something claim management teams look at to reduce the overall costs of a workers’ compensation program. What...
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Is Now The Time To Fix Rather Than Scrap Obamacare?
Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, leaves the chamber after the House voted once again on Feb. 3 to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, “repeal and replace” has been the rallying cry for Republicans who...
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The anti-vaccination idiocy
Penn and Teller profanely destroy the anti-vaccination case in a 90 second video well worth watching. Unfortunately, many of the so-called anti-vaxxers won’t watch it, or understand it, or believe it. No, they are willing to put their own kids – and everyone’s kids – at risk because of a completely wrong, now-retracted article in the...
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On Moral Hazard in Health Insurance
As we look ahead to tonight’s State of the Union address, I.I.I. chief actuary Jim Lynch brings us a book review on the perennial issue of health insurance: When Target wants to sell more shirts, it puts them on sale. The retailer knows that the less something costs, the more likely you are to buy it. Health...
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Worksite Wellness Clinics and Reduction of ER Visits: Good News for Employer Health Plan Costs
Emergency room visits and costs are on the rise in the U.S. and expected to get worse with Obamacare according to a recent report which shows people with Medicaid (many of whom have obtained coverage under Obamacare) use ER more often than uninsured individuals. Complicating this picture are the ridiculous high costs of ER visits...
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Harvard protests health insurance costs – for a couple of very good reasons
Tt’s a delicious irony; academics at one of the nation’s top universities, averaging a cool $200k income, some of whom championed parts of health reform and PPACA, are whining about deductibles of $250, $20 copays for office visits, and out-of-pocket maximums of $1500 for individuals. Oh, the tragedy! Yes, part of the cost increase may be...
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Problem With Health Care Not Insurers, But Hospitals, says Steve Brill
While reporting on the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, journalist Steven Brill was diagnosed with a life-threatening condition that required heart surgery. “There I was: A reporter who had made hospital presidents and hospital executives and health care executives and insurance executives sweat because I asked them all kinds of questions about their salaries...
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Joe Paduda’s 2015 health care predictions
I’ve decided to split my predictions into work comp stuff (where I do most of my work) and health care stuff not directly related to work comp. Here’s my health care predictions… 1. Health care cost inflation will remain low. After five years of growth at or below 4 percent, health care costs remain relatively stable at...
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Joe Paduda’s 2014′s predictions; how’d I do?
Before jumping into my predictions for 2015, I thought it would be helpful to review my previous prognostications. Here’s how I did, color-coded for your grading ease: 1. Overall, the work comp insurance market will be steady. Yep; rates were up just slightly, coverage availability is fine, and there are no crises. Then again, this...
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