“People just aren’t using healthcare like they have,” Wayne DeVeydt, WellPoint’s chief financial officer, told the Journal. “Utilization is lower than we expected, and it’s unusual.” [...]
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a new program will help employers absorb the cost of healthcare for retirees ages 55 and older who are not eligible for Medicare. The reimbursements will cover 80 percent of medical claims between $15,000 and $90,000 for retirees, their spouses and dependents. [...] 90 percent think that reducing the number and severity of medical errors will help reduce costs. [...] Employers to Encourage [...] In addition there is likely to be increased regulatory action. OSHA’s latest semiannual regulatory agenda released in December, includes 27 regulatory items ranging from global harmonization of classification of chemicals, combustible dust, crystalline silica, PPE, confined spaces in construction to musculoskeletal disorder reporting requirements and a final Cranes and Derricks in Construction rule. Preparing now for the aggressive enforcement will help reduce the potential liability that employers face if OSHA does arrive. [...] David Boles, a family physician in Clarksville, Tenn., isn’t one of them, but his practice is having an increasingly hard time. “We’re dying, man. What people are doing is they’re saving up bunches of things to talk to a doctor about in one visit. So they’re decreasing their number of visits per year. And if a physician spends an hour with a patient, he can’t be paid enough by the insurance companies to warrant an hour’s work.” [...] Before you go shopping for a workers’ compensation insurance policy you need to put together all the paperwork you will need. Keep this information in one place and use an Excel spreadsheet (if possible). The spreadsheet will be a useful tool down the line when you want to calculate rates and premiums. [...] If your workers’ comp costs are sky high, perhaps you are like one company, believing its managed care program was complete, but with $30 million in annual workers’ compensation costs. In turns out their employee brochure containing all the necessary information was written at the 11th grade level (like the Wall Street Journal), well above many of its employees reading abilities. Not effective! [...] While workers’ compensation policies may be generic in meeting your statutory requirements, claims and loss control services vary greatly and differentiate one company from another. Choose wisely. The effectiveness of these areas will reduce loss costs and even prevent losses from occurring, which in turn reduce your premium. Evaluate the financial strength of your company, the loss prevention and claim management programs in place and importantly, the appetite for risk at your organization, to decide whether a guaranteed cost or shared risk program is the way to go. Also be sure to evaluate the financial strength of the insurance carriers under consideration. [...] The pros and cons of what a public option for health insurance means for California, and some other states, based on state laws already on the books. [...] |
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