November 2022 - Know Your Health

November 30, 2022 Health Policy

Work comp and P&C – diabolical opposites

The property and casualty insurance industry is looking at increasing underwriting losses in 2022...while workers’ comp (which represents perhaps 1/10 of total P&C premiums) continues to be hugely profitable.

Which begs the question..will multi-line insurers try to use work comp to offset lower profits in other lines?

According to the Insurance Information Institute;

The (P&C) industry’s combined ratio — a measure of underwriting profitability in which a number below 100 represents a profit and one above 100 represents a loss – is forecast to be 105.6, a worsening of 6.1 points from 99.5 in 2021. [emphasis added]

Amidst troubling trends from other P&C lines – personal and commercial auto, property, multi-peril and homeowners, workers comp stands out…this from Milliman’s Jason Kurtz:

“The workers compensation line continues to stand alone, with its multi-year run of strong underwriting profitability forecast to continue for 2022 and into 2023-2024.”

Premium rates are

November 29, 2022 Health Policy

Work comp rates drop, behavioral health in WC, and workers as assets not costs

Happy Monday – for my American readers, hope your holiday was most excellent.

here’s good stuff you might have missed…

WCRI is hosting a no-cost webinar on Behavioral Health in Workers’ Compensation Thursday Dec 15 at 2 pm eastern. The webinar will discus their recent primer on BH in WC (available here for download)

The good folks at NCCI published their latest take on work comp industry financials...suffice it to say the party continues…although it may be getting close to ending.

courtesy NCCI

The final countrywide analysis of 2021 results shows:

- - WC Calendar Year 2021 private carrier net written premium (NWP) increased from 2020 by 0.5% to $38.2 billion
  - The WC Calendar Year 2021 private carrier combined ratio was 87.2%, and the operating gain was 23.7%

Meanwhile early data makes 2022 look even better; direct written premiums were up almost 10% over 2021, while the loss ratio for the

November 26, 2022 Health Policy

Complacency and arrogance – part 2

Last week’s post on Complacency and arrogance struck a chord with quite a few readers; some commented on on the post and/or LinkedIn while more chose instead to email me directly.

One question was raised by several of you; how does one guard against complacency and arrogance?

a few thoughts…

survey your staff
there’s an excellent piece in this morning’s Harvard Business Review on employee surveys. Key takeaways include:
1. tell your staff you need and want their feedback/input/recommendations
2. confirm that by a) let your staff know you value their input and appreciate their willingness to be honest; b) letting all know what you heard and what you plan to do about it; and c) show some self-awareness by letting them know you recognize one or more of your habits/tendencies that may be a challenge for them and want their perspective on how you can better work with them
3. change what

November 25, 2022 Health Policy

Republicans planning to force Medicare cuts

House Republicans are planning to impose massive cuts to Medicare, raise Medicare’s eligibility age, and withhold payments to early retirees and retirees earning more than a certain limit.

News sources indicate the GOP will use the upcoming debt limit to try and force Medicare cuts, a reprise of earlier efforts supported by 175 House Republicans to slash Medicare spending. The effort is also gaining traction among Senate Republicans, with Senator Lindsey Graham planning to use the Republicans’ leverage in Congress to cut Social Security and Medicare.

Sen. Rick Scott’s 11 point plan goes a lot further; it would end Social Security and Medicare if Congress doesn’t take specific action to renew those programs every few years (see Scott responding to Fox News question at 1:09 of the video here.)

You may well recall that Scott was sued for Medicare fraud back when he ran Columbia/HCA. Columbia/HCA was ordered

November 23, 2022 Health Policy

Medicare, drug prices, abortion and medical debt – Midterms’ impact on healthcare

Here’s a quick-albeit-still-somewhat-up-in-in-the-air take on how the midterms may/will impact healthcare. Much depends on final results in several key elections (Senate in GA, NV, :

Medicare and Medicaid

Drug prices – Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act will reduce seniors’ drug prices; if the GOP takes control of the House (which appears likely) it may try to hold up/block/hinder Medicare drug price negotiation through oversight on how HHS implements the new policy.

If Dems hold onto the House (which is highly doubtful), we can expect legislation that would expand Medicare and Medicaid.

South Dakotans voted to expand Medicaid; this is a big win for rural hospitals and the uninsured – 40,000+ South Dakotans will now have access to health care. For South Dakotans, the impact – healthier people and financially healthier hospitals = healthier economy.

Abortion rights

Ballot measures in 5 states addressed abortion rights with voters in California, Vermont, Michigan,

November 20, 2022 Health Policy

Musk, Michael Jordan, Twitter, and private equity

Stick with me here…it will be worth it.

Yesterday’s post about private equity’s investments in worker’s comp services generated a flurry of private emails and a few comments – most echoing the “service is king” mantra.

Today’s news that Twitter is near collapse adds depth to the service discussion – and the ultimate cost of hubris.

Elon Musk is both one of the most transformational leaders and one of the biggest (insert anatomical reference here) of the last century. He is in large part responsible for shifting personal transportation away from fossil-fuel driven cars, an incredibly difficult and critically important transition.

If your boss shows up wearing this, call your favorite recruiter.

He also has a severe case form of “Michael Jordan Syndrome” or MJS. Jordan was a transformational basketball player, perhaps the greatest ever. His skills, ability, drive and impact on the game are unparalleled.

Then he tried baseball,

November 19, 2022 Health Policy

HealthPopuli.com

Even as consumers’ confess a tighter spending economy for 2022 holiday shopping, peoples’ intent to buy wearable tech for health and fitness and other wellness devices appear on gifting lists in the U.S., according to the 29th Annual Consumer Technology Holiday Purchase Patterns report from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).

In general, technology will be a top-selling category for 2022 holiday gift-giving, somewhat tempered by inflation and the increased cost of living that challenge household budgets in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Tech spending will be down about 6% in 2022 according to CTA’s estimate, with gaming and video streaming strong purchase categories on the software and services side of consumer tech.

Nearly 1 in 2 U.S. adults plan to give a health or wellness product for 2022 holiday gifting, still in post-pandemic behavior change in seeking hygienic and well-being baked into daily living. Thus, sales for air purifiers and

November 4, 2022 Health Products

Hearing Loss

Health Articles I was a bizarre little child. It’s okay, I’m the first to confess it. I was saying my first phrases earlier than I was six months outdated. I was extra prone to deal with my youthful siblings than to go out and play. And I liked spinach. Specifically, I appreciated spinach cooked and then drenched in apple cider vinegar. I know, it’s unusual. But what can I say? I think I always had this thing inside me that knew what was good for me, and apple cider vinegar fell into that category. If we would had kombucha in the home again then, I most likely would’ve liked that too.

A substation is an assemblage of circuit breakers, disconnecting switches and transformers. A key part of a utility’s electrical distribution community relies upon upon numerous, small transformers mounted on energy poles. A transformer appears like a small metal trash can, usually …