Category: From Bob’s Cluttered Desk

In a tragic incident this week, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down while entering a hotel for an investor’s conference in New York City. While (as of this writing) the suspect has not yet been apprehended and the motive remains unknown, undoubtedly, many in this country, myself included, reached an immediate conclusion. Disgruntled policyholder.  Or someone otherwise who felt severely affected by a denied or delayed health care claim. Some…

Read More

In the bustling world of workers’ compensation, where policies and procedures often overshadow the human element, it’s easy to forget the real lives impacted by workplace injuries. Enter Kids’ Chance Awareness Week, a beacon of hope and a reminder that behind every claim number lies a family, and often, children whose futures hang in the balance. Scheduled for November 18-22, 2024, Kids’ Chance Awareness Week is more than just a…

Read More

The story you are about to read is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.  And in some cases, the stupid. Really stupid. It’s a shame I can’t change my own name, as it would have protected me on numerous occasions of idiocy. But that is a different story, I suppose. I received a call recently from a friend who is a high-level executive of a fairly…

Read More

There are only a limited number of ways that a company can show its support for the workers’ compensation industry at a national level. Supporting Kids’ Chance is certainly one of them. Kids’ Chance, as almost everyone in the industry is aware, is an organization that provides scholarships and educational opportunities for children of workers killed or seriously injured on the job.  Kids’ Chance consists of 50 state organizations, as…

Read More

The healthcare landscape is undergoing significant changes, with a notable trend being the vertical integration of medical providers. This phenomenon, where hospitals or health systems acquire physician practices, has led to a shift in how medical care is delivered and billed. The presentation at the WCRI Conference in Boston, MA, by Bogdan Savych and Eric Harrison, delved into the effects of this integration on the utilization of care and patient…

Read More

In the “Day Two Keynote” presentation at the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) Annual Issues and Research Conference, Dr. Constance (Connie) Noonan Hadley, a professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, addressed the critical issue of loneliness in the workplace. Her talk highlighted the significant impact of loneliness on both workplace health and productivity, and she offered a series of recommendations to mitigate this growing concern. Dr. Hadley underscored…

Read More

In the realm of workers' compensation, the impact of psychosocial factors on claim outcomes has been a topic of considerable interest and debate. At the WCRI Conference in Boston, MA, a presentation titled "Psychological Risk Factors and Functional Recovery" shed light on this issue. The presenters, Vennela Thumula, a Policy Analyst with WCRI, and Dr. Randy Lea, a Senior Research Fellow at WCRI, provided a comprehensive analysis of the prevalence…

Read More

In a keynote presentation at the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) Annual Issues and Research Conference, David Cutler, Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics at Harvard University, discussed the current state of healthcare in the United States and his predictions for the future. Cutler highlighted the uncertainty in the healthcare environment, citing factors such as bankruptcies, budgetary issues, and workforce crises. He presented two frameworks for understanding the healthcare landscape:…

Read More

The ostensible implosion and suspension this past week of the image generating feature of Google’s newly released Artificial Intelligence offering, Gemini, has furthered suspicions and fears about the potential foibles and threats of the technology. It has been widely reported that Gemini’s’ bias would not allow it to generate images of white people and instead would only create images of “persons of color.” This included versions of the Pope and our nation’s…

Read More

[playht_player width="100%" height="90px" voice="en-US-GuyNeural"] As March approaches, the anticipation for the 40th Annual WCRI Issues & Research Conference is building among professionals in the workers' compensation field. Scheduled for March 5-6, 2024, in Boston, MA, this event promises once again to be a cornerstone for those seeking to understand and navigate the complexities within our workers' compensation systems. And I am once again looking forward to attending and writing about this…

Read More