Claims and Costs News

Cigna’s Purchase of Express Scripts Tightens Drug Supply Chain

Over 20 years, Brian Komoto built a thriving pharmacy in California’s Central Valley. Each day, his nurses would travel the vast agricultural region’s roads to help hepatitis C patients take a grueling regimen of shots. Then, in 2016, 20 percent …

Tips on Settling Legacy Claims in Workers’ Comp

Too often workers’ compensation legacy claims that linger are the result of a status quo mentality, according to workers’ compensation experts. When claims are on autopilot and claimants refuse to settle, there are strategies that can be employed to move …

Travelers Collaboration to Test VR, Wearables in Acute Orthopedic Injury Treatment

The effectiveness of therapeutic virtual reality (VR) and wearable technology to manage pain associated with acute orthopedic injuries of the lower back and extremities will be explored by Travelers, Cedars-Sinai, Samsung Electronics America, Bayer and applied VR. The Cedars-Sinai’s Center …

WCRI: Formulary May Cut Prescription Drug Costs for Louisiana State Employees

A new FlashReport from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) finds that a Texas-like formulary for Louisiana state employees may reduce prescription drug costs by 4 to 28 percent depending on prescribers’ response to the formulary. This would have resulted …

Medical Marijuana Treatment Slowly Gains Traction in Workers’ Comp

Though states and the federal government remain at odds on marijuana legalization, the drug is gaining traction as a viable treatment in workers’ comp claims. In a recent discussion with Claims Journal, Brian Allen, vice president of government affairs for …

Real-Time Digital Claims Payments: The New Path to Customer Loyalty?

Gary was vacationing with his wife in upstate New York when the deer seemingly came from nowhere and leapt across three lanes of highway to total his car. He immediately entered a first notice of loss on his insurer’s website, …

California Wildfire Insurance Claims Near $12B

Insurance claims from last year’s deadly California wildfires have reached $11.8 billion, making it the most expensive series of wildfires in state history, an official said Wednesday. The staggering number exceeds the total insurance claims from the top 10 previously …

Federal Report Reveals Extent of Hurricane Harvey

The official numbers for last year’s Hurricane Harvey are in, and they go beyond the 68 dead and $125 billion in damage. Two locations in southeast Texas got more than 5 feet of rain and 18 different parts of Texas …

Duration, Number of Refills Spell Highest Risk for Opioid Misuse After Surgery

With opioid overdoses now a leading cause of nonintentional death in the United States, data show most of these deaths can be traced back to an initial prescription opioid. A new study led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical …

How Every Jurisdiction Can Benefit From an Outcomes-Based Approach

Throughout this series, I have stressed the importance of connecting workers’ comp patients with great doctors at their time of need and how this results in an average of a 10 percent reduction in claims costs. I’ve also talked about …