Implementation of Federal Sunshine Law delayed for drug and medical suppliers
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance back in December regarding the implementation of the Federal Sunshine Law and the proposed timing. Since then, the timeline for formal introduction of the law has been revised by CMS, delaying how soon those manufacturers must begin to collect data for their reports. Rather than requiring the collections to begin on January 1st, CMS will not require them to begin until the issuance of the law’s final ruling.
This law will require manufacturers of drugs, biologics, devices and medical supplies covered under Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program to report payments and other transfers of value made to physicians Read more…
A refresher on Mass Workers Comp QLMP premium credits
With the Workers Compensation market tightening up, many risks are being forced to secure coverage through an Assigned Risk Pool. Approximately 15% of all Massachusetts risks are currently assigned to the pool, but this percentage could increase with the anticipation of Chartis and ACE pulling back and showing less of an appetite for this line of coverage.
In Massachusetts, members within the pool are eligible for what is known as a Qualified Loss Management Plan (QLMP), which is a prospective credit for a period of up to four years. Since the assigned pool is becoming more common, we thought a refresher on the QLMP premium credits were in order.
In the early 90s when the pool was heavily populated, QLMP providers were retained frequently to offset premium costs and improve the risk profile. These providers help insured’s put protocol in place to avoid or reduce losses, i.e. safety manuals, develop back-to-work programs, Read more…
Blame game continues with Italian cruise liner disaster
As the true tragedy of the sinking of the cruise liner Costa Concordia begins to take full shape, the finger-pointing has grown from a whisper to a roar. Perhaps the ship was too close to the coast. Why didn’t the navigational system and sonar find the sand bank/rocks that gashed the ship? Aren’t these ships supposed to have compartmentalized hulls so a tear in one area can simply be mitigated by closing off that part of the belly of the ship? Lifeboat training should, of course, happen in the first few hours at sea. And then there are the various acts and failures to act by the captain and the crew.
Risk management theory teaches that most systems have fail-safes and back-ups such that true tragedies only take place when there are multiple failures. It seems that this has been borne out on the Costa Concordia. But it all seems so preventable. Apparently there are few international regulators for safety in this industry. And much of the risk management oversight falls on the insurance industry. Clearly insurers put a lot at risk Read more…
The squeeze on E&O Insurance for technology companies
Most companies that sell technology-based products or services purchase Errors and Omissions (E&O) Insurance to indemnify them from liability caused by the failure of their products or services. When the vendor’s products or services require access to the clients’ confidential information – and especially personally identifiable information (PII) or protected health information (PHI) – the nature and extent of the vendor’s obligations can get more complicated.
The combination of traditional E&O exposures with rapidly evolving privacy/data security exposures has created new insurance coverage and claims-handling uncertainties. As a result, technology companies that handle, store or transmit their clients’ or customers’ sensitive data are increasingly getting squeezed when they buy E&O insurance policies. Read more…
Does the childhood obesity campaign in Georgia cross the line?
Those of you who have read my previous blog items on obesity know that this trend in our society worries me. There are two children’s hospitals in Atlanta that merged many years ago, and they recently started an organization called Strong4Life to combat childhood obesity.
I lived in Atlanta for many years and can attest, both anecdotally and by the numbers, that overall health is worse there than in Boston. According to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the parent of the two hospitals, Georgia has the second highest rate of childhood obesity in the US with almost 1 million children and teenagers considered obese. News reports quote various representatives talking about how they are treating kids with conditions unheard of 10-20 years ago, such as joint replacement needs and hypertension, due to obesity. They’ve tried education and decided to try something more “blunt” after their own studies found that 75% of parents with obese children did not think they had a problem. The new approach lead to Read more…
Storm clouds loom over Workers Compensation market
With the economy in slow recovery for the foreseeable future, we are taking the time to look at how this will affect the Workers Compensation marketplace. The NCCI (National Council on Compensation Insurance) has recently focused on several factors which, in part, drive the workers compensation market. Some of these factors include unemployment, industrial production, disposable personal income, and corporate profits – all putting pressure on the Workers Compensation market to harden. And the longer the workforce remains unemployed, the greater the need will be for training as this workforce re-enters the workplace. The result of companies learning to operate in this sluggish economy will produce permanent changes in the make-up of the labor force Read more…
Buyer, be prepared
Over the last decade, private company Management Liability policies (Directors’ & Officers’ Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Fiduciary Liability) have been very competitively priced with generally loose underwriting guidelines. But, as a famous Greek philosopher once said, “Nothing endures but change” – and we are currently in the midst of a pendulum swing towards stricter underwriting.
Management Liability underwriters with leading insurers, including Arch and Chubb, have confirmed that complete applications, with all requested supplemental information, have become the new norm. In addition to encountering more rigid underwriting, most companies are also likely to be subject to some combination of: higher retentions, higher premiums, and/or reduced Read more…
The expected boom in cyberinsurance
The New York Times published an article today predicting that there will be a surge in the purchase of what it refers to as “cyber insurance” – insurance covering a range of exposures relating to the breach of privacy and network security. The article has some significant exaggerations and misleading statements, and it quotes extensively from people whose livelihood depends upon cybersecurity breaches and the sale of insurance policies, but it provides a useful window on the current environment. The article places great importance on the recent guidelines issued by the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. Click here for WGA’s blog post and downloadable White paper discussing these new guidelines and their potential impact Read more…
2012 Property renewals for tech companies: start early
Technology companies that have owned manufacturing operations or outsource their manufacturing to suppliers in Asia should get an early start on their 2012 Property Insurance Renewals. Outside of the insurance realm, companies should seek diversification in their supply chain whenever possible to help mitigate a concentration of risk in catastrophic prone countries.
The credit rating firm, Fitch Ratings, said in a new report that the “reinsurance industry will most likely try to raise catastrophe premiums across the world to try to absorb the steep losses from natural disasters in the Asia-Pacific region.” This will impact technology companies who rely on outsourced Asian manufacturing locations and purchase Property and Business Interruption coverages in order to protect their supply chain. Read more…
Rewarding patients for cheaper care
In the continuing effort to make the cost of healthcare more transparent, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care recently announced a new program which they hope to roll out to Massachusetts members called SaveOn. This program provides cash rewards ranging from $10 to $75 for members that seek lower cost care for non-emergency outpatient procedures such as colonoscopies, MRI and CT scans, mammograms, lab work, bone density studies and ultrasounds. Members can call a toll-free number and to speak to a nurse who informs them of any lower cost plan providers in their area. In the event they are already scheduled to receive service from a lower cost provider, the member will be rewarded with $10 for making the call. If the result of the call is to directing them to a lower cost provider the reward could be as high $75. Potential savings on Read more…
