Health Wonk Review and other news

February 21st, 2008 by Julie Ferguson

Health Wonk Review is posted at GoozNews, a first-time host for this health policy compendium. GoozNews is the blog of Merrill Goozner, who was in the news business for 25+ years as a foreign correspondent, economics writer and investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune. His freelance work has appeared in some of the nation’s most prestigious publications. He’s also been a professor, a researcher, and an author of the 2004 book, “The $800 Million Pill: The Truth Behind the Cost of New Drugs.” All in all, a welcome new voice in our wonkosphere!
Other news notes:
Judge says second-hand smoke contributed to worker’s cancer – Roberto Ceniceros of Business Insurance reports that a NJ judge ruled in favor a casino dealer’s workers compensation claim that her 10-year exposure to second-hand cigarette smoke caused her lung cancer. Not only was she awarded benefits, but if she dies, her husband would be eligible for dependent benefits for life.
Why is workers comp reimbursement based on Medicare? – a good question posed by Joe Paduda who thinks states should start thinking now about a smarter way to pay docs.
Hide, Here Comes the Insurance Guy – We haven’t read this book, but someone passed this link along to us and we were amused by the title. The premise of the book is that all companies have risk, but few have budgets big enough to warrant a risk manager so this is a primer for all those do-it-yourself small to mid-size businesses. Sounds like it might be worth checking out.
The Myth of the Risk Manager – as long as we are on the topic or risk managers, Robe Enderle has an article on “why the risk manager position is a dead-end job.”