Life & Health

In an attempt to bring some finality to the issues presented in the Valdez decision (at least for the time being), the California Court of Appeal recently addressed the admissibility of non-Medical Provider Network (MPN) reports.

Assessing the Financial Strength of any business partner makes good sense. The unique nature of the life insurance promises requires it to be done at the acquisition date and as part of a regular fiduciary review of any policy.|

One need only look at the increase in cumulative trauma claims that are being filed after an employee has been laid off. While there has been no specific injury that they can point to, many are now claiming that "work" has worn them out and that they are therefore entitled to even more money than that which was bargained for as a part of their employment agreement.

The reunification of Estate and Gift Tax exemptions has created new opportunities for fiduciaries to shore up potentially problematic assets. Changes appear to be certain after 2012 so this is the year to review and act as necessary.

Some of the most interesting healthcare provider startups such as MedLion, National Surgery Network, and One Medical Group are using information technology rather than expensive equipment/facilities to differentiate themselves and affordably deliver superior health outcomes.

People in Workers' Compensation are beginning to power up their data to gain insight and objective decision support to structure their provider networks. To do that, physician and other provider performance is evaluated based on actual performance evidenced in the data.

The cost of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has changed. It is more expensive. Some advancements have been made and/or are in progress. These, although encouraging, don't offset the increased costs.

A central theme is emerging in the insurance fraud space - individuals will continue to commit opportunistic acts of insurance fraud but the risk from organized fraud activity is quickly becoming a massive problem.