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January 15, 2013 at 08:41 AM
The Integrated Benefits Institute and the National Business Coalition on Health will be gathering a bunch of number crunchers to a health and productivity conference in Dallas in Feb.
I see a lot of sessions with speakers who intend to talk about topics such as “how three employers (one large, one mid-size, and one small) are integrating disparate streams of data to create meaningful value-based performance and outcomes strategies.”
At another session, the panelists will talk about measuring wellness results and return on investment through verification. At one employer, Alcon, total 2010 savings estimates on the wellness program were calculated at about $3.3 million, including $478,000 savings on short-term disability (STD) and worker’s comp spending, according to conference organizers.
It looks as if employers really want practical, concrete, calm information about what works to reduce health care and disability costs and productivity losses and what doesn’t work.
I don’t see anything about the organizers organizing a session on Democrats promising that workers can throw three magic Affordable Care Act beans in a can and get back effortless improvements in health care quality and affordability, all courtesy of a new tax on three very rich guys who happen to deserve the tax, because they’re obnoxious.
Nor are the organizers offering a session on how the Red States should cut their disability benefits costs by breaking up with the Union in three easy steps.
Maybe the take-home message is that the desire to cut benefits costs without wiping out the employees is greater than (or, at least, roughly the same size as) the desire to clobber those rotten no good slime molds who voted the bad guys into office.
This gives me a thought: Folks involved with disability insurance should go to great lengths to take a constructive approach to shaping the activities of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
