Disability Insurance Observer: Couchsick

The Health Care Finance Division at the Kansas Department of Health & Environment has come up with an interesting strategy for reducing the impact of disability: It hired a consulting firm to educate health care providers about the health risks of unemployment and the benefits of preventing needless disability.

Nathan Bainbridge, a department legislative liaison, talked about the program in written testimony he gave to the state Senate Commerce Committee.

“The target audience was physicians and other clinicians who provide advice to their patients and sign benefits forms,” Bainbridge said.

Of course: In this terrible economy, a lot of workers actually come to work in states such that no sane employer would want the workers at work.

Some employers might be better off with a “Stay home when you may have the bubonic plague” program  than a “Get off the couch” program.