NJ Bayonne Medical Center - Highest Priced Medicine in the Nation

While workers' compensation insurance carriers may set approved fees or contract with providers, hospitals have huge disparities in the cost for medical care provided. Additionally, there appears to be no difference in the ultimate outcome based on cost for medical service provided.

Compromising fees for medical services has become a big business in the US. Regulatory agencies provide a forum for the re-evaluation and determination of the cost for medical service. Many companies have emerged that provide representation in assisting in compromising fee. NJ Workers' Compensation have been mandated with the jurisdiction to evaluate the need and reasonableness of medical care provided to injured workers and establish the reimbursable value of the medical services rendered.

The highest priced medicine does not yield the best result according to published data released by the US Government. The NY Times has analyzed  data and found that the NJ Bayonne Medical Center was the highest priced hospital in the nation.

"Until a recent ruling by the Internal Revenue Service, for instance, a hospital could use the higher prices when calculating the amount of charity care it was providing, said Gerard Anderson, director of the Center for Hospital Finance and Management at Johns Hopkins. “There is a method to the madness, though it is still madness,” Mr. Anderson said."

Ban Asbestos: Rotterdam Conference Highjacked by "The Dirty 7"

Civil society groups attending the Rotterdam Convention conference in Geneva are expressing grave alarm that the Convention has been hijacked by the asbestos industry, which is determined to prevent the environmental and health protections of the Convention from being implemented.

For the fourth time, a handful of countries allied to the asbestos industry have refused to allow

chrysotile asbestos to be added to the Convention’s list of hazardous substances, even though the Convention’s expert scientific committee has repeatedly recommended that it be listed and even though it has been recognized that the listing of chrysotile asbestos meets all the criteria of the Convention. The committee’s conclusions are endorsed by all leading medical organisations and by the World Health Organisation.

“It is outrageous that seven countries – Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, India and Vietnam – are turning the Rotterdam Convention into a Convention that protects profits of the asbestos industry, instead of protecting human health and the environment,” said Kathleen Ruff, co-coordinator of the Rotterdam Convention Alliance.

“The Convention requires that countries practice responsible trade by obtaining prior informed consent before they export hazardous substances to another country,” said Laurie Kazan-Allen, coordinator of IBAS, UK. “But these seven countries are determined to practice irresponsible trade and to hide the hazards of chrysotile asbestos.”

Fernanda Giannasi, a labour inspector in Brazil, reports that, in her job, she daily sees products containing chrysotile asbestos entering her country without labels, and tells of the great many victims who develop cancers from asbestos exposure in her country. “Since these countries refuse to follow responsible trade information practices, it will force other countries to resort to other measures, such as a full ban on asbestos,” said Giannasi.

“Russia and Zimbabwe recently ratified the Convention and attended the Rotterdam Convention conference of the parties for the first time,” said Sugio Furuya of the Asia Ban Asbestos Network. “It seems that they ratified the Convention with the sole purpose of wrecking it in order to protect the profits of their national asbestos industry. This is shameful, cynical conduct on their part. They are ruthlessly destroying the Convention to achieve their aim.”

“If the Convention is not going to be implemented and become empty words on paper, then what is the point of having the Convention?” asked Emmanuel Odjam-Akumatey of Ecological Restorations, Ghana. “The credibility of the Convention, and all 152 countries who have ratified the Convention is a at stake.”

“These seven countries, allied to the asbestos industry, are demonstrating contempt for the right of countries to prior informed consent, which is the whole purpose of the Convention,” said Alessandro Pugno of the Association of Asbestos Victims Families, Casale, Italy. That is why we have once against brought one hundred people, representing asbestos victims organisations, in front of the UN headquarters in Geneva and presented to the president of the conference their letter, calling for chrysotile asbestos to be listed.

NJ Court Approves Medicare Set-Aside Agreement Lacking CMS Review

A NJ Superior Court deemed a proposed Medicare Set-Aside Agreement to be satisfactory to protect Medicare's interests and granted a Motion to Enforce a Pending Settlement. This action by the Court was taken after CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) declined to rule on the adequacy of the Set Aside Agreement because of limited Federal resources.

"The court has thoroughly reviewed the sworn testimony of plaintiffs' expert regarding the proposed set-aside amounts for future medical expenses relating to the
underlying accidents/incidents, which would otherwise be covered or reimbursable
by Medicare. The court finds that the proposed set-aside amount in each case
fairly takes Medicare's interests into account in that the figures are both reasonable and reliable. Therefore, the court is satisfied that Medicare's interests
have been adequately protected pursuant to the MSP. Plaintiffs shall set aside the
proposed sums in self-administered interest-bearing accounts to be used solely for
the purpose of satisfying future medical expenses related to the underlying accidents/incidents."


DUHAMELL, Plaintiff v. RENAL CARE GROUP EAST, INC., RCG Southern New Jersey, LLC, Philadelphia Suburban Development Corporation, Defendants. Catherine A. Ney, Plaintiff, et al,, --- A.3d ----, 2013 WL 2102701 (N.J.Super.A.D.) Decided Dec. 7, 2012. May 16, 2013.

Jenny Yang Sworn In as EEOC Commissioner Bipartisan Federal Agency Now at Full Strength

Jenny R. Yang was sworn in today as Commissioner of the U.S.  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Yang was nominated by President Obama on Aug. 2, 2012, and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on April 25, 2013, to serve a term expiring July 1, 2017.

With her arrival, the EEOC returns to its full complement of five commissioners. Yang joins

ChairJacqueline Berrien and Commissioners Constance Barker, Chai Feldblum and Victoria Lipnic to complete the five-member presidentially appointed bipartisan Commission, filling the position vacated by Stuart Ishimaru.

"I am delighted to welcome Jenny Yang to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission," said EEOC Chair Jacqueline Berrien. "Her expertise in employment discrimination law and experience as a litigator will be great assets to the agency, and I look forward to working with her and my other colleagues on the Commission to promote equal opportunity in the workplace."

Yang was a partner of Cohen, Milstein, Sellers & Toll PLLC. She joined the firm in 2003, and she has represented thousands of employees across the country in numerous complex civil rights and employment actions. As chair of the firm's hiring and diversity committee, Yang has experience with the issues employers confront in making hiring and other personnel decisions.

Prior to joining Cohen Milstein, Yang served as a senior trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Employment Litigation Section, where she enforced federal laws prohibiting discrimination in employment by state and local government employers from 1998 to 2003. Before that, she worked at the National Employment Law Project to enforce the workplace rights of garment workers. Yang clerked for the Honorable Edmund Ludwig on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

"It is an incredible honor to serve as a Commissioner of the EEOC," said Commissioner Yang. "It is a privilege to work with so many talented and dedicated colleagues to ensure equal opportunity for all."

Yang previously served for over five years as vice chair and board member of the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, a nonprofit organization that provides legal assistance to low-income Asian Pacific Americans and small business owners in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Yang received her B.A. from Cornell University in government. She received her J.D. from New York University School of Law, where she was a note and comment editor of the law review and a Root-Tilden public interest scholar. Yang and her husband, Kil Huh, director of the States' Fiscal Health Project at the Pew Charitable Trusts, have two sons. She is the daughter The Honorable Sue Yang, Retired NJ Judge of Compensation.

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its website at www.eeoc.gov

Obamacare Will Be Collecting Workers' Compensation Medical Records

The implementation of Affordable Care Act data collection regulations will include the collection of medical information concerning work related accidents and injuries.  The coalition of this information will broadly advance the concept of universal medical care and impose yet another route for the Centers for Medicare and Medicare to strengthen enforcement under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act.

The largest and most expansive database of personalized medical information is being established under the umbrella of an newly created unit under the authority granted to the Internal Revenue Service, The Federal Data Services Hub. Personal medical records, including electronic medical records, will be incorporated into the program. 

"On March 23, 2010, the President signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 
(P.L. 111-148). On March 30, 2010, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 
(P.L. 111-152) was signed into law. The two laws are collectively referred to as the Affordable 
Care Act. The Affordable Care Act creates new competitive private health insurance markets –
called Exchanges – that will give millions of Americans and small businesses access to 
affordable coverage and the same insurance choices members of Congress will have. Exchanges 
will help individuals and small employers shop for, select, and enroll in high quality, affordable 
private health plans that fit their needs at competitive prices. The IT systems will support a 
simple and seamless identification of people who qualify for coverage through the Exchange, tax 
credits, cost-sharing reductions, Medicaid, and CHIP programs. By providing a place for onestop shopping, Exchanges will make purchasing health insurance easier and more understandable 
and will put greater control and more choice in the hands of individuals and small businesses."

Read more about "Federalization" and workers' compensation:

The Scarlet Letter - Workers' Compensation Style

Privacy, that was thought to be a paramount concern for individuals in workers' compensation, is now going away in Missouri. The Missouri legislature passed legislation that will allow employers to review the pending claim status of prospective employees to determine whether they have filed any workers' compensation claims. Injured workers in Missouri will now be stigmatized as a result of filing a workers' compensation claim.

"The division shall develop and maintain a workers' compensation claims database, accessible to potential employers through the division's website, containing all claims filed for compensation under this chapter. Claims records shall be retrievable only by an employer who during a pre-hire period provides a potential employee's name and social security number and shall, upon retrieval, identify the date of any claim made by such potential employee and whether the claim is open or closed."

To view the enacted bill SB34 go to www.moga.mo.gov

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• The National Association of Workers' Compensation Judiciary College
• Worker's Compensation Advocacy: Playing Fair in the Same Sandbox

Do I Need To File A Tax Return On My Workers Compensation?

Today's post comes from guest author Paul J. McAndrew, Jr. from Paul McAndrew Law Firm.

If you received workers’ compensation benefits, you may be wondering if you will need to report this money to the IRS and pay taxes on it. Under the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Act, money that you receive as workers’ compensation benefits is not taxable, with a few exceptions. You will have to pay taxes on your work comp benefits if:

• if the benefits are retirement plan benefits (this is true even if you retired due to disability)
• if part of your workers’ compensation benefit money lowers the amount you receive from your Social Security or Railroad Retirement Benefits. In that case, that the part of your workers compensation benefits is considered part of your Social Security (or RRB) and may be taxable.

If you return to work, your salary will be taxable again, as is it was before you received workers’ compensation benefits.